Greetings & introductions

Bonjour (“good day”) is the safe, polite greeting for the daytime; in the evening you switch to bonsoir (“good evening”). With friends you can just say salut, which works for both “hi” and “bye”. To leave politely, say au revoir (“goodbye”).

Merci means “thank you” (add beaucoup for “thank you very much”). For “please”, the polite form is s’il vous plaît; with a friend you would say s’il te plaît. French cares a lot about the polite vous versus the friendly tu — when in doubt with an adult you don’t know, use the polite form.

Ask Comment ça va ? (“How are you?”) and reply Ça va bien (“I’m well”). To introduce yourself, say Je m’appelle … (“My name is …”, literally “I call myself …”), and to ask someone else, Comment tu t’appelles ? Put it together: Bonjour, je m’appelle Marie.