Formal and Informal Greetings

French distinguishes between formal (vous) and informal (tu) registers, and greetings shift with time of day. Bonjour ("hello" / "good morning/afternoon") is used until evening, when it switches to Bonsoir ("good evening"). Salut is a casual "hi" or "bye" used only with people you address as tu — friends, classmates, family. Au revoir ("goodbye") is the standard formal farewell; À bientôt ("see you soon") and À demain ("see you tomorrow") are common closings.

Worked example: A student greeting a lecturer at 10 a.m. says "Bonjour, Madame." The same student greeting a classmate after class at 6 p.m. says "Salut, à demain!" ("Bye, see you tomorrow!").

Asking and Giving One's Name

• Comment vous appelez-vous? (formal) / Comment t'appelles-tu? (informal) — "What is your name?"
• Je m'appelle... — "My name is..." (literally "I call myself...")
• Je suis... — "I am..."

Worked example: "Comment vous appelez-vous?" — "Je m'appelle Ada. Et vous?" — "Je m'appelle Monsieur Diallo, je suis professeur." ("What is your name?" — "My name is Ada. And you?" — "My name is Mr. Diallo, I am a teacher.")

Polite Exchanges

Comment allez-vous? (formal) / Comment ça va? (informal) both mean "How are you?" Typical replies: Je vais bien, merci ("I'm fine, thank you"), Ça va bien ("It's going well"), or Comme ci, comme ça ("So-so"). Always pair requests with s'il vous plaît (formal) or s'il te plaît (informal) for "please," and merci / de rien for "thank you" / "you're welcome."

Numbers 0-20

zéro, un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix, onze, douze, treize, quatorze, quinze, seize, dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf, vingt. Note the pattern from 17-19: dix-sept (10+7), dix-huit (10+8), dix-neuf (10+9) — literally "ten-seven," "ten-eight," "ten-nine."

Worked example: J'ai vingt ans. ("I am twenty years old" — age is expressed with avoir, not être.)

Telling Time

Ask the time with Quelle heure est-il? ("What time is it?"). Answer with Il est... heure(s): Il est une heure ("It is one o'clock" — heure stays singular only after "une"), Il est trois heures ("It is three o'clock"). Minutes past the hour are added directly; minutes before use moins ("minus/to"): Il est quatre heures et quart ("quarter past four"), Il est quatre heures et demie ("half past four"), Il est cinq heures moins le quart ("quarter to five").

Worked example: "Quelle heure est-il?" — "Il est huit heures et demie." ("What time is it?" — "It is half past eight.")

Why This Matters for Your Exams

These expressions form the opening of almost every oral and written exercise in GST120 — dialogues, listening comprehension, and role-plays nearly always begin with a greeting, a name exchange, and often a time or age reference. Examiners test whether you can match the correct register (tu vs. vous) to the social situation, not just whether you know the vocabulary in isolation.