How can one say “good morning” in French?

Question

I've usually been told just to say “bonjour” in French when in English one would want to emphasize that it is early and you are greeting them in the morning, and would therefore say “good morning”. Given the legitimacy of phrases like “bonne après-midi” which does emphasize the time of day, is there a way to convey the meaning of something like “good morning” in French, or must one just use the generic “good day”?

Answer 1

On peut dire "bonne matinée" en français, tout comme on dit "bon après-midi". Cela dit, on n'utilise ces formes que lorsqu'on quitte un lieu, et jamais lorsqu'on y arrive.

"Bonne matinée" est donc plus l'équivalent de "Have a good morning" que de "Good morning". Il n'y a pas d'équivalent de "Good morning" lorsqu'on rencontre une personne, on se contente de dire "Bonjour".

Answer 2

En Suisse, on dit "Bon Dimanche" en se quittant à partir de Vendredi midi et jusqu'à Dimanche midi.

Quand j'étais petit, on le disait aussi la veille des jours fériés. Mais il a tendance à s’effacer devant le « Bonne fête » par assimilation au Frouse [=Français de France].

Answer 3

It's more subtle than that.

• Bonjour and bonsoir are terms that are used as salutations when you arrive in a place, or meet someone. Those are the only two alternatives that I can think of, and have no variant for morning or middle of the night.
• Bonne matinée, bonne journée, bon après-midi (or bonne après-midi), bonne soirée, bonne nuit are salutations that you use upon departing. There is a much larger gamut, and you can create new ones without problem (bonne fin d'après-midi to someone with whom you spent the first two hours of the afternoon, say).

Answer 4

En français québécois, il est correct de saluer quelqu’un en disant « bon matin ! ». Dans le reste de la francophonie, cette tournure est incorrecte : on se contentera d’un « bonjour ».

Answer 5

You can say:

• Bonjour usually when you meet someone for the first time in the day. And also Bonne journée which is rather used when you leave someone during the day and often used in sentence like “Je vous souhaite une bonne journée”, or “Passe une bonne journée”

• Bonne après-midi, Bonne soirée is also used when leaving people. There is no term to introduce oneself in the afternoon, but you can use Bonsoir in the evening instead of Bonjour.

Answer 6

Bon après-midi would only be used instead of au revoir.

For greetings, you can use Bonjour. And after 4 p.m., it is more polite to use Bonsoir.

Answer 7

There is no good translation for “Good morning”. People just say “Bonjour” or “Salut”.

“Bonne matinée” means “Have a good morning (in the future)”. People say that instead of saying “good bye”.

Likewise:

Bonne aprèm ⟶ Have a good afternoon

Bonne soirée ⟶ Have a good evening

Bonne nuit ⟶ Have a good night

Bonne journée ⟶ Have a good day

If you really want to emphasize on the morning, the following sentences are quite common:

La journée commence bien ?

Ça va, ce matin ?

Tout va bien, ce matin ?

Tu passes une bonne matinée ?

Answer 8

How to greet people is probably very region-dependant.

I would use Bonjour at any time of day when I greet someone; sometimes Bonne journée in the morning when there's still a full day ahead (and if I actually mean the person to have a good day). Bon matin exists too, but it may be unusual depending on where.

Bonjour est en général utilisé durant toute la journée et remplacé par bonsoir en soirée.

Au matin, j'utilise plutôt bonne journée (Si je le pense vraiment); mais bon matin ou bonne matinée pourraient aussi faire l'affaire.