Basic thanks and farewells | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. À plus tard.

   See you later.

   À plus tard

   See you later

   More detail

   À plus tard is a fixed French farewell meaning “See you later.” Here, à is part of a conventional time-based farewell pattern; it is not being used as a simple standalone translation of “to.” plus tard means “later,” referring to a later time without specifying exactly when. The same pattern can be reused with another time expression. Example: À demain. — “See you tomorrow.” The context shows this parallel pattern, but the supplied utterance itself only specifies “later,” not tomorrow. Together, À + plus tard forms a brief, neutral farewell: “See you later.”

2. À demain.

   See you tomorrow.

   À demain

   See you tomorrow

   More detail

   À demain is a fixed French farewell pattern meaning “See you tomorrow.” À is the preposition used here in a time-based leave-taking expression. In this pattern, à can be followed by a day or time expression: À plus tard means “See you later,” while À demain specifies tomorrow. It is not being used here to express a location. demain means “tomorrow.” It is an invariable time adverb, so it does not change for person, number, or gender. Example: Je travaille demain. — “I’m working tomorrow.” Together, à + demain forms a concise farewell referring to a meeting or contact expected tomorrow: “See you tomorrow.”

3. Merci beaucoup.

   Thank you very much.

   Merci

   Thank you

   beaucoup

   very much

   More detail

   Merci is the standard French expression for “thank you.” It can stand alone, as here, or be expanded in reusable patterns such as merci pour + noun (“thanks for + noun”) and merci de + infinitive (“thank you for + doing something”). Example: Merci pour ton aide. — “Thank you for your help.” Beaucoup is an adverb meaning “a lot” or “very much.” In merci beaucoup, it strengthens the thanks; it is not a noun being counted. Its position after merci is part of this common expression. Example: Je l'aime beaucoup. — “I like it very much.” Together, Merci beaucoup. means “Thank you very much.” It is a complete, polite expression of thanks, and the period marks the end of the utterance.

4. C'est tout pour aujourd'hui.

   That is all today.

   C'est

   That is / it is

   tout

   all

   pour aujourd'hui

   for today

   More detail

   C'est is the common contraction of ce + est: literally “this/that is.” Ce is a demonstrative pronoun, and est is the present-tense form of être (“to be”) for the third-person singular. In this sentence, the fixed translation supports the meaning “That is.” Example: C'est important. — “That is important.” tout means “all” or “everything.” Here it expresses completeness: nothing more is included. Its form is not an inflection of est; it is a separate word. Example: Tout est prêt. — “Everything is ready.” pour commonly introduces the intended time, purpose, or recipient of something. With a time expression here, pour aujourd'hui means “for today.” Example: C'est suffisant pour aujourd'hui. — “That is enough for today.” aujourd'hui means “today.” The apostrophe is part of this established written form; it is not a reason to split the word into separate vocabulary items for this sentence. Together, C'est + tout gives “That is all,” and pour aujourd'hui specifies the time scope: “for today.” The complete utterance therefore means “That is all today,” naturally understood as “That is all for today.”

5. Bonne nuit.

   Have a good night.

   Bonne

   good

   nuit

   night

   More detail

   Bonne means “good” here. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective bon, agreeing with the feminine singular noun nuit. The basic pair is bon / bonne; the form changes to match the noun it describes. nuit means “night.” It is a feminine noun: la nuit. For example, Bonne journée. means “Have a good day”; journée is also feminine, so the adjective is bonne. Together, Bonne nuit is the usual French expression for “Have a good night.” It is a short good-night wish, with no expressed subject or verb. The reusable pattern is Bon(ne) + noun, with the adjective agreeing with the noun: Bonne nuit.

6. À la prochaine.

   See you next time.

   À la prochaine

   See you next time.

   More detail

   À la prochaine is a fixed French farewell meaning “See you next time.” It is conventionally elliptical: prochaine refers to an understood feminine noun such as fois (“time”), so it has the feminine singular form. The masculine counterpart of the adjective is prochain; for example, la prochaine fois means “next time,” while le prochain jour means “the next day.” The preposition à and article la form the beginning of this conventional expression; here, à should be understood as part of the farewell pattern rather than translated word for word as “at.” Together, the expression signals an expected future meeting without specifying when it will happen. The complete utterance therefore naturally translates as “See you next time.”