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What do you say and do when meeting someone for the first time in French? Once you’ve said ”hello,” polite manners include greetings, exchanging names, and sharing some basic information. Before long, you’ll want to use the phrase “nice to meet you” in French. Learn how this expression is used in formal and informal contexts, so you can make new French-speaking friends and acquaintances.
The most common way to say ‘nice to meet you’ in French
To say “nice to meet you” in French, most of the time you’ll say enchanté(e) (pronounced “ehn-shahn-tay”). The literal translation is “enchanted” to meet you, which sounds quite formal in English but is actually fairly casual in French. You’ll spell it with the extra “e” at the end if you’re a woman, but it’s pronounced exactly the same way.
- Bonjour, je m’appelle Sylvie. = Hello, my name is Sylvie.
- Bonjour, enchanté. Moi, je m’appelle Marc. = Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Marc.
>>Learn about other silent letters in French pronunciation and master the French alphabet!
Formal ways to say ‘nice to meet you’ in French
Enchanté(e) is a short form of enchanté(e) de faire votre connaissance (delighted to make your acquaintance). This entire phrase sounds more formal and polished. You might also use some of these expressions in very formal situations where you need to make a good impression:
- C’est un honneur et une joie pour moi de vous rencontrer. = It’s an honor and a joy for me to meet you.
- C’est un plaisir de vous rencontrer. = It’s a pleasure to meet you.
- Ravi(e) de faire votre connaissance. = Delighted to make your acquaintance.
Informal ways to say ‘nice to meet you’ in French
Now that you know the complete formal expressions, knowing how to say “nice to meet you” informally in French is easy. Many times you can just use a short form, such as enchanté(e) or c’est un plaisir (literally “it’s a pleasure”). These are useful for meeting people your age in a casual context.
If you’re going for the full sentence, the other important changes relate to formal vs. informal speech, which have to do with tu vs. vous in French. Here we change vous to te (you) and votre to ta (your).
- C’est un plaisir de te rencontrer. = It’s a pleasure to meet you.
- Ravi(e) de faire ta connaissance. = Delighted to make your acquaintance.
Gender agreement rules for enchanté/enchantée in French
In spoken French, you won’t hear any difference, but in written French, you’ll see that many French adjectives follow gender agreement rules. If the person speaking is a woman, the words enchantée and ravie will have another “e” at the end. This is because the words “enchanted” and “delighted/thrilled” are adjectives and must agree in both gender and number with the noun they are describing. The noun in this case is the person speaking.
- Marie: Enchantée
- Lucas: Enchanté
Other ways to say ‘nice to meet you’ in French
The aforementioned phrases are the most common in spoken and written French. They’re considered formulaic responses that are said automatically in the culture, like saying ”thank you” in French and responding. However, there are other ways to express that you’re pleased to meet someone. Instead of enchanté(e) or ravi(e), you could say that you are:
- heureux/heureuse (euhr-euh/euhr-euhz) = happy
- content/contente (cohn-tehn/cohn-tehnte) = happy
If you’re meeting a friend of a friend, you could add:
- On m’a tellement parlé de toi ! = I’ve heard so much about you!
Meet people in French with confidence
However you say “nice to meet you” in French, there’s so much more to meeting new people and carrying on confident small talk. You’ll want a strong foundation in basic French for conversations and everyday tasks. Whether you’re a true beginning learner or an intermediate French speaker, Rosetta Stone language lessons can help you advance your skills.