Bon courage or bonne chance? Encourage effort or wish someone luck

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Choose bon courage for effort and bonne chance for a hoped-for result. Compare an exam week, useful pour phrases and four questions with feedback.

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In short

Bon courage ! encourages someone facing work or a difficult moment. Bonne chance ! wishes them a good result. Before an exam, both fit: one supports the effort, the other the outcome.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

A friend encouraging a student carrying books toward a French examination hall.
A few words of bon courage support the effort ahead. Illustration: Atelier

What is the difference between bon courage and bonne chance?

bon couragekeep going; all the best with it

Focus: the effort someone is making

bon courage pour + a task

Bon courage pour tes révisions !
All the best with your revision!

Tu travailles encore ? Bon courage !
Still working? Hang in there!

bonne chancegood luck

Focus: the result someone hopes for

bonne chance pour + an event

Bonne chance pour ton examen !
Good luck with your exam!

Bonne chance pour ton entretien !
Good luck with your interview!

Think of an exam week: bon courage fits the long evening of revision; bonne chance fits the moment your friend goes in. During preparation, either can work. Choose the part of the experience you want to encourage.

Monday evening, then Tuesday morning

La veille de l’examen
  1. Inès

    J’ai encore trois chapitres à revoir.

    I still have three chapters to revise.

  2. Léo

    Bon courage ! Tu veux qu’on révise ensemble ?

    Hang in there! Shall we revise together?

  3. Inès

    Oui, merci. L’examen commence demain à neuf heures.

    Yes, thanks. The exam starts tomorrow at nine.

  4. Léo

    Alors, bonne chance pour demain !

    Well, good luck for tomorrow!

  5. Inès

    Merci, à toi aussi !

    Thanks, you too!

Small words that make the wish specific
You want to encourage…Say
today’s workBon courage pour aujourd’hui !
someone’s final rehearsalBon courage pour la dernière répétition !
someone’s interviewBonne chance pour votre entretien !
the whole groupBonne chance à tous !

Courage is masculine, so write bon courage. Chance is feminine, so write bonne chance. The short wishes stay the same with a friend or someone you call vous; the possessive changes: ton entretien or votre entretien. A simple Merci ! answers either wish.

Bon courage pour les révisions, et bonne chance pour l’examen !

All the best with the revision, and good luck with the exam!

Question 1No account needed
Your friend still has a long evening of revision. Which wish focuses on that effort?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Bon courage !. Bon courage supports someone through the work still ahead.

Question 2No account needed
Which wish explicitly means “good luck”?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Bonne chance !. Bonne chance wishes the other person a favourable outcome.

Question 3No account needed
Complete the good-luck wish.___ chance pour demain !

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Bonne. Chance is feminine, so its adjective is bonne.

Question 4No account needed
Why can both wishes fit before an exam?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

There is effort as well as a hoped-for result.. Revision and taking the exam involve effort; passing is the hoped-for result.

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