Enchanté or ravi de vous rencontrer: pleased to meet you in French
Choose a short or fuller French introduction, match enchanté and ravi to the speaker, and practise tu and vous in two first-meeting scenes.
In short
Enchanté ! is a short “pleased to meet you”. Ravi de vous rencontrer ! says it more fully. Both adjectives describe the speaker: Nora writes enchantée or ravie; Samir writes enchanté or ravi.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
How do you say “pleased to meet you” in French?
Enchanté ! / Enchantée !Pleased to meet you!
Focus: a brief response after names are exchanged
Enchanté(e) + optional name
Enchantée, Samir. Je m’appelle Nora.
Pleased to meet you, Samir. My name is Nora.
Ravi de vous rencontrer. / Ravie de vous rencontrer.Very pleased to meet you.
Focus: a fuller expression of pleasure at meeting someone
(Je suis) ravi(e) de vous rencontrer
Je suis ravi de vous rencontrer, madame Laurent.
I’m very pleased to meet you, Ms Laurent.
The longer phrase works well when someone introduces a colleague or guest. The short one also fits a courteous introduction at work. Choose the length that suits your turn; both leave room for a question about the other person.
- Claire
Nora, je vous présente Samir, notre nouveau collègue.
Nora, let me introduce Samir, our new colleague.
- Nora
Enchantée, Samir. Je travaille avec Claire.
Pleased to meet you, Samir. I work with Claire.
- Samir
Ravi de vous rencontrer. Vous travaillez sur quel projet ?
Very pleased to meet you. Which project are you working on?
- Nora
Sur le projet de la bibliothèque. Et vous ?
The library project. And you?
Enchanté or enchantée: which spelling?
| Speaker | Short reply | Full reply |
|---|---|---|
| Samir (masculine) | Enchanté ! | Je suis ravi de vous rencontrer. |
| Nora (feminine) | Enchantée ! | Je suis ravie de vous rencontrer. |
The extra -e in enchantée and ravie is silent. Nora keeps the feminine spelling whether she meets Samir or Claire. In the full sentence, je suis makes the link especially clear: the adjective describes je.
How do you say “nice to meet you” informally in French?
- Léa
Samir, voici ma sœur Nora.
Samir, this is my sister Nora.
- Samir
Salut Nora, enchanté !
Hi Nora, pleased to meet you!
- Nora
Ravie de te rencontrer ! Léa me parle souvent de toi.
Very pleased to meet you! Léa often tells me about you.
Use te for one person you address as tu: ravi de te rencontrer. Keep vous for a person you address as vous, or for several people. When you meet someone again, Content de vous revoir ! means “happy to see you again”; a female speaker writes Contente de vous revoir !