Myth or fact
French greetings across a room: who does everyone include?
Choose bonjour tout le monde, bonjour à tous or bonjour à toutes for a room. Test six claims about group greetings and greeting one person.
- A1
- 6 claims
- Vrai ou faux ?
- Learn this in the A1 notebook →
In short
Bonjour tout le monde ! greets the whole group and works for a room with any mix of people. Bonjour à toutes ! addresses women or girls as a group. Bonjour à tous ! is a common greeting for a male or mixed group. Bonjour Léa ! addresses Léa individually.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
You enter a small language workshop and see several people around a table. A group greeting lets you acknowledge the room before introducing yourself. The words after bonjour tell listeners how wide the greeting is: one named person, everyone present, or a group referred to with toutes or tous.
| Greeting | People addressed |
|---|---|
| Bonjour Léa ! | Léa individually |
| Bonjour tout le monde ! | The whole group present |
| Bonjour à toutes ! | A group addressed in the feminine plural |
| Bonjour à tous ! | Commonly a male or mixed group |
Vrai ou faux ? Decide before you see the verdict.
You enter a room with men and women. Bonjour tout le monde can greet them together.
Bonjour tout le monde !
VraiTout le monde addresses everyone in the group without choosing a masculine or feminine plural form.
Bonjour Léa automatically greets every person in the room by name.
Bonjour Léa !
FauxThe name Léa directs the greeting to that one person. Use a group greeting to address the room.
A speaker can use Bonjour à toutes when addressing a group of women.
Bonjour à toutes !
VraiToutes is the feminine plural form and can refer to the women being addressed.
Bonjour tout le monde is only suitable when every listener is a close friend.
Bonjour tout le monde !
FauxThe expression also works in ordinary group situations such as a class or a team meeting.
Bonjour à tous is commonly used for a mixed group.
Bonjour à tous !
VraiTous is commonly used for a male or mixed group. Tout le monde is another straightforward group option.
After Bonjour tout le monde, you can introduce yourself with Je m’appelle Ana.
Bonjour tout le monde ! Je m’appelle Ana.
VraiThe first sentence greets the room; the second gives the name of the person who has just arrived.
Greet the room, then speak to a person
Bonjour tout le monde ! Bonjour Léa, je peux m’asseoir ici ?
Hello everyone! Hello Léa, can I sit here?
The first greeting includes the group. The second names the person who can answer the seating question. That change in scope is useful: you acknowledge everyone, then make it clear who should respond. You can also greet the group and immediately introduce yourself: Bonjour tout le monde, je m’appelle Ana. A pause after the greeting keeps the introduction easy to follow.
Keep tout le monde together
Tout le monde is a fixed expression meaning everyone. It is grammatically singular: Tout le monde est là ? asks whether everyone is here. Tous and toutes are plural when they refer to the people in the greeting. In Bonjour à tous, keep à before tous. In Bonjour tout le monde, there is no à.
For a routine arrival, bonjour is enough to begin. You do not need to add Madame or Monsieur to every name. In a group that uses a particular greeting convention, you can follow the speaker’s lead. Bonjour tout le monde remains a practical phrase to have ready when your aim is simply to greet the people in front of you.