I signed up for a french language free trial and it says that in France and most French speaking countries it is very impolite to greet a group of people with a single greeting. It gave the example. If I was walking down a street and was to pass by a group of five people standing there, I should not say bonjour to them as a whole, I am required to say it to each, five times total. The example has an audio and it says bonjour, bonjour, bonjour, bonjour, bonjour. And says this is mandatory otherwise it's an insult to the people. Are they for real or is this website misinformed?
2006-06-15 21:39:41 · 7 answers · asked by MAK 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Pff! DOn't believe this! In such a case, you're going to say:
Bonjour tout le monde or Bonjour à vous tous!!!
2006-06-16 07:56:19 · answer #1 · answered by fabee 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I'm not from France, but I haven't been beaten up by groups of French people yet.
If I were to pass them in the street, I'd probably say "Bonjour tout le monde" (hello everyone). That works in Switzerland; in Quebec you can ignore all of them. If it was a group I was actually joining, it'd definitely be more polite to say bonjour to each one, but not just Bonjour bonjour bonjour bonjour bonjour, you'd say their names or whatever.
Hmm, maybe in some French-speaking African countries you'd do the bonjour bonojour bonojour thing.
2006-06-15 22:02:12 · answer #2 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The one before me is right: if you kiss people (or shake hands), then you say "bonjour" each time. Otherwise, if you're not that well-acquainted (or for whatever reason) and you don't physically greet people, you just say "Bonjour tout le monde". I tend to do that when there are too many people or when I see my friends everyday (like at university)!
2006-06-16 01:32:53 · answer #3 · answered by Offkey 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not that impolite. you are going to say 5 times bonjour only if you are well acquainted with all of yhem and speak to everyone personally. You can simply say "bonjour messieurs et bonjour mesdames."
2006-06-15 21:46:24 · answer #4 · answered by metafrastria 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No you can says only once "bonjour"
2006-06-15 21:49:11 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you had bought the DVD you would see the cheek kissing that accompanies each greeting.
2006-06-15 22:22:57 · answer #6 · answered by leadbelly 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i agree with the 2 ppl above me
2006-06-16 01:53:27 · answer #7 · answered by pythoncharmer 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋