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Good Manners

	Bonjour, comment vas-tu ? Bonjour Monsieur, comment allez-vous ? Salut, comment ça va ? The first is friendly, The second is formal and respectful: it's the polite way of greeting someone older whom you don't know very well or at all. The third is familiar, between close friends.

You obviously can't greet everyone, but in France people like to say hello when they enter a shop, an office, or a lift.

To shake hands or to kiss? The French shake hands a lot when they meet or take leave of each other. They embrace if they know each other well.

A bise, a kiss on the cheek, is a sign of friendship and familiarity between people who know each other, for example the members of a sports club. After a win or some good result, they express their feelings with hugs and kisses.

One kiss on each cheek or two? It depends on the region and the age. Young people tend to give four kisses, while their elders find that one kiss on each cheek is enough.

Tu or vous

The use of tu is automatic between young people, friends, and members of the family: parents and children call each other tu, uncles and aunts and nieces and nephews as well.

Vous is for more formal situations, for instance to people older than yourself, teachers or employers. Or when, of course, you are speaking to more than one person!