How To Say Nice To Meet You In French

Like in any other languages, knowing how to say Nice to meet you in French always comes in handy.

As a French coach, I recommend you make sure to know the basics so you can have lively conversations instead of awkward ones.

In this article, I’m going to teach you the most common ways of saying Nice to meet you in French and when to use them.

All you’ll have to do is learn them by heart and use them whenever necessary, according to the situation you’re in.

Let’s get started!

When you want to keep it simple: Enchanté(e)

The simplest way of greeting someone in French is saying Enchanté(e). Literally, it means “Delighted”, so you can translate it as “I’m delighted to meet you”.

This is the most basic phrase and one that doesn’t take long to memorize.

Enchanté(e) lights up the conversation instantly, grabbing the attention of the person you are conversing with.

Native French speakers tend to greet in this way when they meet someone they don’t know at all and never heard of.

Although Enchanté is used by a man and Enchantée by a woman, the pronunciation of both terms is the same.

When you want to be formal

While Enchanté(e) works well in any situation, if you actually want to be formal, you can go with these options.

Ravi(e) de faire votre connaissance

This means “Pleased to make your acquaintance”.

The wording gives off a very formal vibe.

Alternatively, you can also say Je suis ravi(e) de faire votre connaissance (I’m pleased to make your acquaintance).

If you’re talking to someone your age and want to be a little more casual, you can go with:

Ravi(e) de faire ta connaissance
Je suis ravi(e) de faire ta connaissance

Ravi(e) de vous rencontrer

This means “Pleased to meet you”.

It’s a little less formal than Ravi(e) de faire votre connaissance.

Be it a formal wedding ceremony or in a meeting, you can greet new people by saying this expression to sound humble and welcoming along with keeping it formal.

Alternatively, you can also say Je suis ravi(e) de vous rencontrer (I’m pleased to meet you).

If you want to make this sentence more casual, replace votre by ta.

Ravi(e) de te rencontrer
Je suis ravi(e) de te rencontrer

If you already know someone, but you never actually met them face-to-face before, these examples would be perfect. Formal, but on the casual side.

When you’re happy to meet someone for the first time

Sometimes, the person you meet might not be a complete stranger. Maybe you know them by name or you already heard a lot about them.

C’est un plaisir de vous rencontrer

This means “It’s a pleasure to meet you”.

While it gives a little touch of formality, it also conveys the message that you’ve been looking forward to meeting someone in person.

To be more informal, you can also say C’est un plaisir de te rencontrer.

On m’a beaucoup parlé de vous

This means “I’ve heard a lot about you”. It’s both formal and casual.

It’s a way of expressing pleasure in meeting someone, while paying them a compliment at the same time. A compliment that indicates that you have heard good things about that person.

Another variation you can use is On m’a tellement parlé de vous (I’ve heard so much about you).

When you’re at the end of the conversation

All the above phrases are used only at the beginning of the conversation when you’re saying “It’s nice to meet you”, present tense.

When the conversation is coming to an end and you want to say “It was nice meeting you”, you can say:

C’était un plaisir de faire votre connaissance (formal)
C’était un plaisir de faire ta connaissance (formal, but casual)
C’était un plaisir de vous rencontrer (formal)
C’était un plaisir de te rencontrer (formal, but casual)

If you had a good time with that person, you can also tell them it was great talking with them:

C’était un plaisir de discuter avec vous (formal)
C’était un plaisir de discuter avec toi (formal, but casual)
Ça m’a fait plaisir de parler avec toi (informal)

How to say “Nice to meet you too” in French?

If someone beats you to it and you end up on the receiving end of an “Nice to meet you”, you’ll be glad you learned the following options.

Simply answer with:

De même (formal)
Également (formal)
Moi aussi (informal)

They are all variations of the English “me too” and express the feeling that you’re equally pleased to meet that person.

The bottom line

Now you know exactly how to say Nice to meet you in French!

Knowing how to adequately greet people in French can get you good friends and make you adjust to a new place more easily.

They say the first impression is your last, so make it as strong as possible by greeting people properly in French!

If you want to get to know the person you’ve just met, here’s how to introduce yourself in French.