Question about punctuation

Frank C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Question about punctuation

In the first sentence, Bonjour is part of the sentence. In the second sentence, we have Bienvenue as a stand alone and not part of "Nous avons..." If the person had replied Bonjour instead of Bienvenu, would Bonjour be included in the second sentence, i.e. Bonjour, nous avons... ? Similarly, the last sentence includes bonne visite. How does one know when to include these sort of expressions in the sentence or to have them stand alone ?
Asked 3 months ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Frank, 

Now, I am not the best punctuator and we have been accused of using too many exclamation marks in the past.

Stand alone expressions like -

Bon voyage !

Bonne route !

Bienvenue !

etc

would have an exclamation mark. 

The 'bienvenue' as part of the sentence you mention could be either followed by a comma or an exclamation mark depending on the mood you are trying to create.

Please take a look at the following page I found which is pretty good in my humble opinion -

https://www.lingoda.com/blog/en/when-use-exclamation-mark/#:~:text=Opening%20with%20a%20greeting,person%20you're%20writing%20to.

Bonne Continuation !

 

Question about punctuation

In the first sentence, Bonjour is part of the sentence. In the second sentence, we have Bienvenue as a stand alone and not part of "Nous avons..." If the person had replied Bonjour instead of Bienvenu, would Bonjour be included in the second sentence, i.e. Bonjour, nous avons... ? Similarly, the last sentence includes bonne visite. How does one know when to include these sort of expressions in the sentence or to have them stand alone ?

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Clever stuff happening!