Ways to Say 'Goodbye'

01It is never easy to say goodbye, but at least in English, we have many ways to do so.

02For my final everyday grammar, I want to share the many ways to say goodbye in English.

03There are polite or formal ways.

04There are also ways we can say goodbye in everyday conversation, including fun slang that you can use.

05Goodbye is believed to have come from the expression, God be with ye, about 500 years ago.

06Ye is an old form of you.

07Over time, God became good.

08Today, the expression is for wishing someone well when you are leaving.

09Goodbye is probably the most common way to say this.

10Shorter forms include bye and bye-bye.

11If you enjoy the 1990s pop band NSYNC, you can say bye-bye-bye.

12It might sound crazy, but it ain't no lie.

13Baby, bye-bye-bye.

14When you part with someone and you want to wish them a good time, you can use this general structure.

15Have plus a plus adjective plus period of time.

16Have a good night.

17Have a wonderful weekend.

18Have a nice day.

19Have is in the imperative form of the verb.

20The imperative form gives instructions, directions, or commands.

21Imperative sentences use the base form of the verb.

22If parting ways with someone during the night time, we combine good with night to wish someone a good night.

23We use this expression usually when going to sleep at night.

24I always say good night to everyone in my house before bedtime.

25We use other command forms in formal settings to say goodbye.

26Take care of yourself is meant to wish someone physical or emotional health.

27If we have enjoyed our time with someone, we can say, It was a pleasure speaking with you.

28It plus form of be in present or past tense, plus article and noun or adjective, plus gerund, plus with you.

29It was great seeing you this weekend.

30We can also say that we look forward to seeing or speaking with someone.

31This expression suggests hope for the future.

32I look forward to our next meeting.

33I look forward to seeing you then.

34I look forward to speaking with you.

35Shorter forms of this expression include a sentence with will.

36I will see you then.

37See you then.

38Speak to you then.

39When speaking with friends and family, you can use informal ways to communicate leaving.

40Shorter forms like see you are said even more conversationally when you becomes ya in fast speech.

41We can combine the expression with an adverb to say when we will see someone in the future.

42See you soon.

43See you later.

44See you around.

45Catch you later.

46Catch you later.

47To express a similar meaning, we can use a prepositional phrase with until.

48There is no subject or object.

49Just the preposition is used.

50Until plus time expression.

51Until then.

52Until Tuesday.

53Until next week.

54If you need to leave quickly, you can use these expressions.

55Gotta is a contraction that is used in everyday speech.

56I've got to go.

57I've gotta go.

58I'm heading off.

59If you want someone to connect with you in the future, you can use these.

60Don't be a stranger.

61Keep in touch.

62If someone is leaving you on a trip, you can wish them a safe journey.

63Have a safe trip.

64Drive safely.

65Drive safe.

66Safe travels.

67Note that in drive safe, safe is what is sometimes called a flat adverb.

68These are older adverb forms in English that do not use the ly ending.

69Phrases sleep tight or go slow are examples.

70Another expression that uses a flat adverb is take it easy.

71And lastly, if you must leave quickly, you can use the expression, I've got to hit the road.

72I gotta hit the road.

73We often use it when we are going to drive somewhere, but we can use it for other means of travel.

74Finally, we have a few slang words that are used very informally in speech, especially by some groups of people.

75Slang is often spoken by young people and is generational, meaning that each new generation has its own slang.

76Remember, using slang is very informal and not a good idea in groups of people who are of several different age groups.

77From the expression, See you later, we get the one-word slang expression, later.

78You can use this word by itself or with the person's name.

79Later.

80Later, John.

81We also have the expression, I'm out of here.

82We can make this even more informal by shortening out of to outa.

83I'm out of here.

84One of my favorite expressions was often heard in 1990s and early 2000s hip-hop music, bounce.

85According to Urban Dictionary, to bounce means to leave and go somewhere else better or quickly.

86A song by Destiny's Child, Say My Name, uses this expression.

87See you gotta bounce when two seconds ago you said you just got in the house.

88In today's Everyday Grammar, we talked about different expressions we can use to say goodbye.

89Many goodbye expressions in both formal and everyday language use the imperative form.

90We also looked at some fun slang words for goodbye.

91I wanted to thank our audience for the past two years here at VOA Learning English.

92This might not be goodbye.

93Maybe it's just see you later.

94Take care.

95I'm Faith Perlow.

96And I'm John Russell.

97And I'm John Russell.

98I'm John Russell.

99I'm John Russell.

100I'm John Russell.

101I'm John Russell.