How to Say Good Luck in French

Your friend has a job interview tomorrow morning, and you want to send one quick line of encouragement in French. "Bonne chance" (bohn shahns) is the phrase almost every learner reaches for -- and it's correct here. But say the exact same words to a friend walking onstage in a play tonight, and you'll have accidentally wished them bad luck. French superstition runs the opposite direction English does in that one specific setting, and the phrase you're supposed to say instead is, genuinely, the word for "shit."

That contrast is exactly why "good luck" is worth learning properly rather than picking up as a single frozen phrase. French actually splits what English lumps into one expression into several distinct phrases, each tied to a specific kind of situation -- an outcome you can't control, an effort you're already making, a performance about to start. Get the wrong one and you'll still be understood, but you'll sound like you memorized a phrasebook rather than someone who's actually spent time around French speakers. Get it right, and a short, well-placed wish becomes one of those small moments that makes your French feel natural instead of translated.

Start with the phrase you already have: bonne chance (bohn shahns), the direct equivalent of "good luck." It's built from bonne (good, feminine to agree with chance) and chance, a word that means luck in French, not the English "chance" -- a false friend worth flagging on its own. Bonne chance belongs with outcomes that are genuinely uncertain and mostly out of the person's hands: an exam result, a job interview, a competition, a lottery ticket, a first date. "Bonne chance pour ton entretien demain" (good luck with your interview tomorrow) is exactly the message you'd send a friend the night before.

Here's the distinction most courses skip entirely: bon courage (bohn koo-rahzh) is not a synonym for bonne chance, even though English speakers often reach for "good luck" to translate both. Bon courage is for effort already underway or about to start -- a hard task, a long shift, a tough exam you're walking into right now, a difficult period you're pushing through. It wishes someone strength and stamina, not a favorable roll of the dice. You'd say bon courage to a friend sitting down to start a three-hour exam, or to a coworker heading into a rough week, but bonne chance to that same friend the night before the exam, when the outcome is still unknown. Mixing the two isn't a disaster -- native speakers will understand you either way -- but native speakers themselves keep the line sharp, and noticing it is one of those details that quietly signals real fluency.

A softer, more personal option sits alongside both: je croise les doigts (pour toi) (zhuh krwahz lay dwah poor twah), "I'm crossing my fingers (for you)." French uses the identical gesture and the identical idiom as English, so it translates cleanly and works well in a text message right before the big moment -- warmer and more specific than a plain bonne chance on its own.

For anything written and even slightly formal -- a card, a work email wishing a colleague well on a project, a note to a student before exams -- tous mes vœux de réussite (too may vuh duh ray-oo-see-tuh), "all my wishes for success," is the phrase you'll actually see printed. In spoken formal register, using vous with someone you don't know well, je vous souhaite bonne chance (I wish you good luck) upgrades the everyday version without changing its meaning.

Now the cultural exception, and it's a genuinely useful one to know. In French theatre -- and by extension among musicians, dancers, and increasingly students before a big exam -- saying bonne chance to a performer right before they go on is considered bad luck, exactly the mirror image of the English stage superstition around "good luck" (which is why English actors say "break a leg" instead). The traditional substitute in French is merde (mehrd) -- literally "shit" -- said as a single exclamation, the same way "break a leg" works in English: as a fixed idiom, not a literal wish, and definitely not something to translate word for word if you're wondering why anyone would say that to a friend. The superstition goes one layer deeper too: the traditional response to merde isn't merci -- thanking someone is supposed to jinx the wish right back, so performers customarily say nothing at all, or occasionally just repeat merde back.

Key phrases to know: bonne chance (bohn shahns) -- good luck (uncertain outcomes: exams, interviews, competitions). bon courage (bohn koo-rahzh) -- strength, keep going (effort already underway). je croise les doigts pour toi (zhuh krwahz lay dwah poor twah) -- I'm crossing my fingers for you. tous mes vœux de réussite (too may vuh duh ray-oo-see-tuh) -- all my wishes for success (formal, written). je vous souhaite bonne chance (zhuh voo swee-eht bohn shahns) -- I wish you good luck (formal, spoken). merde (mehrd) -- break a leg (theatre/performance superstition only). avoir de la chance (ah-vwahr duh lah shahns) -- to be lucky. porter chance (por-tay shahns) -- to bring luck. [AUDIO: bonne chance] [AUDIO: merde]

Picture three different texts you might actually send. Your sister has a driving test at 9am: "Bonne chance pour ton examen, je croise les doigts !" (Good luck with your exam, I'm crossing my fingers!) -- an uncertain outcome, so bonne chance fits. Your roommate is three hours into finishing a thesis chapter due at midnight: "Bon courage, tu y es presque !" (Stay strong, you're almost there!) -- effort in progress, not a gamble, so bon courage is the right call, and bonne chance would sound oddly like you doubt they'll finish. Your French pen pal is playing the lead in a school production tonight: not bonne chance, but a simple "Merde pour ce soir !" -- the phrase that actually respects the superstition instead of accidentally invoking it.

Try these before checking the answers. First, translate: "Good luck with your job interview." Second, fill in the blank with bonne chance or bon courage: Elle est en plein milieu de son marathon -- ___, elle est presque arrivée ! Third, true or false: you should say bonne chance to a friend right before they go onstage in a play. Fourth, what word do French performers traditionally say to each other instead of bonne chance? Fifth, translate: "I'm crossing my fingers for you." Sixth, which phrase fits a formal card wishing a colleague success on a big project: tous mes vœux de réussite or merde?

Answer key: Bonne chance pour ton entretien. The blank is bon courage -- she's already in the middle of the effort, not waiting on an uncertain outcome. False -- theatre superstition holds that bonne chance is bad luck for a performer; say merde instead. Merde is the traditional substitute, the French equivalent of "break a leg." Je croise les doigts pour toi. Tous mes vœux de réussite is the formal, written choice; merde is strictly informal and specific to performance superstition.

Three things worth carrying forward: bonne chance is for outcomes you can't control, while bon courage is for effort already underway -- keeping that line straight is a small detail that reads as real fluency. Merde, not bonne chance, is what you say to a performer heading onstage, and the superstition runs deep enough that native speakers skip merci in response. And when the moment calls for something warmer or more formal, je croise les doigts pour toi and tous mes vœux de réussite both go further than a bare bonne chance on its own. Next time someone you know is about to take a risk, sit an exam, or step onto a stage, you'll know exactly which phrase actually fits. For more everyday expressions like these, browse Passage's Vocabulary section, or head to Grammar to see more false friends like chance explained in full.