How to Say Cheers in French (+ the Toasting Rules That Matter)

The way to say “cheers” in French is Santé ! — pronounced sahn-TAY — and it works everywhere French is spoken, from a zinc bar in Paris to a family Sunday lunch in Provence. Literally, it means “health”: you raise your glass and wish everyone good health, the same idea behind toasts in dozens of languages.

That one word will carry you through most evenings. But French toasting comes with etiquette — real rules that French people genuinely follow, starting with eye contact — and a couple of charming variations worth knowing. Skip the rules and nobody will say anything, but they’ll notice. Let’s make sure they don’t.

The main way to say it

Santé ! — sahn-TAY

A few pronunciation notes so you sound natural:

• The first syllable is nasal: san is not “san” as in “sandwich” — the n isn’t fully pronounced, the vowel goes through the nose. Think “sah(n),” letting the n color the vowel rather than landing on it.
• The é at the end is a clean “ay” sound, crisp and short: sahn-TAY.
• The stress, as almost always in French, falls gently on the last syllable.

You’ll also hear the fuller version À votre santé ! (ah vot-ruh sahn-TAY — “to your health!”) in slightly more formal or ceremonious moments, and its casual sibling À la tienne ! (see below). To toast to something or someone, use trinquer à or just raise your glass with À… : À Paul ! (To Paul!), À nous ! (To us!).

Variations

French	Pronunciation	When to use it
Santé !	sahn-TAY	The universal default, any occasion
Tchin-tchin !	cheen-CHEEN	Playful and casual — extremely common among friends
À la tienne !	ah lah TYEN	”To yours (your health)!” — informal, tu register
À la vôtre !	ah lah VOHT-ruh	Same toast in vous form — colleagues, elders, groups
À votre santé !	ah vot-ruh sahn-TAY	Fuller and slightly formal — dinners, speeches
À nous ! / À toi !	ah NOO / ah TWAH	”To us!” / “To you!” — warm and personal
Cul sec !	koo SEK	”Bottoms up!” — very casual, means you’re draining the glass

Tu or vous, even in a toast. À la tienne is for a friend; à la vôtre is for your boss, your in-laws, or any group. It’s the same tu/vous logic that runs through all of French — yes, even three drinks in.

Tchin-tchin deserves a note: unlike in Mexico (where chin chin raises eyebrows), in France it’s completely innocent and extremely common — a cheerful onomatopoeia for glasses clinking. You’ll hear it between friends constantly, sometimes doubled with the gesture and nothing else.

Now, the etiquette — this is the part French people actually care about:

• Eye contact is mandatory. When you clink glasses (trinquer), you look each person in the eyes at the moment of the clink. Toasting while staring at your glass is genuinely noticed, and superstition says the penalty is seven years of bad luck in bed. French people will happily remind you of this.
• Never cross arms. If several pairs of glasses are clinking over the table at once, wait your turn — crossing another pair mid-clink is also bad luck.
• Clink with everyone. At a table of six, you clink six times, with eye contact each time. It’s a little ritual, and rushing it reads as cold.
• Don’t drink before the toast. Wait until everyone is served and glasses have met. Sipping early at a French dinner is the equivalent of starting the meal before “bon appétit.”

Hear it in context

Apéro with friends on a Paris terrace:

— Allez, on trinque ! À la tienne, Marie. — À la vôtre ! Et regardez-moi dans les yeux, sinon ça porte malheur. — Tchin-tchin !

— Come on, let’s toast! To your health, Marie. — To yours! And look me in the eyes, or it’s bad luck. — Cheers!

A dinner with your partner’s parents (vous register):

— Je voudrais porter un toast. À votre santé, et merci pour cette magnifique soirée. — À la vôtre ! Vous êtes ici chez vous. — Santé !

— I’d like to raise a toast. To your health, and thank you for this wonderful evening. — To yours! Make yourself at home. — Cheers!

Common mistakes

• Toasting without eye contact. The number one foreigner slip. Glass up, eyes locked, then clink. French friends will correct you — with a grin and the seven-years warning.
• Saying “Santé” after a sneeze only… actually, do. Like Spanish salud, santé ! (or à tes souhaits !) is also what you say when someone sneezes. Same word, zero confusion — context does the work.
• Using “à la tienne” with your boss. That’s tu register. With anyone you vouvoie, it’s à la vôtre. A toast is not a free pass out of French formality.
• Translating the email sign-off “Cheers.” Ending an English email with “cheers” maps to cordialement or bien à vous in French — never santé, which would read like you’re toasting your accountant.
• Putting your glass down between the toast and the first sip. Tradition says the glass that clinked must reach your lips before it touches the table. Low stakes, but the detail charms.

Related phrases

Toasts happen at celebrations, so these pages pair well:

• How to say happy birthday in French — the toast usually follows the song
• How to say thank you in French — for thanking your host before you raise the glass
• And for the rest of the evening’s conversation, this roundup of common French phrases will carry you through.

FAQ

Is “santé” formal or informal? Completely neutral — use it with friends, colleagues, or your in-laws. Formality comes from what surrounds it: à votre santé and à la vôtre lean polite, tchin-tchin and à la tienne lean casual.

What’s the difference between “à la tienne” and “à la vôtre”? Register. À la tienne is the tu form (friends, family, peers); à la vôtre is the vous form (formal address, or any group of people). Both mean “to your health.”

Do French people really care about eye contact when toasting? Yes — it’s the one toasting rule everyone knows and enforces, jokingly citing seven years of bad luck (in bed) for offenders. Clink, look, drink.

Is “tchin-tchin” rude in French? Not at all — in France it’s a cheerful, casual “cheers,” heard constantly between friends. (Its reputation problem exists in some other languages, not in French.)

How do I toast “to” someone or something? Raise your glass with à + the person or thing: À Sophie !, À nous !, À votre nouvelle maison ! For a fuller sentence, Je voudrais porter un toast à…

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Want to practice your Santé ! — nasal vowel, eye contact and all — before the next apéro? Amélie, an AI French tutor with a Parisian accent, will happily raise a virtual glass and correct your pronunciation in real time.