When you first learn French, you probably come across the verb rencontrer as the main way to say 'to meet'. While that's a great start, the French language, much like English, has a variety of words to express this simple action, each with its own subtle nuance. Are you meeting someone for the first time? Are you meeting up with friends you already know? Or are you trying to meet a deadline? The word you choose can change everything! Let's dive into nine different ways to talk about 'meeting' in French, so you can sound more like a native speaker in any situation.

The standard 'to meet' (especially for the first time) – rencontrer

The standard verb for “to meet” in French, especially when meeting someone for the first time, is rencontrer.

Rencontrer has two main meanings: to meet someone for the first time, or to run into someone unexpectedly (to bump into).

Good news for learners: rencontrer is a regular -er verb, which makes its conjugation predictable. For example, the present tense for 'I meet' is je rencontre.

The most common use of rencontrer is to describe the moment you are introduced to someone or meet them for the very first time. This is often used when telling the story of how you met a friend, partner, or colleague.

It's also the perfect verb for when you unexpectedly see someone you know. If you say J'ai rencontré Sophie au marché, it implies you bumped into her by chance, not that you had planned to see her there.

Don't confuse rencontrer with retrouver. While both can mean 'to meet', retrouver is used for meeting up with someone you already know, usually at a pre-arranged time and place. Think of it as 're-finding' them. Use rencontrer for the first time or by chance; use retrouver for planned meet-ups.

The reflexive form, se rencontrer, means 'to meet each other'. In the past tense (se sont rencontrés), it often carries the romantic implication that this is when a couple first met and began their relationship.

Rencontrer isn't just for people! You can also use it to mean 'to encounter' or 'to face' an abstract concept, like a problem or success. For example: Notre projet a rencontré un grand succès (Our project met with great success).

💡 * J'ai rencontré mon mari en 2010. (I met my husband in 2010.)

• Hier, j'ai rencontré un vieil ami au supermarché. (Yesterday, I ran into an old friend at the supermarket.)
• C'est un plaisir de vous rencontrer enfin. (It's a pleasure to finally meet you.)
• Ils se sont rencontrés lors d'une fête. (They met each other at a party.)
• L'entreprise a rencontré des difficultés financières. (The company encountered financial difficulties.)

The 'to meet up with' (someone you know) – retrouver

When you want to say you're meeting up with someone you already know in French, the verb you'll most often use is retrouver.

Retrouver literally means 'to find again.' This is key to its meaning: it implies a pre-existing connection. You use it when you're meeting a friend, family member, or colleague, usually at a planned time and place.

This is a crucial distinction from the verb rencontrer, which means 'to meet for the first time' or 'to run into' someone by chance. You rencontre a new person, but you retrouve a friend.

Beyond meeting people, retrouver also means 'to find' something (or someone) that was lost or that you were looking for. Think of it as 're-finding' it.

The reflexive form, se retrouver, is also very common. It can mean 'to find oneself' in a certain situation or place, or it can be used for a group of people meeting up, like 'On se retrouve au café' (Let's meet at the café).

💡 * Je vais retrouver mes amis au cinéma ce soir. (I'm going to meet up with my friends at the cinema tonight.)

• J'ai enfin retrouvé mes clés ! (I finally found my keys!)
• On se retrouve devant la gare à 8h ? (Shall we meet in front of the train station at 8?)
• Après le déménagement, il s'est retrouvé sans argent. (After the move, he found himself without any money.)

The formal 'to make the acquaintance of' – faire la connaissance de

For formal situations, or when you want to be particularly polite, the French phrase faire la connaissance de is the perfect way to express 'to meet someone for the first time' or 'to make someone's acquaintance'.

Literally translating to 'to make the acquaintance of', this expression is used specifically for the initial meeting with a person. It carries a more formal and deliberate tone than other verbs for 'to meet'.

While rencontrer can mean 'to meet' in various contexts (by chance, for a planned meeting), faire la connaissance de is exclusively for the first time you are introduced to someone. Using it shows a higher level of politeness and formality.

This is a verb phrase where the verb faire (to make/do) is conjugated according to the subject and tense. The rest of the phrase, la connaissance de, remains unchanged. For example: je fais la connaissance de... (I meet...), il a fait la connaissance de... (he met...).

You will frequently hear this phrase in set polite expressions. A classic example is when you are introduced to someone, you can say, Enchanté(e) de faire votre connaissance, which means 'Delighted to meet you' or 'Pleased to make your acquaintance'.

💡 * Je suis ravi de faire votre connaissance. (I am delighted to meet you.)

• Nous avons fait la connaissance de nos nouveaux voisins ce week-end. (We met our new neighbors this weekend.)
• C'est au bureau que j'ai fait la connaissance de mon mari. (It was at the office that I met my husband.)
• Il fera la connaissance de ses beaux-parents demain soir. (He will meet his parents-in-law tomorrow evening.)

The 'to see each other' or 'get together' – se voir

The 'to see each other' or 'get together' – se voir

Se voir is the reflexive form of the verb voir (to see). The reflexive pronoun 'se' indicates a reciprocal action, meaning the action is done to one another. So, while voir means 'to see', se voir means 'to see each other'.

This verb is extremely common for making plans or arranging to meet up with friends, family, or colleagues. It's the direct equivalent of saying 'to get together' or 'to meet up' in English.

To use it, you conjugate voir as usual but add the correct reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) before the verb. For instance, 'on se voit' means 'we'll see each other' and 'vous vous voyez' means 'you see each other'.

💡 * On se voit demain soir ? (Shall we see each other tomorrow evening?)

• Ça fait longtemps qu'on ne s'est pas vus. (It's been a long time since we've seen each other.)
• Ils se voient souvent au parc. (They often see each other at the park.)
• J'espère qu'on pourra se voir bientôt. (I hope we can get together soon.)

The 'to run into' or 'bump into' – croiser

The verb croiser literally means 'to cross,' such as croiser les bras (to cross one's arms). However, its most common conversational use is to express the idea of 'running into' or 'bumping into' someone by chance.

You use croiser to describe an unplanned, brief encounter with someone you know. It perfectly captures that moment when you unexpectedly see a friend or acquaintance while out and about.

As a regular -er verb, croiser is straightforward to conjugate. It's a transitive verb, so it's always followed by a direct object (the person you run into). For example: J'ai croisé Marie (I ran into Marie).

Since you are often talking about a past event, you will most frequently hear and use croiser in the passé composé tense. For example, Hier, j'ai croisé mon ancien professeur (Yesterday, I ran into my old teacher).

It's important to distinguish croiser from rencontrer. While rencontrer can mean 'to meet,' it often implies a planned meeting or meeting someone for the first time. Croiser is strictly for accidental, brief encounters with people you already know.

💡 * J'ai croisé ton frère au supermarché hier. (I ran into your brother at the supermarket yesterday.)

• Si tu croises Sophie, dis-lui de m'appeler. (If you bump into Sophie, tell her to call me.)
• C'est drôle, on se croise toujours au même endroit ! (It's funny, we always run into each other in the same place!)
• Quelle surprise de te croiser ici ! (What a surprise to run into you here!)

The 'to get together' (as a group) – se réunir

The primary French verb for a group of people 'getting together' is se réunir. This reflexive verb literally translates to 'to reunite' or 'to gather oneself together' and is used for both planned meetings and informal gatherings. It's the most direct equivalent for when a group assembles in one place.

You can use se réunir in a wide range of contexts. It's appropriate for formal situations like a board meeting (le conseil d'administration se réunit) as well as for personal events like a family reunion (la famille se réunit). The key idea is the act of convening or coming together.

As a reflexive verb, se réunir requires a reflexive pronoun that matches the subject (e.g., nous nous réunissons for 'we get together'). In the passé composé, it is conjugated with the auxiliary verb être, not avoir. For example: Ils se sont réunis hier soir (They got together last night).

A close alternative is se retrouver, which often implies a more casual 'meeting up'. While se réunir can sound a bit more organized, se retrouver is very common among friends. For instance, On se retrouve au cinéma ? means 'Should we meet up at the movies?' It focuses more on the 'finding each other' aspect of getting together.

💡 * La famille se réunit tous les ans pour les fêtes.

• Nous nous sommes réunis pour célébrer son anniversaire.
• L'équipe va se réunir demain pour discuter de la stratégie.
• Quand est-ce qu'on se réunit pour finir ce projet ?

The 'to arrange to meet' – donner rendez-vous à

The French expression donner rendez-vous à quelqu'un is the standard way to say 'to arrange to meet someone' or 'to set a date with someone'. While it literally translates to 'to give an appointment to someone,' its use is much broader, covering everything from formal appointments to casual meetups with friends.

This is an idiomatic phrase. It combines the verb donner (to give), the noun rendez-vous (a meeting or appointment), and the preposition à. The person you are arranging to meet is the indirect object of the verb. For example, 'to arrange to meet him' is lui donner rendez-vous.

You will very often encounter the pronominal form, se donner rendez-vous. This version means 'to arrange to meet each other' and is used when the subjects of the verb are mutually setting the meeting. For instance, On se donne rendez-vous means 'Let's arrange to meet'.

💡 * Je te donne rendez-vous demain à 15h devant le café. (I'll arrange to meet you tomorrow at 3 PM in front of the café.)

• Le manager lui a donné rendez-vous pour un entretien. (The manager set up an interview with him.)
• Ils se sont donné rendez-vous au restaurant pour fêter leur anniversaire. (They arranged to meet each other at the restaurant to celebrate their anniversary.)
• Où est-ce qu'on se donne rendez-vous ? (Where should we arrange to meet?)

The 'to join' someone somewhere – rejoindre

The verb rejoindre is the primary way to express the idea of 'to join' or 'to meet up with' someone at a specific location. It's an essential verb for making plans in French.

The core idea behind rejoindre is meeting a person or group that is already present somewhere. It implies you are traveling to their location to join them, not simply becoming a member of a group in a general sense.

Be careful with conjugation! Rejoindre is an irregular verb. Its present tense forms are: je rejoins, tu rejoins, il/elle rejoint, nous rejoignons, vous rejoignez, ils/elles rejoignent.

While se joindre à can also mean 'to join', rejoindre is more common for the physical act of meeting people. For instance, you rejoins tes amis (join your friends at a place), but you te joins à la conversation (join the conversation).

💡 * Je vais vous rejoindre au restaurant dans dix minutes.

• Elle a rejoint ses amis au cinéma.
• Tu nous rejoins pour le dîner ce soir ?
• Ils ont rejoint la fête plus tard dans la soirée.

1. The Verb for Stumbling Upon: Tomber Sur

The French expression tomber sur is the most common way to say you've stumbled upon, come across, or run into someone or something purely by chance. The key element is the unexpected nature of the discovery.

This phrase is constructed with the verb tomber (to fall) followed by the preposition sur (on). Remember that in the passé composé, tomber is a verb of movement and must be conjugated with the auxiliary verb être. For example, you would say je suis tombé(e) sur... (I stumbled upon...).

While its literal meaning is "to fall on," tomber sur is almost always used figuratively. It's different from rencontrer (to meet), which can be planned. Tomber sur implies a complete accident, like finding a rare book in a shop or unexpectedly seeing a friend downtown.

💡 * En rangeant le grenier, je suis tombé sur mon vieux journal intime. (While cleaning the attic, I stumbled upon my old diary.)

• Hier au supermarché, elle est tombée sur son ancien professeur. (Yesterday at the supermarket, she ran into her former teacher.)
• J'espère que nous allons tomber sur un bon restaurant ce soir. (I hope we'll come across a good restaurant tonight.)
• Il est tombé sur un article fascinant en naviguant sur internet. (He came across a fascinating article while browsing the internet.)

Are there other ways to say 'to meet' in French?

Are there other ways to say 'to meet' in French?

Our guide has walked you through the most crucial verbs for 'to meet' in French, from the formal rencontrer to the casual retrouver. However, French is a rich language with many regional variations and evolving slang!

To expand your vocabulary, try searching online for phrases like “comment se donner rendez-vous en verlan” or “expressions pour se rencontrer au Québec” to discover more localized terms.

Always pay close attention to the context. Is the meeting planned or a chance encounter? Is it the first time or a regular get-together? These details will determine whether rencontrer, retrouver, or another verb is the right choice.

Immerse yourself in the language! As you watch French films, listen to French music, or read French books, take note of how characters arrange to see each other. This is the best way to internalize the nuances.

If you're ever unsure about the subtle differences, the forums on WordReference for verbs like rencontrer are an excellent resource where native speakers often discuss these very questions.

We hope this article helps you feel more confident about arranging your next meeting in French. We'll leave you with a classic French proverb that perfectly captures the spirit of a successful encounter: Les grands esprits se rencontrent. (Great minds think alike.)