If you don’t know how to say good night in French, you won’t enjoy Parisian bohemia, French-speaking romance, parties, or even a good night’s rest.
Anyway, if you don’t know all the ways to say good night in French, you don’t know French. Fortunately, we have prepared for you an extensive list that includes all the ways: the ones appropriate for a party, the ones you use to say goodbye before going to sleep… all of them!
By knowing when to use each of them, you will have absolute confidence in interacting with other French speakers, and your level in the language will advance at a speed that will surprise you.
For the French, as for so many other cultures, nights are important. Since the time of the Sun King, Louis XIV, the night ceased to be only the time for meditation and rest and also became the time for protocol, celebration, and -obviously- excesses of all kinds.
Then a generic “good night” was no longer enough and the need arose to lengthen the sentence in a more impactful way, always depending on the purpose of the greeting or farewell.
Anyway, here are all the ways you’ll need to say good night in French…
How to say good night in French
Of course, first we will need a brief review of the basics and then we will move on to more elaborate alternatives for saying good night in French.
English – French
- Good night – Bonne nuit
- Good evening – Bonsoir/ Bonne soirée
- Have a nice evening – Passez une bonne nuit
- Good night, my friend – Bonne nuit, mon ami
- Good night, my friend – Bonne nuit, mon amie
- I wish you a good night – Je te/vous souhaite une bonne nuit
- Good night, little ones – Bonne nuit, les petits
- Good night, see you tomorrow – Bonne tuit, à demain
- I had a great day, goodnight – J’ai passé une bonne journée, bonne nuit
How to say good night in French to the one you like
As you may have noticed, the above cases can be used at different times of the night: some in very specific situations (such as going to sleep) and others in any case.
Now let’s get formal, or rather romantic…. Saying good night to a relative you live with is not the same as saying good night to a person you like… So pay attention:
English – French
- Good night, my love – Bonne nuit, mon amour
- Good night, sweet dreams – Bonne nuit, fans de beaux rêves
- Good night, I love you – Bonne nuit, je t’aime
- Good night, beautiful – Bonne tuit ma belle
- Good night, handsome – Bonne nuit, mon beau
- Good night, sweetheart (female) – Bonne nuit mon chéri
- Good night, sweetheart (male) – Bonne nuit, ma chérie
Other ways to say good night in French
Now let’s talk about more specific and varied situations in which we must also say good night in French, but in other ways. We will also include some typical expressions that we should say to people before going to sleep.
English – French
- Turn off the light – Éteins la lumière
- Do you have enough pillows? – Tu as assez d’oreillers?
- I have to wake up early tomorrow morning – Je dois me lever tôt demain
- Put your pajamas on – Va mettre ton pyjama
- Go to rest – Va te reposer
- It’s time to go to bed – C’est l’heure d’aller se coucher
- I am exhausted – Je suis épuisé
- I’m going to bed – Je vais me coucher
- Sweet dreams – Fais de beaux rêves
- Have a nice evening – Passe une bonne soirée
With this information, you will have noticed two things: that French is not difficult to learn, and that it requires dedication. Good news is that you have the option to study French at Lingua Language Center.
At our language school, you can learn French in person at our locations in the state of Florida, USA, or online with professional linguists with a very high pedagogical level,sign up now! Register for the next French course.