This lesson provides six ways to say good night in French: bonne nuit. We’ll also cover several related expressions such as dors bien (sleep) well, va au lit (go to bed) and bonne soirée (have a good evening).
Bonne nuit!
Good night!
Pronunciation: [bɔn nɥi]
Good night in French
Sweet dreams!
In addition to saying “bonne nuit” before going to sleep, it’s nice to wish somebody sweet dreams.
In French, the phrase for sweet dreams is: “Fais de beaux rêves” (informal, said to a friend or a young person) or “Faites de beaux rêves” (formal, said to a stranger or somebody older).
This expression literally means, “make beautiful dreams”.
Fais de beaux rêves!
Sweet dreams!
Sleep well!
In French, the verb “dormir“ means to sleep. Hence, to say “sleep well” to somebody you know, say, “Dors bien”. If you don’t know the person very well use the polite form: “Dormez bien”.
Dors bien! / Dormez bien!
Sleep well!
Go to bed!
In French, there are two ways to say to go to bed: “aller au lit” (literally to go to the bed) and “se coucher” (reflexive verb).
Hence to tell somebody, “Go to bed!”, to somebody you know you can say:
- Va au lit. Go to bed.
- Couche-toi! Go to bed.
Va au lit!
Go to bed!
If you’re speaking to somebody you don’t know or somebody older you can say:
- Allez au lit. Go to bed.
- Couchez-vous. Go to bed.
It’s bedtime or “it’s time to go to bed” in French is: “Il est l’heure d’aller se coucher!“, translating literally to “It’s the hour to go to bed”.
Bonne nuit vs. bonsoir
It’s very important to know when to use bonne nuit and when to use bonsoir.
Bonsoir is a greeting and it’s used when saying hello to somebody else during the evening hours. It is a greeting. Bonne nuit, however, is a way of saying goodbye at the very end of the the evening.
Bonsoir!
Good evening!
Bonne nuit vs bonne soirée
It is easy to confuse bonne nuit with “bonne soirée”. The term “soirée” refers to the course of the evening.
Hence, “Bonne soirée” translates to “Have a nice evening”. You would use this expression when there are still more hours remaining in the evening before somebody turns in for the night.
Bonne soirée!
Have a nice evening!
How to say good night to kids
French has a cute way of saying good night for kids. In French, “faire dodo” means “faire dormir” (literally to make sleep) or “to go night-night” in English.
Thus, “Va faire dodo” is a cute way of saying “go beddy-bye”.
Va faire dodo!
Go beddy-bye!
Common mistake: Don’t say “bon nuit”
“Bon nuit” is incorrect. This is a common mistake.
Bon is the masculine form of good. However, since the word nuit is feminine (la nuit), you must put “bon” in the feminine form of “bonne”. Hence, “bonne nuit”.
Counting sheep in French
In English, the expression “to count sheep” refers to doing mental exercises to try to fall asleep. In French, “compter les moutons” means to count sheep.
Related lessons:
References:
Word of the Day Archive | Lessons by David Issokson
