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]
How to say good night in French
Example sentences
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) or faites de beaux rêves (formal).
Fais de beaux rêves!
Sweet dreams!
Sleep well!
The verb dormir means to sleep. Hence, to say “sleep well” to somebody you know, say, Dors bien (informal) or dormez bien (formal).
Dors bien! / Dormez bien!
Sleep well!
Go to bed!
There are two ways to say to go to bed: aller au lit (literally to go to the bed) and the reflexive verb se coucher. Hence, “Go to bed!”, to somebody you know you can say: “Va au lit !” or “Couche-toi !” (both informal). Il est l’heure d’aller se coucher mean’s it’s time for bed.
Va au lit!
Go to bed!
Bonne nuit vs. bonsoir
Bonsoir is a greeting and it’s used when saying hello during the evening hours. Bonne nuit, however, is a way of saying goodnight or goodbye at the very end of the the evening.
Bonsoir!
Good evening!
Bonne nuit vs bonne soirée
The term soirée refers to the course of the evening. Hence, bonne soirée translates to “Have a nice evening”.
Bonne soirée!
Have a nice evening!
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 say bonne nuit.
Related lessons:
- Good morning in French
- Bonjour usage and pronunciation
- Bonsoir – good evening
- Se coucher – to go to bed
- Se réveiller – to wake up
References:
Word of the Day archive | Lessons by David Issokson
