How to Say Goodnight in French

The standard way to say “goodnight” in French is “bonne nuit,”[1] but there are multiple ways you can express that sentiment. Here are a few you might want to try.

Things You Should Know

  • Say bonne nuit when you're ready to retire for the evening or before going to sleep.
  • Greet someone at night with bonsoir, which means “good night” or “good evening.”
  • If you want to tell someone to "sleep well," say dormez bien.
Part 1
Part 1 of 3:

Standard Goodnight

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    Say goodnight with Bonne nuit![2] This literally means “good night” and is used whenever someone intends to retire for the evening or go to sleep for the night.
    • Bonne means “good.”
    • Nuit means “night.”
    • Pronounce the phrase as bohn NWEE.
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    Greet someone at night with Bonsoir! This translates to “good night” or “good evening.” Use it when saying hello to someone at night, rather than saying it as you bid farewell at night.[3] .
    • The bon part of the term means “good.”
    • The soir part of the term means “evening.”
    • Pronounce this greeting as bong-SWAHR.
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Part 2
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Announcing that You're Going to Sleep

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    Announce Je vais dormir. This phrase essentially translates into, “I'm going to sleep.”[4]
    • Je means “I.”
    • Vais is derived from the French verb “aller,” which translates into “to go.”[5]
    • Dormir is a French verb meaning “to sleep.”
    • Pronounce the entire statement as zhuh vay door-mee.
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    State Je vais me coucher. This statement roughly translates into, “I am going to bed.”
    • Je means “I.”
    • Vais is derived from the French verb “aller,” which translates into “to go.”
    • Coucher is a verb meaning “to put to bed.” By adding the me before it, you are saying “putting myself to bed.”
    • Pronounce the entire statement as zhuh vay meh koo-shay.
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    Use slang by saying Je vais pieuter. This is a French slang term that also roughly means, “I am going to sleep.”[6]
    • Je means “I.”
    • Vais is derived from the French verb “aller,” which translates into “to go.”
    • Pieuter is a slang verb meaning “to sleep.”
    • The statement should be pronounced as zhuh vay pyuh-teh.
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    Casually explain Je vais roupiller. This is another French slang phrase. Essentially, it means, “I am going to snooze.”
    • Je means “I.”
    • Vais is derived from the French verb “aller,” which translates into “to go.”
    • Roupiller means “to snooze.”
    • Pronounce the statement as zhuh vay ru-pii-jeh.
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Part 3
Part 3 of 3:

Other Ways to Say Goodnight

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    Offer a Dormez bien. This phrase means “sleep well.”
    • Dormez is derived from the French verb dormir, meaning “to sleep.”
    • Bien means “well” or “good.”
    • Pronounce the phrase as door-meh byang.
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    Wish Fais de beaux rêves. Use this phrase if you want to tell someone, “sweet dreams.”
    • Fais is derived from the French verb faire, meaning "to do" or "to make."
    • De means "of."
    • Beaux translates into "beautiful."
    • Rêves translates into "dreams."
    • The sentence should be pronounced as feh duh bo RAI-vuh.
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    State "J'espère que vous dormez tranquille." This essentially translates into, “I hope you sleep soundly.”
    • J'espère is a phrase meaning, "I hope."
    • Que translates into "that."
    • Vous means "you."
    • Dormez is derived from the French verb dormir, meaning “to sleep.”
    • Tranquille means "quiet," "tranquil," "calm," or "peaceful."
    • Pronounce the entire sentence as zeh-spehr ker voo door-meh trahn-KEEL.
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    Say "Dormez comme un loir." Use this phrase if you want to tell someone, “Sleep like a log.”
    • Dormez is derived from the French verb dormir, meaning “to sleep.”
    • Comme means "such as" or "like."
    • Un loir usually translates into "a dormouse," but within this particular phrase, it typically means "a log.”[7]
    • The phrase should be pronounced as door-meh cohm eu lwar.
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    Depart with "Dormez comme un bébé." This phrase should be used if you want to tell someone, “Sleep like a baby.”
    • Dormez is derived from the French verb dormir, meaning “to sleep.”
    • Comme means "such as" or "like."
    • Un bébé translates into “a baby.”
    • Pronounce the phrase as door-meh cohm eu beh-beh.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    What is "see you tomorrow" in French?
    Dodo47
    Dodo47
    Top Answerer
    "See you tomorrow" would be translated as "à demain."
  • Question
    What if it's the morning?
    Ollieoxenfree
    Ollieoxenfree
    Community Answer
    Use bonjour.
  • Question
    How do I say, "Good night, world" in French?
    Ollieoxenfree
    Ollieoxenfree
    Community Answer
    Bonne nuit le monde.
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References

  1. ↑ https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/french-english/bonne-nuit_1
  2. ↑ http://www.languagehelpers.com/words/french/basics.html
  3. ↑ https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/2618775/Basic-French-greetings-expressions
  4. ↑ http://blogs.transparent.com/french/jaime-bien-dormir-i-like-to-sleep-well/
  5. ↑ http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/verbs/table/aller.html
  6. ↑ https://blogs.transparent.com/french/french-expressions-about-sleep/
  7. ↑ http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/loir

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 17 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 697,615 times.
69 votes - 88%
Co-authors: 17
Updated: October 25, 2022
Views: 697,615
Categories: Featured Articles | Greeting People in Other Languages
Article SummaryX

To say “Goodnight” in French, say “Bonne nuit.” Alternatively, if you want to greet someone at night by saying “Good night” or “Good evening,” tell them “Bonsoir!” To let people know that you’re going to sleep, say “Je vais dormir.” However, if you want to say that you’re going to bed, you’d tell them “Je vais me coucher.” For a more conversational, slang way of saying your going to bed, say “Je vais pieuter,” or “Je vais roupiller,” which essentially means “I am going to snooze.” To learn other ways to say goodnight, keep reading!

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