How to Say Good Morning, Good Evening & Good Night in French

Searching for how to say good morning, good evening, or good night in French? You mainly need three phrases: bonjour, bonsoir, and bonne nuit. The trick is knowing which one fits the time of day — and which ones are greetings versus goodbyes.

At-a-glance: morning, evening, night

bonjour is the default polite greeting from morning through the afternoon. Literally “good day,” it covers both English “good morning” and a friendly “hello.”

Use it when you enter a shop, start a conversation, greet a teacher, or meet someone during the day. In France, saying bonjour first is considered basic politeness.

bonsoir means “good evening.” Switch from bonjour to bonsoir when the evening starts — often around sunset or roughly after 6 p.m. Use it as an arrival greeting, just like bonjour during the day.

bonne nuit means “good night.” Unlike bonjour and bonsoir, it is not a hello. Say it when someone is going to bed or when you are leaving for the night — a farewell wish for sleep.

French often separates the greeting (hello) from the wish (have a nice…). These close cousins make your French sound natural.

Remember this trio

Next, open the dictionary entries for bonjour, bonsoir, and bonne nuit, or browse the greetings vocabulary list for more polite openers.