Bonsoir, bonne soirée or bonne nuit? An evening French cheat sheet

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated 26 September 2026 · About the library

Use bonsoir to greet, bonne soirée to wish a good evening and bonne nuit before sleep. Compare three short scenes and test the difference.

In short

Bonsoir ! greets someone in the evening and can also be an evening goodbye. Bonne soirée ! means “Have a good evening!” Bonne nuit ! wishes someone a good night, especially before sleep.

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A teacher waves to two learners leaving an evening class. — After class, bonne soirée wishes everyone a pleasant evening. Illustration: Atelier

Three evening formulas

1 · Arriving in the evening

Use the one-word greeting when an evening encounter starts. It works with a friend, a group or someone you call vous.

Bonsoir, je viens pour le cours de français.Good evening, I’m here for the French class.

Bonsoir Léa, entre !Hi Léa, come in!

2 · Wishing a pleasant evening

Wish the other person a pleasant evening. Add au revoir for an explicit goodbye, or return the wish with à vous aussi.

Au revoir, bonne soirée !Goodbye, have a good evening!

Merci, à vous aussi !Thanks, you too!

3 · Going to bed

Use this when someone is heading to bed, or when you part for the night.

Je vais me coucher. Bonne nuit !I’m going to bed. Good night!

Bonne nuit, à demain !Good night, see you tomorrow!

When do you say bonsoir, bonne soirée or bonne nuit?

Before the evening class

Teacher
Bonsoir à tous ! Vous êtes prêts ?
Good evening, everyone! Are you ready?
Learner
Bonsoir ! Oui, on peut commencer.
Good evening! Yes, we can start.

After the class

Learner
Merci pour le cours. Bonne soirée !
Thank you for the class. Have a good evening!
Teacher
À vous aussi, à jeudi !
You too, see you Thursday!

Later, at home

Léa
Je suis fatiguée. Je vais me coucher.
I’m tired. I’m going to bed.
Paul
Bonne nuit ! À demain matin.
Good night! See you tomorrow morning.

Can you say bonsoir when you leave?

Je vous laisse. Au revoir, bonsoir !

I’ll leave you now. Goodbye, good evening!

Here, Je vous laisse makes the departure clear. Bonsoir can close the encounter as well as open it. Bonne soirée makes the wish for the rest of the evening explicit. When you arrive at an evening class, bonsoir is the useful greeting; keep bonne nuit for the night-time closing.

Write bonsoir as one word. Write bonne soirée as two, with bonne agreeing with feminine soirée. The same agreement appears in bonne nuit. Follow the evening setting when choosing between bonjour and bonsoir; people’s habits vary.