French Word of the Day: Bonne soirée vs. Bonne nuit
These French expressions might look interchangeable, but they are actually meant for very different contexts.
It's often the case in French that you'll find several words that mean basically the same thing, and it's not always easy to know which one is appropriate. Our new mini series looks at some of the most common word pairs, and sorts out which should be used and when.
Why do I need to know the difference between bonne soirée and bonne nuit?
Because using the incorrect version of ‘goodnight’ could leave your audience a bit confused.
What is the difference?
Bonne soirée (roughly pronounced bohn swa-ray) and bonne nuit (roughly pronounced bohn nwee) are both expressions you might hear at nighttime.
However, you would probably use these terms with different audiences.
While both technically mean ‘goodnight’, bonne soirée more precisely translates as 'have a nice night' or 'have a nice evening'. You would use it when leaving a party, or walking out of the office at the end of the day.
On the other hand bonne nuit means literally 'goodnight'. You would only use this expression if you are about to go off to bed, so the audience would likely be your family members.
As such, saying bonne nuit when making your exit from a bar around 11pm would be a bit strange.
Examples
Je vais rentrer chez moi, je suis un peu fatigué. Bonne soirée ! - I am going to head home, I'm a bit tired. Have a nice night!
Je vais me coucher. Bonne nuit - I am going to bed. Goodnight.
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It's often the case in French that you'll find several words that mean basically the same thing, and it's not always easy to know which one is appropriate. Our new mini series looks at some of the most common word pairs, and sorts out which should be used and when.
Why do I need to know the difference between bonne soirée and bonne nuit?
Because using the incorrect version of ‘goodnight’ could leave your audience a bit confused.
What is the difference?
Bonne soirée (roughly pronounced bohn swa-ray) and bonne nuit (roughly pronounced bohn nwee) are both expressions you might hear at nighttime.
However, you would probably use these terms with different audiences.
While both technically mean ‘goodnight’, bonne soirée more precisely translates as 'have a nice night' or 'have a nice evening'. You would use it when leaving a party, or walking out of the office at the end of the day.
On the other hand bonne nuit means literally 'goodnight'. You would only use this expression if you are about to go off to bed, so the audience would likely be your family members.
As such, saying bonne nuit when making your exit from a bar around 11pm would be a bit strange.
Examples
Je vais rentrer chez moi, je suis un peu fatigué. Bonne soirée ! - I am going to head home, I'm a bit tired. Have a nice night!
Je vais me coucher. Bonne nuit - I am going to bed. Goodnight.
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