One of the first words you likely learned in French was bonjour for “hello” in French. But do you know when to stop saying bonjour and switch to bonsoir instead? All native French speakers follow this cultural expectation, and you will feel more confident saying “good evening” in French when you know when to switch to bonsoir.
Even basic French words like greetings, goodbyes, and which form of “you” to use is filled with this kind of background knowledge. It’s not just about what people say, it’s also how and when they say it. Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion method goes beyond vocabulary lists and leads you to deeper understanding so that you can communicate effectively with local French speakers.
Table of Contents
How do you say ‘good evening’ in French?
If you’ve studied how to say “hello” in other languages, you’ll be familiar with greetings that are limited to certain times of day. French is no exception. While bonjour is your go-to greeting from morning until evening, you will want to be sure to open your social interactions with the latter phrase, starting around 6-7 p.m.
| French | English | When To Use |
| Bonjour | Good morning | Morning until evening (6-7 p.m.) |
| Bonjour | Good afternoon | Morning until evening (6-7 p.m.) |
| Bonsoir | Good evening | Evening (6-7 p.m.) until end of day |
Native French speakers don’t synchronize their watches or set alarms for the switch from bonjour to bonsoir, so don’t worry about precisely telling time in French. In French, “good evening” may begin as early as 17:00 (5 p.m.), while others wait until closer to 19:00 (7 p.m.). But certainly after that you are unlikely to hear bonjour.
Dinner in France is generally served during the bonsoir hours, so if you’re out to dinner, be sure to use the evening greeting. Be ready to greet your server and order food in French with confidence.
- Bonsoir, une table pour combien de personnes ? = Good evening, a table for how many?
- Bonsoir, nous voudrions une table pour quatre personnes, s’il vous plaît. = Good evening, we would like a table for 4, please.
>>Say “Nice to meet you!” when you’ve greeted someone new in French
How do you say ‘have a good evening’ in French?
When you’re concluding your social interaction, you can say bonne soirée (have a good evening). This is considered a farewell, not a greeting, so only say this as a form of au revoir (“goodbye” in French).
If you’ve learned the difference between le jour (the day) and la nuit (the night), you might wonder if you can also say bonne nuit for “have a good night.” The answer is yes, but only if the person is about to go to sleep. The phrase bonne nuit for “good night” is more along the lines of “sleep well.”
| French | English | When To Use |
| Bonne journée ! | Have a great day! | Morning until noon |
| Bon après-midi !/Bonne après-midi ! | Have a good afternoon! | Noon until evening (6-7 p.m.) |
| Bonne soirée ! | Have a good evening! | Evening (after 6-7 p.m.) |
| Bonne nuit ! | Sleep well! | Only when the person is going to sleep for the night. |
Other ways to greet someone in the evening in French
As with other ways to say “hello”, you may hear several alternatives to bonjour/bonsoir (hello) when you want to say “good evening” in French. As your comfort level increases with French-speaking friends, you might try to experiment with slang and informal ways to say hi. These examples aren’t necessarily limited to the evening, though. There’s a lot of overlap with ways to say good morning and good afternoon in French.
- Salut ! = Hey!
- Coucou ! = Oh, hi there!
- Quoi de neuf ? = What’s new?
- Qu’est-ce qui se passe? = What’s happening?
- Wesh? = Yo/’Sup?
- Tout va bien ? = All good?
With any slang or casual expressions in French, you want to be sure you’ve reached a certain level of familiarity before trying any of these alternatives, to avoid bad manners or making a poor impression. Is French hard to learn with so many cultural expectations? Not if you are a careful observer and use resources like Rosetta Stone’s live lessons and expert tutors who can guide you through any confusion.
0 Commentaires