When do you start saying bonsoir?

In the evening. There is no fixed hour; the end of the working day is a good guide.

What is the difference between bonsoir and bonne nuit?

Bonsoir greets. Bonne nuit is said to someone going to bed, or when parting for the night.

French · phrasebook

How to say good evening in French

Good evening in French is bonsoir. It is the greeting that takes over from bonjour in the evening, with friends and strangers alike. It is said on arriving, and people also say it when they leave.

Aurélien CuvelierSep 19, 2026

bonsoir

good evening

anyone

The ways to say it

bonsoir

good evening

anyone

How to use it

The two exchanges below show the range. In the first, two people who say tu greet each other after work. In the second, a customer walks into a shop near closing time and both sides say bonsoir with a title and vous. One word covers both.

Bonne nuit is a different thing: a bedtime wish, not a greeting. Its exchanges are further down this page so you can compare.

In a real conversation

Each exchange is a line and its reply. Greyed letters are written and not pronounced. A tie marks a liaison, with the sound you hear under it. A label under a verb names its tense when it is not the present.

Bonsoir Léa, tu rentres du travail maintenant ?Good evening Léa, are you coming home from work now?Bonsoir ! Oui, je suis fatiguée, la journée était longue.Good evening! Yes, I am tired, the day was long.

Bonsoir madame, vous fermez bientôt ?Good evening madam, are you closing soon?Bonsoir monsieur, dans dix minutes. Vous avez le temps.Good evening sir, in ten minutes. You have time.

Next to it: bonne nuit

Je vais dormir, il est déjà tard. Bonne nuit !I'm going to sleep, it's already late. Good night!Bonne nuit, Hugo. Dors bien !Good night, Hugo. Sleep well!

Votre chambre est au premier étage. Bonne nuit, monsieur.Your room is on the first floor. Good night, sir.Merci beaucoup. Bonne nuit, et à demain matin.Thank you very much. Good night, and see you tomorrow morning.

Questions people ask

When do you start saying bonsoir?: In the evening. There is no fixed hour; the end of the working day is a good guide.
What is the difference between bonsoir and bonne nuit?: Bonsoir greets. Bonne nuit is said to someone going to bed, or when parting for the night.

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Written by

Aurélien Cuvelier Founder, NuanceDeck

Aurélien Cuvelier builds NuanceDeck: the app, and the verification pipeline behind its dictionary. Every entry is grounded in the official TORFL lexical minimum and a 20,000-word frequency corpus, and every example sentence passes a certification review before it ships.

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