How to wish someone a good night in numerous languages. These are phrases you use when parting from others at night.
Key to abbreviations: inf = informal, frm = formal, sg = said to one person, pl = said to more than one person.
| Language | Phrase |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Goeienag, Nag |
| Albanian | Natën e mirë |
| Alsatian | Güet' Nàcht |
| Arabic (Modern Standard) | (taṣbaḥo 'alā kẖayr)
تصبح على خير (laylah sa'ēdah) ليلة سعيدة |
| Arabic (Egyptian) | (tiṣbaḥ 'ala kẖayr)
تصبح على خير response - (winta min ahla) وأنت من أهله |
| Aragonese | Buena nuei |
| Armenian (Eastern) | Բարի' գիշեր: (Bari gisher) Լո'ւյս բարի: (Luis bari) - response |
| Armenian (Western) | Գիշեր բարի: (Keesher paree) Լոյս բարի: (Looys paree) - response |
| Asturian | Bona nuechi |
| Azerbaijani | Axşamınız xeyir, Gecən xeyrə |
| Basque | Gabon |
| Belarusian | Дабранач (Dabranach) |
| Bosnian | Laku noć |
| Breton | Noz vat |
| Bulgarian | Лека нощ
|
| Catalan | Bona nit |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 早抖 (jóutáu) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 晚安 (wǎnān) |
| Chinese (Taiwanese) | 晚安 (buan2-an) |
| Cimbrian | An guuta nacht |
| Cornish | Nos dha, Noze daa tha whye, Ternestatha
|
| Croatian | Laku noć |
| Czech | Dobrou noc
|
| Dalecarlian | Góðnát |
| Danish | God nat |
| Dutch | Goede nacht / Welterusten (rest well) |
| English | Good night, Night night, Nighty Night, Good night, sleep tight, I hope the bedbugs don't bite! |
| Esperanto | Bonan nokton |
| Estonian | Head ööd |
| Faroese | Góða nátt |
| Fijian | Ni sa moce |
| Finnish | Hyvää yötä |
| French | Bonne nuit
|
| Frisian (West) | Goenacht, Sliep lekker |
| Friulian | Buinegnot |
| Gaelic (Irish) | Oíche mhaith Oíche mhaith agus codladh sámh (Good night and sleep well) |
| Gaelic (Manx) | Oie vie
|
| Gaelic (Scottish) | Oidhche mhath |
| Galician | Boas noites |
| Georgian | ძილი ნებისა
(dzili nebisa) საღამო მშვიდობისა (saghamo mshvidobisa) |
| German | Gute Nacht |
| Greek | Καληνύχτα
|
| Greenlandic | Sinilluarit (sg) Sinilluaritsi (pl) - lit. 'sleep well' |
| Hebrew | (lyla tov) לילה טוב |
| Hindi | नमस्ते (Namaste), शुभ रात्रि (Śubh rātrī) |
| Hungarian | Jó éjszakát (kívánok) |
| Icelandic | Góða nótt |
| Indonesian | Selamat malam |
| Inuktitut | ᐅᓐᓄᒃᑯᑦ (Unnukkut) |
| Italian | Buonanotte
|
| Japanese | おやすみなさい (oyasumi nasai) おやすみ (oyasumi) |
| Jèrriais | Bouonne niet |
| Kazakh | Қайырлы түн (Qayırlı tün) |
| Korean | 안녕히 주무십시요 (annyonghi jumushipsiyo) 잘 주무세요 (frm) 잘자 (inf) |
| Ladino | (Buenas noches) בואינאס נוחיס |
| Latvian | Ar labunakti |
| Lithuanian | Labanakt, Labos/Geros nakties |
| Luxembourgish | Gudd Nuecht |
| Macedonian | Добра ноќ
|
| Māori | Pō mārie |
| Malay | Selamat malam |
| Maltese | Bonswa / Il-Lejla it-tajba |
| Mongolian | Сайхан амраарай (Saikhan amraarai) Сайхан унтаарай (Saikah untaarai) |
| Norwegian | God natt |
| Occitan | Bona nuèch |
| Persian | (shab bekheyr) شب بخير |
| Polish | Dobranoc
|
| Portuguese | Boa noite
|
| Romanian | Noapte bună |
| Russian | Спокойной ночи
|
| Sardinian | Bona notte |
| Serbian | Лаку ноћ
|
| Sesotho | Fonane (to one person) Fonaneng (to more than one person) |
| Sicilian | Bona notti |
| Slovak | Dobrú noc |
| Slovenian | Lahko noč |
| Spanish | Buenas noches |
| Stellingwarfs | Goeienaacht |
| Swahili | Usiku mwema, Lala salama (sleep well) |
| Swedish | God natt
|
| Turkish | İyi geceler |
| Thai | สวัสดีครับ/ค่ะ (sawùt dee krúp/kâ) |
| Tok Pisin | Gut nait |
| Ukrainian | На добраніч (Na dobranič) |
| Urdu | (shab bakhair) شب بخیر |
| Uzbek | Hayirli tun
|
| Vietnamese | Chúc ngủ ngon |
| Welsh | Nos da
|
| Xhosa | Rhonanai / Ulale kakuhle |
| Yiddish | (A gute nakht) אַ גוטע נאַכט |
| Zulu | Lala kahle! (sg) Lalani kahle! (pl) |
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please
contact me. If you can provide audio recordings
of any of these phrases, please send them to
You can send me audio files in any format. If you don't know how to make recordings on a computer, you can send me recordings on audio cassette. Let me know if you want to do this and I'll send you my snailmail address. Or you can call me on Skype (omniglot) and I'll do the recording.
Useful phrases in various European languages
http://www.geocities.com/mailjohan/
Welcome | Hello | How are you? | Long time no see | What's your name? | Where are you from? | Pleased to meet you | Good morning | Good afternoon | Good evening | Good night | Good bye | Good luck | Cheers/Good health | Have a nice day | Bon appetit | Bon voyage | I don't understand | Please say that again | Please speak more slowly | Can you please write it down? | Do you speak ...? | Excuse me | How much is this? | Sorry | Thank you | Where's the toilet? | This gentleman/lady will pay for everything | Would you like to dance with me? | I love you | Get well soon | How do you say ... in [your language]? | Leave me alone! | Help! | Call the police! | Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year | Happy Easter | Happy Birthday | Idioms | It's all Greek to me | It's raining cats and dogs | As easy as falling off a log | A sandwich short of a picnic | When pigs fly | 'Useful' phrases | My hovercraft is full of eels | Tongue twisters | Proverbs, quotations and sayings about language | One language is never enough | Stop the world, I want to get off! | Days of the week
Copyright 1998- Simon Ager