Knowing how to exchange pleasantaries in the local language is a great way to broaden your cultural knowledge and facilitate communication with locals, at least for the most common interactions like those in hotels, airports, or restaurants.
Here on Sprachcaffe, in addition to booking language courses , you can learn basic words and expressions to use while traveling. On this page, for example, we focus on the translation of " good morning" in all languages .
Notably, we use the term "buonanotte" when parting, unlike "buongiorno," which is used when meeting. Italians are accustomed to saying goodnight, as are many other Europeans. In England, for example, we say "good night," while in France we say "bonne nuit."
Among the most widely spoken languages in Europe is German, spoken in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, but also in Italy, Iceland, Poland, Hungary, and Luxembourg. In German, you can say "gute nacht" (good night).
The translation of "goodnight" in Dutch is "goedenacht", in Polish it is "dobranoc", while in Romanian it is "noapte bună". In Scandinavian countries, you can say "godnatt" in Sweden, "god natt" in Norway, and "hyvää yötä" in Finland to say goodnight. If we move to the Balkans, however, you can say "naten e mire" in Albanian, "καληνυχτα" in Greek (which is said "kalinychta"), and "лека нощ" in Bulgarian (pronounced "leka nosht").
Besides the most widely spoken languages in Europe, what is the translation of "good night" in other countries around the world? In Asia, in addition to Arabic and Chinese, hundreds of other languages are spoken, many of which use different writing systems than ours. Among the best-known are Japanese with お休みなさい (pronounced "oyasumì nasài") and Korean with 안녕히 주무세요 (pronounced "annyeonghi jumuseyo"). However, there are many other lesser-spoken and lesser-known languages, such as Malayalam and Tamil. In these languages the word "good night" is written, respectively, ശുഭ രാത്രി ("śubha rātri") and இனிய இரவு ("Iṉiya iravu").
Moving to the Americas, however, Canada and the United States use "good night," just like the United Kingdom. Sometimes, in informal situations, the English expression becomes "nighty night," which could be translated as our equally informal "night, night." In South American countries, Spanish and Portuguese are primarily spoken, so the translation of "good night" is "buenas noches" in Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, and Ecuador, and "boa noite" in Brazil.
Finally, in Africa, one of the most widespread languages is Swahili, spoken mainly in Central Africa and southern countries. In Swahili, you can say goodnight by saying "usiku mwema." In Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast, Yoruba is spoken, while in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Egypt, Oromo is spoken. In these two languages, the term "goodnight" is translated as "Kasun layọ o" and "halkan gaarii," respectively. In Nigeria and Niger, Hausa is also spoken, an Afro-Asiatic language in which "goodnight" is said "barka da dare."
In the paragraph below, you will find the translation of " goodnight" in all the world's languages
Maybe you're on vacation in Spain with friends, or maybe you're studying German in Frankfurt at one of Sprachcaffe's schools.
Whatever the reason for your stay abroad, if you're in another country and want to wish someone goodnight, the translations in all languages await you below.
Afrikaans - goeie nag
Albanian - naten e mire
Amharic - ደህናደሪ
Arabic - طاب مساؤك
Armenian - Բարի գիշեր
Assamese - শুভৰাত্ৰি
Aymara - aski arumakipana
Azerbaijani - gecəniz xeyrə
Bambara - ka an bo su ra
Basque - gau on
Bengali - শুভ রাত্রি
Bhojpuri - शुभ रात्री
Belarusian - Дабранач
Burmese - ကောင်းသောညပါ
Bosnian - laku noc
Bulgarian - лека нощ
Catalan - bona nit
Cebuano - maayong gabii
Czech - dobrou noc
Chichewa - usiku wabwino
Kyrgyz - кайырдуу түн
Chinese (Simplified) - 晚安
Chinese (Traditional) - 晚安
Korean - 안녕히 주무세요
Course - good night
Haitian Creole - bòn nwi
Croatian - laku noć
Kurdish (kurmanji) - şev xweş
Kurdish (Sorani) - شەو شاد
Danish - godnat
Dhivehi - ordinarily
Dogri - शुभ रात्रि
Hebrew - לילה טוב
Esperanto - bonan nokton
Estonian - head ööd
Ewe - dɔ agbe
Filipino - magandang gabi
Finnish - hyvää yötä
French - bonne nuit
Frisian - Goeienacht
Scottish Gaelic - Oidhche mhath
Galician - boas noites
Welsh - nos da
Georgian - ღამე მშვიდობისა
Japanese - お休みなさい
Javanese - sugeng dalu
Greek - καληνυχτα
Guarani - mba'éichapa ndepyhare
Gujarati - શુભ રાત્રી
Hausa - barka to give
Hawaiian - aloha ahiahi
Hindi - शुभ रात्रि
Hmong - hmo ntuj zoo
Igbo - ka chifoo
Ilocano - nasayaat koma ti turogmo
Indonesian - Selamat malam
English - good night
Irish - Oíche mhaith
Icelandic - góða nótt
Italian - goodnight
Kannada - ಶುಭ ರಾತ್ರಿ
Kazakh - қайырлы түн
Khmer - រាត្រីសួស្តី
Kinyarwanda - ijoro ryiza
Konkani - देव बरी रात दिवं
Krio - gud nɛt
Lao - ຝັນດີ
Latvian - ar labunakti
Lingala - butu malamu
Lithuanian - Labos nakties
Luganda - sula bulungi
Luxembourgish - Gutt Nuecht
Macedonian - добра ноќ
Maithili - शुभरात्रि
Malayalam - ശുഭ രാത്രി
Malay - selamat Malam
Malagasy - Tafandria mandry
Maltese - il-lejl it-tajjeb
Māori - po pai
Marathi - शुभ रात्री
Mizo - mutual aid
Mongolian - сайн шөнө
Nepali - शुभ रात्री
Norwegian - god natt
Odia (oriya) - ଶୁଭରାତ୍ରୀ
Dutch - goedenacht
Oromo - halkan gaarii
Pashto - شپه مو پخیر
Persian - شب بخیر
Polish - dobranoc
Portuguese - boa noite
Punjabi - ਸ਼ੁਭ ਰਾਤ
Quechua - rimaykullayki
Romanian - noapte bună
Russian - спокойной ночи
Samoan - manuia le po
Sanskrit - शुभरात्रि
Sepedi - robala gabotse
Serbian - лаку ноћ
Sesotho - robala hantle
Shona - usiku hwakanaka
Sindhi - رات جو سلام
Sinhala - සුභ රාත්රියක්
Slovak - dobrú noc
Slovenian - lahko noč
Somali - habeen wanaagsan
Spanish - buenas noches
Sundanese - Wilujeng wengi
Swedish - godnatt
Swahili - usiku mwema
Tajik - шаби хуш
Tamil - இனிய இரவு
Tatar - әйбәт төн
German - Good Night
Telugu - శుభ రాత్రి
Thai - ราตรีสวัสดิ์
Tigrinya - ልዋም ለይቲ
Tsonga - madyambu lamanene
Turkish - iyi geceler
Turkmen - gijäň rahat bolsun!
Ukrainian - Надобраніч
Uyghur - خەيرلىك كەچ!
Hungarian - jó éjszakát
Urdu - شب بخیر
Uzbek - Xayrli tun
Vietnamese - chúc ngủ ngon
Xhosa - Busuku benzol
Yiddish - א גוטע נאכט
Yoruba - Kasun layọ o
Zulu - ulale kahle
We've just seen the translation of " good night" in every language . However, some languages are more difficult to read than others, especially if they use a different alphabet than ours. Below is a list of the various ways to pronounce the word "good night" in different languages.
Amharic - dehinaderī
Arabic - tab masawuk
Armenian - Bari gisher
Bengali - Śubha rātri
Belarusian - Dabranač
Burmese - kaunggsawnyapar
Bulgarian - leka nosht
Chirghiso - kayırduu tün
Chinese (Simplified) - Wǎn'ān
Chinese (Traditional) - Wǎn'ān
Korean - annyeonghi jumuseyo
Dhivehi - baajjaveri reygan'dakah edhen
Georgian - ghame mshvidobisa
Japanese - oyasumì nasài
Greek - kalinychta
Gujarati - Śubha rātrī
Hindi - shubh raatri
Kannada - Śubha rātri
Kazakh - qayırlı tün
Khmer - reatrei suostei
Lao - fandiMacedonian - dobra noḱ
Malayalam - śubha rātri
Marathi - Śubha rātrī
Mongolian - sain shönö
Nepali - Śubha rātrī
Punjabi - Śubha rāta
Russian - spokoynoy nochi
Serbian - laku noć
Sinhalese - subha rātriyak
Tajik - şaʙi xuş
Tamil - Iṉiya iravu
Telugu - Śubha rātri
Thai - Rātrī s̄wạs̄di̒
Ukrainian - Nadobranich
Yiddish - a gute nakht
You've probably exchanged texts with someone late at night, just before bed. When it's time to go to bed, you text the other person "goodnight," because it would be rude to disappear without responding until the next day. Likewise, if you're in the same room with your family and get up from the couch to go to sleep, it would be strange to leave without saying anything. Even then, you say "goodnight" before going to your room.
The word "night" derives from the accusative case of the Latin "nox" and the Sanskrit root "nac-," which has a dual meaning. It means "to disappear," but, as the Latin verb "necare" (meaning "to kill") reminds us, it also means "to perish." Night is the period of time between sunset and sunrise, so we usually wish a good night to those who go to sleep.
Just like "good morning," saying "good night" can be a sincere wish to the person we're speaking to, especially if accompanied by "sweet dreams," but it also seems like the natural end of a conversation just before bed. However, it's a phrase that's been around for quite some time and can simply be a polite way to say goodbye, as well as a way to explicitly let everyone know you're going to sleep.
