Are you hoping to wish someone a good night in Spanish? The phrase you are looking for is "buenas noches".
While this is an easy phrase to put into action, this post unpacks its meaning and offers usage tips.
Meaning
The Spanish phrase buenas noches translates to "good night" in English.
Buenas noches can:
- Serve as a greeting when meeting someone later in the evening. In this sense, buenas noches replaces the English phrase "good evening" as well. As a rule of thumb, however, it is best to only say buenas noches after 9 pm.
- Act as a parting interjection later in the evening, such as when you go home after having dinner at a restaurant.
- Be a well wish you share with someone who is about to go to sleep, again translating to "good night", and essentially meaning "sleep well".
To break buenas noches down further, the phrase comes from the Spanish words "bueno" (meaning "good") and "noche" ("night").
Example Usage
People who are not Spanish speakers will not be able to incorporate the phrase buenas noches into complex sentences, but whether you are going on vacation or hoping to start communicating in Spanish with friends, buenas noches works well as a stand-alone greeting.
Buenas noches serves nearly the exact same purpose as "good night" does in English, so substituting the Spanish phrase will have the desired effect.
Simply tell someone ¡buenas noches!, and they will appreciate your effort.
Origin
Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world, counting over 500 million native speakers. Most of these are based in the Americas, including in the United States — where 13 percent of the population speaks Spanish as a native language.
Spanish falls into the Indo-European family of languages and is, specifically, considered a Romance language. This means that Spanish evolved directly from the now dead Latin language spoken in the Roman Empire. Other Romance languages include Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and French.
This explains why many of these languages have such similar words for "good night":
- Bonum nocte is good night in Latin.
- Buona notte is good night in Italian.
- Boa noite is good night in Portuguese.
- Bonne nuit is good night in French.
Those who live in the United States in places with significant populations of Spanish speakers may mix English and Spanish, making it fairly common to hear phrases like "buenas noches" inserted into English sentences.
Phrases Similar to Buenas Noches
Instead of buenas noches, meaning good night, you could also say:
- ¡Que se duerma usted!, meaning "may you fall asleep".
- ¡Que dermas bien!, meaning "sleep well".
- ¡Que descanses!, meaning "sleep tight".
- Before nightfall, when you can still see some daylight, it is customary to say "buenas tardes", meaning "good evening", instead.
Phrases Opposite to Buenas Noches
When you wish someone buenas noches, you also imply that you are hoping the person will have a restful and healthy night's sleep. The next morning, you could wish them "buenos dias", meaning "good morning".
What Is the Correct Saying?
The correct Spanish phrase for "good night" is "buenas noches".
Ways People May Say Buenas Noches Incorrectly
The most common incorrect use of buenas noches would translate to "good evening" in English.
In Spanish, it is only customary to wish someone a good night (buenas noches) after dark, and usually only after 9 pm. If you would like to greet someone earlier in the day, you can say "buenos tardes" instead.
You may still wish someone buenas noches earlier in the day if they are, in fact, going to sleep — if your grandmother always nods off at 8, for instance, you could still use buenas noches.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase Buenas Noches
You can use the phrase "buenas noches" to greet someone at night, to bid them farewell at night, or to wish the a good night's sleep.
Buenas noches is a great phrase to learn if you are just beginning to study Spanish, because you will immediately find a use for it and will not have to wait until you can say other words before you put it into action.