How to Say "Go to Bed" in French

aller se coucher

To go to bed in French is aller se coucher. Wiktionary also lists se coucher and aller au lit.

Meaning: to lie down to sleep (verb)

Ways to say it

The most common way to express the intention of going to sleep in a general sense is to use se coucher.

The reflexive verb se coucher literally means to lay oneself down.

While aller se coucher emphasizes the action of heading to bed to sleep, aller au lit emphasizes the physical destination of the bed.

When using the reflexive form se coucher, the reflexive pronoun must change to match the subject, such as je me couche or tu te couches.

The French word for bed, lit, shares the exact same Latin ancestor, 'lectus', as the English word 'lecture', as both relate to things that are read or laid out.
The verb coucher is used to describe the sunset with the phrase le soleil se couche, meaning the sun is laying itself down.
The word lit can be used in the expression un lit de rivière, which refers to a riverbed.

Puis-je aller au lit ?
May I go to bed?
This sentence is useful for asking permission using aller au lit.
Tatoeba #128565 by dominiko, translation #268887 by CK
Tu devrais aller au lit.
You should go to bed.
This sentence is useful for giving advice using aller au lit.
Tatoeba #1721664 by sacredceltic, translation #838689 by Scott
Tu préfères aller au lit.
You prefer to go to bed.
This sentence is useful for expressing a preference using aller au lit.
Tatoeba #467447 by sacredceltic, translation #465166 by saasmath
Va au lit maintenant, il est tard.
Go to bed now, it's late.
Il est l'heure d'aller dormir, les enfants.
It's time to go to sleep, children.
66 more sentences on Tatoeba

Sources

Wiktionary, “go to bed” translations and entries aller au lit, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Word origins: Wiktionary entries aller, coucher, lit, se, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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