bonne nuit et fais de beaux rêves
The English phrase 'good night sweet dreams' can be translated into French as bonne nuit et fais de beaux rêves.
This phrase is used to wish someone a restful sleep and pleasant dreams before they go to bed. You can use Bonne nuit to say 'good night' or Passe une bonne nuit to say 'have a good night'. To wish someone sweet dreams, you might use fais de beaux rêves (have beautiful dreams), fais de jolis rêves (have pretty dreams) or faites de doux rêves (have sweet dreams).
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase fais de beaux rêves literally translates to 'make beautiful dreams'.
Which one should you use?
The form fais de beaux rêves is the singular and informal version.
How does it change in a sentence?
In the phrase fais de beaux rêves, the word des (some) changes to de because the adjective beaux precedes the noun.
Did you know?
- French children are sometimes told fais dodo instead of fais de beaux rêves. The word dodo is a baby-talk version of the verb 'to sleep'.
- In France, it is a common custom to accompany bonne nuit with a bisou or a light kiss on the cheek, even among close family members and children.
- The word nuit shares a distant ancestor with the English word 'night'. Both can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European root *nókʷts.
Examples in context
- Bonne nuit et fais de beaux rêves.Good night and sweet dreams.
- Je t'aime, bonne nuit et fais de beaux rêves.I love you, good night and sweet dreams.
Example conversation
Chloé and Hugo are getting ready for bed in their apartment.
- ChloéBonne nuit et fais de beaux rêves, Hugo.Good night and sweet dreams, Hugo.
- HugoMerci Chloé, bonne nuit à toi aussi.Thanks Chloé, good night to you too.
- ChloéDors bien.Sleep well.
- HugoÀ demain.See you tomorrow.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, et, nuit, CC BY-SA 4.0.
