Le soir
In French, the phrase for "in the evening" is Le soir.
Le soir is used to describe the time of day between the afternoon and the night. If you want to be more specific, you can use en début de soirée to mean "early in the evening" or en fin de soirée to mean "late in the evening".
Which one should you use?
While English uses the prepositional phrase "in the evening", French uses the definite article le to express the same temporal meaning. For comparison, le matin is the phrase used for "in the morning".
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase le soir is used without a preposition to mean "in the evening" or "during the evening".
Did you know?
- In France, the evening meal is called le dîner, but in parts of Belgium, Switzerland, and Quebec, the midday meal is sometimes called le dîner and the evening meal le souper.
- When greeting someone in the evening, French speakers say Bonsoir, but they only switch to Bonne nuit when the person is actually going to sleep.
- The Latin root of soir is 'sērus', which means 'late' rather than 'evening', suggesting the word originally described the 'late' part of the day.
Examples in context
- Je fais souvent ça le soir.I often do that in the evening.This sentence shows how to describe a frequent evening activity using Le soir.Tatoeba #10620254 by lbdx, translation #6664321 by CK
- Nous sommes arrivés ici le soir.We arrived here in the evening.This sentence uses Le soir to describe when an arrival occurred.Tatoeba #1014590 by sacredceltic, translation #22642 by CK
- Je regarde la télévision le soir.I watch television in the evening.This sentence uses Le soir to describe a common evening habit.Tatoeba #12038144 by lbdx, translation #262102 by CK
- Je suis disponible dans la soiréeI am available in the evening
- On se retrouve chez moi ce soir?Shall we meet at my place this evening?
- On se voit en soirée ce week-end?Shall we meet up in the evening this weekend?
- Je serai là en début de soiréeI will be there early in the evening
- On se verra en fin de soirée pour fêter ton anniversaireWe will meet late in the evening to celebrate your birthday
- 23 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Nathan and Emma are discussing their plans for the day.
- NathanTu es libre le soir ?Are you free in the evening?
- EmmaOui, je travaille seulement l'après-midi.Yes, I only work in the afternoon.
- NathanOn peut se voir le soir ?Can we see each other in the evening?
- EmmaC'est une bonne idée, Nathan.That is a good idea, Nathan.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries Le, le, soir, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
