How to Say “Goodnight” in Spanish (Plus 30+ Evening Phrases)

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Buenas noches is the phrase you’ll use most often for “goodnight” in Spanish, but it’s only the start.

Spanish has plenty of ways to say you’re sleepy, wish someone sweet dreams, or tell a child it’s time for bed.

This guide gives you the everyday phrases first, then a few affectionate and informal options you can choose to match the person and the situation.

Let’s get started.

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“Goodnight” in Spanish

“Goodnight” in Spanish is simple: buenas noches.

Buenas is the feminine plural form of bueno, “good”, and noches is the plural of the feminine noun noche, “night”. The phrase is plural even though English uses the singular “goodnight”.

There’s no conjugation or politeness change to worry about here. Buenas noches works as a greeting later in the day and as a way to say goodbye before bed.

“Have a Good Night” in Spanish

To wish someone a good night, say Que pases buenas noches.

With someone you address as usted, use Que pase buenas noches. You may also hear Que tengas una buena noche or the formal Que tenga una buena noche, depending on the region.

“Good Evening” in Spanish

Spanish doesn’t have one greeting that lines up neatly with English “good evening”. You’ll usually choose between buenas tardes and buenas noches.

The changeover isn’t fixed at 19:00 or 20:00. It varies by country, season and local routine.

Listen to what people around you are saying, and use buenas noches once it has become the normal greeting where you are.

“Sweet Dreams” in Spanish

In English, we often say “sweet dreams” in response to someone saying “goodnight”. In Spanish, you can say “dulces sueños”. Dulce means “sweet” and sueños means “dreams”, so the translation is exactly the same. If you want to make it a full sentence, you can add Que tengas dulces sueños (“Have sweet dreams”).

If you’re talking to someone you’re close to, you can also say descansa. It means “rest”, and it’s a casual way to wish them a restful night.

“Sleep Well” in Spanish

Another common response to “goodnight” is Que duermas bien, “Sleep well”. Dormir means “to sleep”, and bien means “well” here.

Spanish doesn’t have a direct equivalent of “sleep tight”, so you can use que duermas bien (“sleep well”) instead.

“Goodnight My Love” in Spanish

If you’re talking to your spouse or significant other, or even your child, you can say Buenas noches, mi amor. This means “Goodnight, my love”. If you’re saying this to both your spouse and child at the same time, you change mi amor to the plural form: Buenas noches, mis amores.

Mi is the possessive “my” in Spanish, and amor is love. You’ll often hear people calling their loved ones mi amor in Spanish. If you want to be particularly affectionate, you can say Que sueñes conmigo (“May you dream of me”).

“Goodnight Beautiful” in Spanish

Affectionate language varies a lot by country, family and relationship. Spanish has plenty of romantic words, but treat these as options rather than universal rules.

To say “Goodnight, beautiful”, you can use Buenas noches, hermosa. Bella, bonita and preciosa are other options, but what sounds natural varies by country and relationship. Match the ending to the person: hermoso/hermosa, bello/bella, bonito/bonita.

“Goodnight Handsome” in Spanish

Buenas noches, guapo means “Goodnight, handsome” or “Goodnight, good looking” in Spanish. It can be used for men, but you can also describe a woman as guapa.

Guapo and guapa change form to match the person. In many regions they mean “handsome”, “pretty” or “good-looking”, so Buenas noches, guapa is natural when you’re speaking to a woman.

“Goodnight Baby” in Spanish

Spanish also has plenty of creative cute nicknames, such as mi cielito (literally “my little sky”) or mi corazón (“my heart”), so you can make the phrase more personal.

When you’re speaking to a child, you could say Buenas noches, chiquito or Buenas noches, chiquita, “Goodnight, little one”.

“Goodnight, Sweet Dreams” in Spanish

To wish someone a good night and sweet dreams, you say buenas noches y dulces sueños. This is a combination of the two phrases from above, but you add y (“and”) to connect them. You could add mi querida or mi querido to the end, which means “my dear”.

Another affectionate option is Que sueñes con angelitos, which means “May you dream of little angels”.

“Go to Bed” in Spanish

If you’re telling a child to go to bed, use ¡Acuéstate! It literally means “lie down”, and it’s also used for “go to bed”.

For “I’m going to bed”, say Me voy a la cama or Me voy a acostar. Me voy a dormir means “I’m going to sleep”, while Ya me voy a acostar adds the sense of “I’m going to bed now”.

For a more colloquial option in Spain, you may hear Me voy al sobre, literally “I’m off to the envelope”. Slang varies a lot, so don’t assume this one is universal.

“Bedtime” in Spanish

Is it your bedtime? Then it’s your hora de acostarse. Your “time to turn in”.

If you’re feeling sleepy, say Tengo sueño. You can put the ideas together as Tengo sueño. Es hora de acostarse., “I’m sleepy. It’s time for bed.”

“Night” in Spanish

As mentioned earlier, noche means “night” and is also used in the greeting buenas noches. There’s no universal clock time when every Spanish speaker switches from tarde to noche.

“See You Tomorrow” in Spanish

If you’re saying goodbye, goodnight, and see you tomorrow, you can tell someone Buenas noches. ¡Hasta mañana!

Hasta means “until” and mañana means both “morning” or “tomorrow”, depending on context. So it can mean “Until the morning!” or “Until tomorrow!” in this case. Or, if you aren’t sure when you’re seeing them next, simply say hasta luego (“see you later”) or hasta pronto (“see you soon”).

“Midnight Snack” in Spanish

For “midnight snack”, you can say un tentempié de medianoche. In everyday conversation, algo de picar a medianoche, “something to snack on at midnight”, may sound more natural.

And Now It’s Time to Say “Buenas Noches”

¿Tienes sueño? (“Are you sleepy?”) You might be after all that studying. Take a break, go lie down, and que tengas dulces sueños.

If you’re still wide awake, learn how to say good morning and other useful Spanish phrases for the rest of the day. For structured audio practice, our SpanishPod101 review explains what the course covers before you sign up.