Have A Great Day In French

Do you want to learn how to say have a great day in French?

When wishing someone a great day in French, what do you say?  How about if they want to wish someone a wonderful day, evening, or entire week?

No matter what time of day, season, or event it is, there are a variety of phrases that can be used to express your hopes and wishes for someone in French.

There are even different ways to say each sentence, depending on how formal or casual you want to be.

When saying goodbye to a loved one or friend, the phrase “Have a great day” is frequently used in France as a salutation but in an unusual or noteworthy fashion. When saying farewell in French, Passe une bonne journée (meaning Have a nice day) is one of many ways to do so.

Have A Great Day In French

1. Passe une bonne journée – Have a nice day

This is how you wish someone a nice day in French, as you leave after a conversation, meeting, or chance encounter.

If you just had coffee with someone in the morning and you know you’ll see them again soon, you say: 

• Bon, j’y vais, merci pour le café ! A plus tard, passe une bonne journée ! – Okay, I’m going, Thanks for the coffee! See you later, have a nice day !

If you were just in a meeting with someone who’s older or a person of authority and you want to wish them a nice day, you say the following

• Au revoir madame, passe une bonne journée ! – goodbye ma’am, have a nice day
• Au revoir monsieur, merci, passe une bonne journée à vous aussi.” – Goodbye sir, thanks, have a nice day too!

Note that passe une bonne journée (have a nice day) is only used when leaving, i.e. for goodbye, not a follow-up to Bonjour.

You can not say “Bonjour, bonne journée !” If you do that, the person to whom you speak it will be perplexed and muddled after you say it. It’s the equivalent of saying “Hello and goodbye.”

2. J’espère que vous passerez une bonne journée – I hope you have a nice day

This is how you wish someone a nice day in a more formal context. You may often hear  “j’espère que vous passerez une bonne journée“, for example when store attendants are talking to a customer. 

A variation of this more formal expression is Je te souhaite une bonne journée / Je vous souhaite une bonne journée, which means

“I wish you a nice day.”

3. Passez une excellente journée – Have a great day

The most common way to say good morning in French is with this expression. Friends and family members generally wished a wonderful day using these beautiful French greetings. When you use this sentence to say goodbye to someone, you’re setting them up for a positive start to the day.

In addition, saying “passez une excellente journée!” can brighten anyone’s day, whether you’re saying goodbye to your spouse before you head out the door for work, dropping your kids off at school, or saying goodbye to your next-door neighbor.

4. Passe / passez une très bonne journée ! – Have a great day

This is a variation of Passez une excellente journée. Passe / passez une très bonne journée means “have a very nice day” but is often used as a familiar expression for wishing someone a great day.

When wishing someone a good day, you can emphasize what you say even more by including the word “très” in your greeting.

A variation of this expression is

Très bonne journée.

5. J’espère que vous passerez une très bonne journée !”  –  I hope you have a great day!

This is a more formal way of saying have a nice day in French. You may use it when speaking to older people or a person of authority.

Variation of have a great day in French:  Have a great afternoon

6. Passez une très bonne après-midi ! – Have a great afternoon

When it is after lunchtime and you are about to end a conversation, you will often say Passez une très bonne après-midi ! (have a great afternoon).

Or you may simply say “Bon après-midi !”

Note that “après-midi” can be either masculine or feminine:  “un après-midi” and “une après-midi” are both applicable.   So, you can use either “bon après-midi” or “bonne après-midi

7. Une très bon aprem ! – Have a great afternoon

This is how you wish someone a great afternoon in colloquial, spoken French. “Aprem” is the shortened form of “après-midi.”

French people have a great tendency to condense every word they can. You can also use this abbreviated version if you want to sound more like a local

Variation of have a great day in French:  Have a great evening

8. Passe / passez une très bonne soirée! – have a great evening

This is another variation of Passe / passez une très bonne journée! (Have a great day), but it is used when you want to wish someone a great evening.

This expression is often used beginning in the late afternoon and continuing until after dinner time (at which point “night time” officially begins).

As is expected of the French, there is a shortened version of this expression which is:

• Une très bonne soirée! – have a great evening

9. J’espère que vous passerez une très bonne soirée – I hope you’ll have a good evening

This is a more formal way of telling someone to have a nice evening.  Here, the greeting is extended by using the phrase j’espère which means “I hope. “

10. Je te souhaite une très bonne soirée! –  I wish you a nice evening.

This is a variation of J’espère que vous passerez une très bonne soirée. Here, instead of extending the phrase with j’espère (I hope), the phrase je te souhaite is used, which means “I wish.’

Variation of “have a great day” in French:  have a great week

11. Passez une très bonne semaine ! – have a great  week

The French expressions that we’ve looked at so far can be used for a variety of additional times and occasions in addition to the various times of the day that we’ve already covered.

To reiterate, you say these sentences as you are ready to part ways with the person you are conversing with.

Passez une très bonne semaine ! is a frequent phrase that you can use when parting ways with someone you won’t be seeing for a week

You can use these expressions for particular periods and activities, like going on vacation. A variation of this expression is the shortened une très bonne semaine which also means “have a great  week!”

12. Some examples of saying “have a great day” in French

The following are several different ways to wish someone a great day in French, each of which can be used in different contexts or per the person you are speaking with.

Passez une excellente journée, ma chérie! Prenez soin et être en sécurité! – Have a great day, sweetheart! Take care and be safe!

This is what you say as you part ways to head to various places, such as work or another appointment, or if you are traveling somewhere for the day.

Passez une excellente journée à l’école, les enfants. – Have a great day at school, kids.

You may be a mom with kids, or an aunt driving your nieces or nephews to school. This is how you wish them a great day.

Merci madame et excellente journée! – Thank you ma’am, and have a great day!

You may often hear this being said by store attendants as a customer leaves.

Want to learn more French phrases? Check out our language guides below:

• Happy Birthday In French
• Weather In French
• How Are You In French: 20 Ways To Say It
• Good Morning In French: Rules And Tips