Is good night one word or two?
The short answer is that both forms are acceptable spellings. You can use either goodnight or good night when you’re saying farewell to someone at the end of the evening.
However, good night, with two separate words, is considered the more correct way to spell this word in formal writing.
This article will explain how to remember the difference between goodnight and good night and help you use this word correctly in your writing.
Is Goodnight One Word or Two?
Goodnight can be spelled as one word or two words. Let’s take a closer look at the nuances between these two spellings.
Good Night Spelling
In the past, good night was the only correct way to spell this word. It’s an open compound word, meaning it includes a space in the middle, just like good afternoon and good morning.
In recent decades, however, goodnight became a popular alternative spelling.
One difference between these two spellings is that goodnight is more commonly used as an adjective, while good night is more commonly used as an interjection. We’ll discuss this difference in further detail in the next section.
Another difference is that the spelling goodnight is better suited for informal settings, such as when you’re texting your friends at the end of the evening.
On the other hand, if you’re composing a professional email or writing a book, it’s better to use the older spelling, good night.
Goodnight Word Meaning
The most common usage of good night is as an interjection. It’s a common farewell phrase that you might use late in the day. One way to think of it is as a shorter form of the sentence “I hope you have a good night.”
For example, if you’re leaving a party at the end of the evening, you might say “good night” to the other guests on your way out.
Similarly, if you’re texting late in the evening, you might text the other person “good night” to let them know that you’re about to go to sleep.
Goodnight can also function as an adjective, if you’re using it to describe a noun. For example, a kiss might be a “goodnight kiss” if it’s given right before bed.
Some English experts prefer to use good night with a space as a farewell phrase, and goodnight or good-night as an adjective.
For example, you might spell “Kiss your sister good night” with a space, because good night is being used as a farewell phrase. On the other hand, you might spell “Give your sister a goodnight kiss” without a space, because goodnight is being used as an adjective.
It makes sense to combine the two words in this scenario, because that way the reader won’t get confused about how the phrase splits apart.
Combining good and night prevents the reader from accidentally reading “good night kiss” as the opposite of a “bad night kiss.”
Finally, another meaning of good night is simply to describe a night as good. For example, you could say “I had a good night at the party.”
In this case, it’s not a compound word—it’s just the words good and night used separately. You should always spell good night with a space in this scenario.
Goodnight or Good Night Examples
Let’s look at some examples of good night and goodnight in English literature.
“Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”—Dylan Thomas, In Country Sleep and Other Poems
“Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.”—William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
“Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.”—William Goldman, The Princess Bride
“They go home, get into bed, toss and turn, wondering how it was done. It takes them a good night’s sleep to forget all about it.”—Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows
“Keep twiddling those dials: the next password will be ‘Mad-Eye.’ Keep each other safe. Keep faith. Good night.”—J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
“One by one families broke off with a good night and a squeeze of the hands, suddenly grateful for the company of neighbors. Doors closed to warm houses. Candles were lit in windows.”— Nicole Krauss, The History of Love
“Life is full of stories. Or maybe life is only stories. Good night, my dear Nao.”—Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being
“I want to call you every five minutes. I want to text you good night every night. I want to make you laugh.”—Jenn Bennett, The Anatomical Shape of a Heart
“The cure for a broken heart is simple, my lady. A hot bath and a good night’s sleep.”—Margaret George, Mary Queen of Scotland and The Isles
“The woman who picked up the other end of the phone was named Michelle. And I told Michelle that I was a kid and did not need an exercise machine, but I hoped she was having a good night. That’s when Michelle hung up on me.”—Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
“Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere.”—Margaret Wise Brown, Goodnight Moon
“The Librarian looked at his charges approvingly, made his last rounds of the slumbering shelves, and then dragged his blanket underneath his desk, ate a goodnight banana, and fell asleep.”—Terry Pratchett, Sourcery
“Goodnight you princes of Maine, you kings of New England.”— John Irving, The Cider House Rules
“This is what it’s like to say goodnight and mean goodbye.”—Neil Hilborn, Our Numbered Days
“That goodnight in the garden was for all time. Anne never saw Ruby in life again.”—Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of the Island
“In the Glade, Chuck had become a symbol for him—a beacon that somehow they could make everything right again in the world. Sleep in beds. Get kissed goodnight.”—James Dashner, The Maze Runner
“He can ask you out and take you to dinner and try to steal a goodnight kiss.”—Linda Kage, Price of a Kiss
“It’s when I’m sitting alone with the phone in my hand dialing your number and hanging up that I would trade a thousand tomorrows for just one yesterday. Then I could just call you to tell you goodnight.”—James Frey, A Million Little Pieces
“I would have told him I loved him. But I didn’t. I didn’t because I didn’t know. I didn’t even say goodnight. Or goodbye.”—T.J. Klune, Into This River I Drown
How to Remember the Difference Between Goodnight or Good Night
A good rule of thumb is to use good night rather than goodnight when you’re using it as an interjection. The two-word spelling is generally the safer choice, since it’s an older spelling and accepted in all English dictionaries.
One way to remember that you need to use a space is to think about the opposite interjection, good morning, which is the phrase you say at the beginning of the day, rather than at the end of the day. You should always spell good morning with a space. Therefore, it’s safe to spell good night the same way.
When you’re using goodnight as an adjective, it’s all right to omit the space. You can remember this by substituting the word for a different adjective, like “gentle kiss” or “friendly kiss.” These adjectives have one word. Therefore, it’s fine for the adjective goodnight to have one word too.
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To recap, if you’re going to write a farewell to someone at night or address a farewell to someone in writing, use the two-word variant: good night. But if you’re talking about the noun or noun adjective, use the one-word form, goodnight.
Can I say have a nice night? No, “have a nice evening” would be appropriate. Unless the person is going for bed, then “good night” or “sleep well” would be good to say.
Why do we say good night? Why Do We Say Good Night? … We can say it as a way of wishing someone a wonderful night’s sleep. Or, if we are parting ways with someone for the day, we can say it as a way of wishing that they enjoy the rest of their day.
How do you say goodnight? Ways to Say Good Night
- Nighty Night.
- Sweet dreams!
- Sleep well.
- Have a good sleep.
- Dream about me!
- Go to bed, you sleepy head!
- Sleep tight!
- Time to ride the rainbow to dreamland!
What is Goodnight Italian?
If you want to say “good night” in Italian, you would say “buona notte.” Slightly earlier in the day, during the evening hours, you might choose to say, “buona sera” (good evening). By the way, both expressions work for not only hellos, but goodbyes too.
How do you text goodnight?
- I wish I could fall asleep in your arms.
- Sweet dreams, babe/darling/sweetheart/my love.
- Goodnight. …
- Goodnight. …
- Just texting to say I love you before bed.
- Dream sweet, my love/darling/sweetheart.
- I just wanted to text to say goodnight and that I’m thinking of you.
What is the reply of Good night? Be aware that when people say “Good night” they are saying goodbye. If someone is going on to some later event that evening, we can say to them, “Have a good night!” but not “Good night!” So you’re leaving a party and your host says “Good night!” You reply, “Thanks; you too!” or just “Good night!”
Have a nice night or have a nice evening? By saying “have a good night”, you’re wishing them well for the entire remainder of the day, which is more informal than simply saying “see you tomorrow”. An alternative would be “have a good evening”.
Is 7 pm Good evening?
Good morning is from 12 am to 12 pm. From 12pm to around 5pm we say good afternoon. From 5pm to 12pm it is good evening.
What is Time of Good night? Between 00:00am to 11:59am GOOD MORNING. 12:00pm to 17:30pm Good Afternoon. 17:30pm to 23:59 Good Night.
What should I text her at night?
11 Best Good Night Texts For Her
- I know that it’s tough for you to fall asleep without me. …
- I miss our conversations until the morning, the night is empty without you. …
- My hectic day is over. …
- Let me wish you a good night. …
- I miss you with every passing second. …
- My dreams are incomplete without you in them.
How do you say have a nice sleep? Many involve wishing the other person a night of peaceful sleep and pleasant dreams:
- Good night.
- Sleep well.
- Have a good night’s sleep.
- Make sure you get a good night’s sleep.
- I hope you sleep well.
- See you in the morning.
- Sweet dreams.
- Sleep tight!
What is Goodnight Spanish?
or good night [ˌɡʊdˈnaɪt ] exclamation. ¡buenas noches!
What is French for goodnight?
bonne nuit ! to say goodnight to sb dire bonne nuit à qn.
How do you say goodnight in Japanese? Generally, the Japanese expression for saying “goodnight” is “おやすみ“(Oyasumi). However, it may be inappropriate to use it sometimes depending on the situation.
How do I text my crush at night? 20 Texts To Send A Crush Before Bed If You’re Workin’ On Your Night Moves
- “Hope you had a great day today. …
- “Tell me about the best thing that happened to you today.”
- “Want to hear about the funny thing that happened to me today?”
- “I’ll be able to sleep better if I know I’m seeing you soon.
When should we wish good night?
Say “Good night” to say “goodbye” – when you are leaving to go home. Family members also say “good night” when they are going to bed. “Good night, Janet. See you tomorrow.”
What does Nighty night mean? nighty-night in American English
(ˈnaɪtiˈnaɪt ) interjection. Informal. good night.
How do you say good night in email?
It’s more common to just say good afternoon or good evening. And if it’s the end of the night, then just goodnight or good night, and that can be one word or two words.
What’s considered night? Night is from sunset to sunrise, so from 8:01 PM until 5:59 AM.
How do you wish at 8.30 pm?
- Though there can be varied views, to me, it goes like this:
- * Good morning from 12 AM to 01 PM. * Good afternoon from 01 PM to 05 PM. * Good evening from 05 PM to 12 AM. * Good day is used as a parting greeting during the day. …
- So, you may greet that person with GOOD EVENING.
How do you wish someone at 11pm? If you are parting and going your ways, yes you should say goodnight as that ends your conversation but if you have just met the person at 11pm, a good evening or just a Hi! could do. Good night is supposed to be a kind of “Over and Out” thing.
Can I say good noon?
1 Answer. No, “Good Noon” is not commonly used. “Good Afternoon” is technically appropriate anytime after 12 noon. As an alternative, you could also say “Good Day”.
To recap, if you’re going to write a farewell to someone at night or address a farewell to someone in writing, use the two-word variant: good night. But if you’re talking about the noun or noun adjective, use the one-word form, goodnight.
Simply so Is it onetime or one time? “Onetime” is an adjective, meaning former, as in “a onetime addict to Harry Potter.” “One time” (two separate words) is an adjective and a noun, meaning a single occasion, as in, “One time, I wore a purple sparkling cape because my bookstore employer dictated it on the night of a Harry Potter midnight release.”
Is Goodbye 1 or 2 words? They mean precisely the same thing. Dictionaries and style guides disagree on the preferred spelling. ~The OED (both American and British versions) prefer the unhyphenated goodbye, and list goodby and good-by as alternate spellings. It makes no mention of the hyphenated good-bye.
also Is Good morning capitalized? Typically, “good morning” is capitalized only when it’s used as a salutation at the beginning of a letter or email. The same rule applies to “good afternoon.” Don’t capitalize it unless it’s a salutation in a letter or email.
Is it flirting to say goodnight?
The message doesn‘t have to be anything flirty or racy. It just needs to be sincere. Cutely saying good night makes the recipient feel extra-special. That’s a good feeling for everyone as they rest their head on a pillow.
Is it A or before one? The correct usage is “a one.” We understand that “an” is used before most words that begin with a vowel, but here’s the secret: we know when to use “an” because of the *sound* a word begins with, not the letter. When we pronounce “one” we make the sound of a W. That is a consonant sound.
Can we say one time?
Yes of course; you can definitely say ‘one time’ instead of ‘once’ and ‘two times’ instead of ‘twice’.
How do you use onetime?
Is it thankyou or thank you?
So what’s the rule? Never hyphenate this word. It’s either Thank you or Thankyou. And most of the time, thank you is the correct choice.
Is Good Bye correct? “The American Heritage and Webster’s New World dictionaries list goodbye as the first spelling. … Merriam-Webster, though, includes only “good-bye” and “good-by.” Many style guides, including the Chicago Manual of Style, prefer a Merriam-Webster dictionary, so “good-bye” is with us for now.
How do you say bye in Japanese?
Is Goodnight together or separate? You can say ‘good night’, which is two separate words, but not ‘goodnight’. The only use of ‘goodnight’ is in adjectival phrases such as ‘goodnight kiss’.
Is everyone capitalized in an email?
No. “Everyone” is not a name or proper noun, so it does not merit capitalization.
Is Good afternoon one word?
Is Good Afternoon One Word? The phrase “good afternoon” should be two words. The same is true for “good morning”, “good evening”, and “good night”.
How do you distract a girl over text?
- “Whenever you need to call, I’m here.” …
- “I wish I could be there right now.” …
- “You’re still in my thoughts. …
- “Your family is lucky to have you through all this.” …
- “Maybe I can’t be there, but there’s definitely something I can do. …
- “Hey, get well soon. …
- “You’re doing a great job with a major responsibility.
How do I tell a girl good morning? 27 Super Sweet ‘Good Morning’ Texts Every Girl Deserves To Receive At Least Once
- Good morning beautiful!
- I love waking up and knowing I get to see you today.
- Stay put, I’m bringing you coffee in bed today.
- Every day I wake up thinking I’m the luckiest man ever because I have you.
- How’s my girl feeling this morning?
What does it mean when a girl says sleep tight?
You can say ‘sleep tight’ to someone when they are going to bed as an affectionate way of saying that you hope they will sleep well. Good night, Davey.
Is it A or an elephant? An Elephant. Any time a word starts with a vowel, (A, E, I, O, U) then its An, if the word starts with a continent, then it is A.
Is it A or an unicorn?
Unicorn doesn’t follow the pattern because, when you say it, it doesn’t start with a vowel. It starts with a consonant. The sound “yu” is a consonant, so we say, “a unicorn.” … The word unicorn is an example where a word is spelled with an initial vowel but is pronounced with an initial consonant.
Is it an umbrella or a umbrella? The U in umbrella is pronounced as a vowel sound ( Λ using the phonetic alphabet) and so we use ‘an’. We therefore say ‘an umbrella‘.
Which word means only one time?
once. adverbin the past; occurred one time only. a single time.
Whats concurrently mean? 1 : operating or occurring at the same time. 2a : running parallel. b : convergent specifically : meeting or intersecting in a point. 3 : acting in conjunction. 4 : exercised over the same matter or area by two different authorities concurrent jurisdiction.
How do you say one at a time?
one by one
- gradually.
- in succession.
- individually.
- little by little.
- one at a time.
- separately.
- singly.
- step by step.