- To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In
Definition of bon voyage
- congee
- good-by
Examples of bon voyage in a Sentence
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bon voyage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
French, literally, good journey!
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near bon voyage
Cite this entry.
“Bon voyage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bon%20voyage. Accessed 8 May. 2024.
Kids Definition
Kids definition of bon voyage.
French, literally, "good journey"
Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!
Can you solve 4 words at once?
Word of the day.
See Definitions and Examples »
Get Word of the Day daily email!
Popular in Grammar & Usage
More commonly misspelled words, your vs. you're: how to use them correctly, every letter is silent, sometimes: a-z list of examples, more commonly mispronounced words, how to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), popular in wordplay, 12 star wars words, the words of the week - may 3, a great big list of bread words, 10 scrabble words without any vowels, 8 uncommon words related to love, games & quizzes.
- Daily Crossword
- Word Puzzle
- Word Finder
- Word of the Day
- Synonym of the Day
- Word of the Year
- Language stories
- All featured
- Gender and sexuality
- All pop culture
- Grammar Coach ™
- Writing hub
- Grammar essentials
- Commonly confused
- All writing tips
- Pop culture
- Writing tips
Advertisement
[ bon voi- ahzh ; French baw n vw a - yazh ]
interjection
- (have a) pleasant trip.
/ bɔ̃ vwajaʒ /
sentence substitute
- a phrase used to wish a traveller a pleasant journey
Discover More
Word history and origins.
Origin of bon voyage 1
Example Sentences
Next morning there were more autograph books and several wireless messages from intimate friends wishing me bon voyage.
Thus an account of them seems to round it off fitly with a "Bon voyage" to every one.
Soon after this he shook hands all around and wished them bon voyage in their trip to Lindsleyville.
Fifteen minutes later he returned with a kettle of his favourite nepenthe and all three adventurers drank to a bon voyage home.
The obliging Frenchman gave her every assistance, and bade her bon voyage smilingly as he helped her aboard the train.
all about french
Learn French with Audio Stories
HOME > FRENCH PHRASES
Everything about the French sentence "Bon voyage"
You are in the right place to find out all the things you need to know about the basic sentence "Bon voyage". To be more specific, this includes a detailed explanation of what it is and how to use it in a normal conversation with an audio example. Along with the useful things we sprinkled like dialogue example, slow pronunciation audio, synonyms and more!
French to English translation
Translation : Have a nice trip
Register : Neutral - Basic
Audio pronunciation
IPA : / bɔ̃ vwajaʒ /
What does bon voyage mean?
It literally means:
- Voyage → Trip
It means "Have a good trip " or "Have a nice trip ". We use it when saying goodbye to someone (or a group of people) leaving for a trip, to wish a safe and nice time during the trip.
Cool thing: "bon voyage " is also used in English with the exact same meaning.
When you want to wish a safe and good trip to someone or a group of people, you can simply add "Bon voyage ".
If you want to make a sentence out of it, you can say: "Fais bon voyage " (Have a nice/good trip). And for a formal version, use instead: "Je vous souhaite un bon voyage → I wish you a good/nice trip "
If the trip involves driving on the road, you can use "Bonne route → Have a nice (trip on the) road ". And if it's a flight: "Bon vol → Have a good/nice flight ".
Finally, if the trip is about going home, you can also use "Bon retour → Have a good/nice journey home ".
A little trick, if you add "bon(ne) " before a noun, it will mean: "enjoy *noun* " or "have a nice/good *noun* ".
Few examples:
- Bonne journée → Have a nice day
- Bon week-end → Have a nice weekend
- Bon appétit → Enjoy your meal
- Bonne visite → Enjoy your visit
- Bon match → Enjoy the game
- Je vous souhaite un bon voyage → I wish you a good/nice trip
- Fais bon voyage → Have a good/nice trip
- Bonne route → Have a nice (trip on the) road / Be safe on the road
- Bon vol → Have a good/nice flight
- Bon retour → Have a good/nice journey home
Example in a dialogue with French audio
Allez, on y va !
Come on, let's go!
Ça marche ! Bon voyage !
All right! Have a nice trip
Merci ! À plus tard !
Thanks! See you later!
Learn French the easy way with our French - English parallel texts with slow French audio
C'est n'importe quoi
To vocabulary list
C'est combien ?
To support our work, we invite you to accept cookies or to subscribe.
You have chosen not to accept cookies when visiting our site.
The content available on our site is the result of the daily efforts of our editors. They all work towards a single goal: to provide you with rich, high-quality content. All this is possible thanks to the income generated by advertising and subscriptions.
By giving your consent or subscribing, you are supporting the work of our editorial team and ensuring the long-term future of our site.
If you already have purchased a subscription, please log in
What is the translation of "bon voyage" in English?
"bon voyage" in english, bon voyage {m}.
- volume_up safe trip
bon voyage [example]
- volume_up safe journey
fais bon voyage [example]
- volume_up have a good trip
- have a safe trip
"bon voyage" in French
- volume_up bonne route
Translations
Bon voyage {masculine}.
- open_in_new Link to source
- warning Request revision
Context sentences
French english contextual examples of "bon voyage" in english.
These sentences come from external sources and may not be accurate. bab.la is not responsible for their content.
Monolingual examples
French how to use "bon voyage" in a sentence, french how to use "safe trip" in a sentence, french how to use "safe journey" in a sentence, french how to use "have a good trip" in a sentence, french how to use "have a safe trip" in a sentence, synonyms (english) for "bon voyage":, similar translations, similar translations for "bon voyage" in english.
- gift voucher
- bon terrain
- bon travail
- bon à embarquer
- bon à manger
- bon à moyen terme négociable
- bon à savoir
- bon à tirer
More translations in the English-Korean dictionary .
Social Login
- Vocabulary exercises help you to learn synonyms, collocations and idioms.
- Intermediate and Advanced level grammar practice with progress tests.
- Listening and pronunciation, exam preparation and more!
Explore topics
- Pottery & ceramics
- Dictionaries home
- American English
- Collocations
- German-English
- Grammar home
- Practical English Usage
- Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)
- Word Lists home
- My Word Lists
- Recent additions
- Resources home
- Text Checker
Definition of bon voyage exclamation from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural-sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app. Try it for free as part of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
All About the Phrase “Bon Voyage” – and the Travel Habits of the French
French people have been wishing each other Bon voyage (Have a nice trip) for centuries. The saying is so common that it’s one of those French phrases that’s been adopted into other languages, including English .
Despite how frequently you might hear it, like any ultimate travel destination, bon voyage offers a lot more to discover than you might expect.
Let’s take a guided tour of Bon voyage and learn about the travel habits of the French along the way!
What does bon voyage mean?
Bon voyage means “Have a good trip”. But as you can see, there aren’t quite as many words to it. Literally, it’s just “Good trip/voyage”. So, how did we get there?
Wishes in French with bon(ne)(s)
Bon voyage is a shortened form of a phrase like Je vous souhaite un bon voyage. (I wish you a good trip.) or Fais bon voyage (Have a good trip.).
Both of these sentences are still used today, but they tend to be more formal (for the first) or uncommon (for the second). This is because the French like to keep things brief, so why not just say it in two words?
Bon voyage isn’t the only phrase that expresses a wish like this. There’s a whole list of them, and you may know at least a few already.
These include:
- Bonne année – Happy New Year
- Bonnes vacances – Have a nice vacation
- Bon appétit – Enjoy your meal
- Bonne journée / Bonne soirée – Have a nice day/evening
- Bon weekend – Have a nice weekend
- Bonne route – Have a good/safe drive
- Bon anniversaire – Happy birthday! This is a less common equivalent of Joyeux anniversaire .
You’ll frequently hear and see these phrases – and you may discover some others, as well. In French, you can add Bon , Bonne, Bons, or Bonnes to a noun (often a gerund (a noun that describes an action)) to say “Have a good….” or “Enjoy…”.
For instance, if you run into someone as you’re headed to the movies, they might tell you << Bon film !>> (“Enjoy the movie!”).
Or you could hear Bonne baignade ! (Have a nice swim!), and so on.
The structure Bon(ne)(s) + noun works for so many situations, but it can be tricky for us non-native speakers sometimes. For instance, if you want to say “Enjoy the book!”, you can’t use the word livre (book); it would be Bonne lecture! (Happy reading!).
Expressing a complex wish, like “Have a nice day at work!” can also be confusing. You can’t just say Bon travail ! – that literally means “Good work/Good job!”.
So, what can you do to be sure you get these phrases right?
Sometimes, using these expressions is something that will come from listening to and absorbing French.
Other times, you might be able to correct yourself if you realize you’re using an expression that already means something, as in the case of Bon travail .
And when it comes to one of those complex wishes, like “Have a good day at work,” it’s probably best to just say it in a different way – it’s not a simple idea, after all.
So, “Have a good day at work” could be Passe une bonne journée au bureau! or in a more formal conversation, Je te/vous souhaite une bonne journ é e au bureau!
….Then again, since the French prefer to keep things concise, you could probably just say Bonne journ ée and leave it at that.
If this seems overwhelming, don’t worry. The phrases with bon(ne)(s) that I’ve listed, as well as a few others , are the most common ones, and are important to know. But if you feel unsure about using bon(ne)(s) + noun otherwise, remember that there are always other ways to say what you want.
For example, I could say « J’esp è re que tu passeras une bonne journée au travail. » (I hope you’ll have a good day at work) or « J’esp ère que ce livre te plaira. » (I hope you’ll like this book.). Just think about the meaning behind the wish.
Other ways to wish people well in French using bon(ne)(s)
The expressions we’ve just learned about translate to “Have a good____”. But there are some other expressions in French that use bon(ne)(s) to wish people well in a slightly different way.
In these cases, instead of talking about something concrete or expected, these expressions refer to things like luck or the future.
You’ve probably come across one of the most famous before:
Bonne chance – Good luck
Other common phrases like this include:
- Bonne continuation – Keep it up! or Good luck with your future endeavors!
- Bon rétablissement – Get well soon
- Bon courage – Hang in there (Although this phrase isn’t necessarily as informal is “Hang in there,” and can be used in most situations)
There’s no major difference between these expressions and others like them , and the ones we looked at earlier, but there are two subtle ones you may come across:
• These well-wishes tend to stay in their original structure. Whether they’re stand-alone statements, or used in a longer phrase (ex: Je vous souhaite une bonne continuation ), you wouldn’t replace Bon/Bonne with Super in any of these phrases.
• When you’re talking about events, like your continued career or your path back to health, you add un or une before bon/bonne when it’s used in a sentence, as you can see in the example in the previous paragraph. But when you talk about a totally abstract concept or feeling like luck or courage, you don’t use an article (ex: Je te souhaite bon courage. ) .
How to take bon voyage to the next level
Although you can’t add to or change the core phrases we saw in the last section, you can modify bon voyage and its closest cousins a bit.
Most of the time, Bon voyage is a perfectly normal way to wish someone a good trip. But maybe you want them to know you hope they have an EXTRA good trip.
In this case, you can add tr è s (very), like so: Passe(z) un tr è s bon voyage. or Je vous/te souhaites un tr è s bon voyage.
In informal situations, like when you’re talking to a friend, you could replace tr ès bon or just tr ès with super. For example: Passe(z) un super voyage OR Passe(z) un super bon voyage.
For more formal situations, excellent would be a good replacement. For example: Je vous souhaite un excellent voyage.
You’ve probably realized that when you add tr ès, super , or excellent , you can’t just use Bon voyage on its own, though.
Do the French say Bon voyage a lot?: The French and travel
The average working French person gets five weeks of paid vacation a year, plus about a week’s worth of personal days. There are also a number of national holidays in France, and schools have two-week vacations every six weeks, plus two months of summer vacation. Train tickets are usually affordable, and low-cost airlines operate out of many French airports. So it’s no wonder that the French are among the nationalities that travel the most .
Where and when do the French travel?
But where do they like to go? It turns out that most French people tend to travel primarily within France .
Part of this can be explained by the French rail system, which is highly developed and fairly affordable. It’s easy to go to major cities or even small towns, and since many trains are high speed, a trip like that might only take a few hours. Add to this the wide range of landscapes to be found in mainland France alone – from the warm beaches of the Côte d’Azur, to the ski slopes of the Alps, to attractions in major cities like Paris. France is even home to Europe’s only Disney theme park.
And of course, many French people use at least some of their vacation time to visit family and friends who also live in France.
As for when the French travel, there are some traditions around that. But it turns out they don’t totally reflect reality.
For instance, French people typically go on their longest or even only vacation in summer. August is considered a month when everything shuts down (well, except in vacation/tourism destinations, of course). Entire businesses will close their doors because everyone is on vacation.
But with globalization, as well as new, strategic ways of thinking, that’s changed in recent years. According to recent statistics, 69% of the French population takes a summer vacation. But many companies have at least a few employees who stay behind in August – and those people aren’t always disappointed about it. Some French people prefer to work during this time because their offices are usually calmer since so many of their coworkers and bosses are away. They take a vacation another time – when most destinations will be less crowded and pricey, besides.
Similarly, in winter, especially during the winter school holidays, French people traditionally go on ski trips. And yet, it turns out that only 1 in 10 French people go skiing every year.
Part of these lower-than-expected numbers is due to cost. Not everyone can afford to travel – especially taking a ski trip, which involves a lot of expenses beyond room and board.
Which countries do the French travel to most?
Although France itself is the number-one travel destination for French people, the French do go abroad, as well. And when you think about it, with all of the vacation time they have, a majority of a French person’s travel might be national, but they might go beyond their borders for at least one of those trips.
The top countries visited by the French in 2019 include Spain, Greece, Italy, Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, and Russia, as well as Canada and the United States.
What do people think of French tourists?
All of this traveling has earned the French a reputation in the hospitality and tourism industries, as well as with locals in certain places. The typical French tourist is known to be critical, curious, cheap, and seductive.
As some of the people interviewed in this article suggest , seemingly negative traits like being critical may also make them have a more in-depth travel experience. For instance, a tour guide in India explains that instead of saying that they like or don’t like an ice cream flavor, a French tourist will often ask about what’s in it.
They might also make suggestions for how its taste might be improved, which goes with another way the French are perceived: as comparing everything to how good it is or how much it costs back in France.
None of this is to say that the French are terrible tourists (even though they often joke about this amongst themselves). After all, tourists from every country have their good and bad points , and a lot of times it has to do with how well their culture meshes with the local one.
For what it’s worth, one thing I’ve noticed about French people who travel to other countries is that whether or not they complained or made comparisons to France on-site, they generally seem to see their experience as positive, even as a way to expand their knowledge and perspective on the world. Whether they spent a week sunbathing on a beach somewhere, or visited a new city or monument, they come home with a sense of having learned something, and (understandably) often nostalgia for the place they left.
This Egyptian tour guide agrees with me. She loves French tourists because [ i]ls sont très cultivés, ils s’intéressent aux monuments. Ils ne voyagent pas seulement pour prendre des photos (They’re very educated, they’re interested in monuments. They don’t travel just to take pictures.).”
A recent survey shows that 53% of French people see taking a vacation as important and something they’re willing to make sacrifices for. In addition to self-care and getting away from it all, I think some of this could also be chalked up to wanderlust and a natural curiosity and fascination with other places.
Do you have a favorite place to travel? How about somewhere you dream of going – particularly in France? Whether you’re planning a trip or just armchair traveling, Bon voyage!
- What are the best French learning apps in 2024?
- The 16 best websites and apps for French conversation practice
- Duolingo French review: The good, the bad and the ugly
Alysa Salzberg
Alysa Salzberg is an American writer, worrier, teacher, and cookie enthusiast who has lived in Paris, France, for more than a decade. She has taught English and French for more than ten years, most notably as an assistante de langue vivante for L'Education Nationale. She recently published her first novel, Hearts at Dawn , a "Beauty and the Beast" retelling that takes place during the 1870 Siege of Paris. You can read about her adventures here , or feel free to stop by her website .
- Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
Translation of bon voyage – English-French dictionary
(Translation of bon voyage from the PASSWORD English-French Dictionary © 2014 K Dictionaries Ltd)
Translations of bon voyage
Get a quick, free translation!
Word of the Day
Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio
a device that measures air pressure and shows when the weather is likely to change
Hidden in plain sight: words and phrases connected with hiding
Learn more with +Plus
- Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
- Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
- Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
- Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
- English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
- English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
- English–Dutch Dutch–English
- English–French French–English
- English–German German–English
- English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
- English–Italian Italian–English
- English–Japanese Japanese–English
- English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
- English–Polish Polish–English
- English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
- English–Spanish Spanish–English
- English–Swedish Swedish–English
- Dictionary +Plus Word Lists
- PASSWORD English–French
- Translations
- All translations
To add bon voyage to a word list please sign up or log in.
Add bon voyage to one of your lists below, or create a new one.
{{message}}
Something went wrong.
There was a problem sending your report.
French translation of 'bon voyage'
Examples of 'bon voyage' in a sentence bon voyage
Trends of bon voyage
View usage for: All Years Last 10 years Last 50 years Last 100 years Last 300 years
Browse alphabetically bon voyage
- All ENGLISH words that begin with 'B'
Quick word challenge
Quiz Review
Score: 0 / 5
IMAGES
COMMENTS
The meaning of BON VOYAGE is an expression of good wishes when someone leaves on a journey : goodbye —often used interjectionally. How to use bon voyage in a sentence.
BON VOYAGE definition: 1. a phrase said to people who are going away, meaning "I hope you have a safe and enjoyable…. Learn more.
A phrase used to wish a traveller a pleasant journey.... Click for English pronunciations, examples sentences, video.
bon voyage: 1 n an organized expression of goodwill at the start of a trip or new venture Synonyms: send-off Type of: farewell , word of farewell an acknowledgment or expression of goodwill at parting
Bon voyage definition: (have a) pleasant trip.. See examples of BON VOYAGE used in a sentence.
English Translation of "BON VOYAGE" | The official Collins French-English Dictionary online. Over 100,000 English translations of French words and phrases.
Definition. It literally means: Bon → Good. Voyage → Trip. It means "Have a good trip " or "Have a nice trip ". We use it when saying goodbye to someone (or a group of people) leaving for a trip, to wish a safe and nice time during the trip. Cool thing: "bon voyage " is also used in English with the exact same meaning.
Ce fut vraiment un bon voyage. It really was a good trip. Jin-sung, fais un bon voyage. Jin-sung, have a nice trip. Faites un bon voyage, camarades. Have a nice trip, comrades. See how "bon voyage " is translated from French to English with more examples in context.
Mr Cars, I wish you bon voyage, but you are not a Member of Parliament any more. Mesdames et Messieurs, je souhaite à la Constitution un bonvoyage, long et sûr. more_vert. Ladies and gentlemen, I wish the Constitution a long, safe journey. Nous vous souhaitons un bonvoyage à Moscou. more_vert.
Definition of bon voyage from the Collins English Dictionary. Read about the team of authors behind Collins Dictionaries. New from Collins Quick word challenge. Quiz Review. Question: 1 - Score: 0 / 5. ... Download our English Dictionary apps - available for both iOS and Android. Read more.
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English bon voy‧age /ˌbɒn vɔɪˈɑːʒ $ ˌbɒːn-/ interjection used to wish someone a good journey Origin bon voyage (1600-1700) French "good trip". bon voyage meaning, definition, what is bon voyage: used to wish someone a good journey: Learn more.
Definition of bon voyage exclamation in Oxford Advanced American Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. ... Find the answers with Practical English Usage online, your indispensable guide to problems in English. See bon voyage in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Check ...
Define bon voyage. bon voyage synonyms, bon voyage pronunciation, bon voyage translation, English dictionary definition of bon voyage. interj. Used to express farewell and good wishes to a departing traveler.
bon voyage /ˌbɑːnvoɪ ˈ ɑːʒ/ noun. Britannica Dictionary definition of BON VOYAGE. [noncount] : 2 farewell 1. The crowd waved bon voyage as the ship left the dock. — usually used to say that you hope someone who is leaving on a trip will have a good journey. People in the crowd shouted " Bon voyage !" as the ship left the dock.
Definition of bon voyage exclamation in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. ... English American English. Enter search text. Definition of bon voyage exclamation from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
Bon voyage is a shortened form of a phrase like Je vous souhaite un bon voyage. (I wish you a good trip.) or Fais bon voyage (Have a good trip.). Both of these sentences are still used today, but they tend to be more formal (for the first) or uncommon (for the second). This is because the French like to keep things brief, so why not just say it ...
bon voyage - WordReference English dictionary, questions, discussion and forums. All Free.
Préparez votre valise et bon voyage!: Get your suitcase ready and bon voyage!: Dans ce cas, bon voyage ! In that case, bon voyage! Greek style yachting vous souhaite un bon voyage!: Greek style yachting wishes you a good trip!: Je prévois un très bon voyage !: I foresee a very good trip!: Nous vous souhaitons un très bon voyage !: Thanks, and have a nice trip!
Bon voyage à vo us, et nous chercherons à bien faire notre tâche et à relayer. [...] objectivement ce que vous ferez. pcf.va. pcf.va. W e wish you a h appy visit and we will striv e to do a good job in ou r service, [...] and to report objectively what you will do. pcf.va.
BON VOYAGE meaning: 1. a phrase said to people who are going away, meaning "I hope you have a safe and enjoyable…. Learn more.
bon voyage translations: bon voyage. Learn more in the Cambridge English-French Dictionary.
bon courage good luck. bon séjour enjoy your stay. bon voyage have a good trip. bon week-end have a good weekend ⧫ have a nice weekend. bonne année happy New Year. bonne chance good luck. bonne fête happy holiday. bonne nuit good night. bonne journée have a nice day.
French Translation of "BON VOYAGE" | The official Collins English-French Dictionary online. Over 100,000 French translations of English words and phrases. TRANSLATOR. LANGUAGE. GAMES. SCHOOLS. BLOG. RESOURCES. More . English - French. ... even on our other voyages and bon voyage parties. Andrews, Virginia WEB OF DREAMS (2001)