The most common way to say 'afternoon' in French is l'après-midi. It's straightforward and you'll hear it all the time. But what if you want to talk about the early afternoon, the late afternoon, or even use a more poetic term for that time of day? As you get more comfortable with French, you'll discover that, just like in English, there are several ways to refer to the period between noon and evening. Let's dive into nine different ways to say 'afternoon' in French to make your conversations more precise and colorful!

The standard 'afternoon' – l'après-midi

The most common and standard way to say “afternoon” in French is l'après-midi.

Literally translating to “after-noon”, l'après-midi is a compound word formed from après (after) and midi (noon/midday). This direct translation makes it quite easy to remember.

A key point for learners is the gender of l'après-midi: it can be both masculine and feminine! Both are grammatically correct, though the masculine form (un après-midi or l'après-midi treated as masculine) is generally more common in contemporary French.

This means you will see both un bon après-midi (masculine) and une bonne après-midi (feminine). The choice often comes down to regional preference or personal habit. As a general rule, using the masculine form is a safe and widely understood choice.

To say “this afternoon,” you use a demonstrative adjective that agrees with your chosen gender: cet après-midi (masculine) or cette après-midi (feminine). You will most frequently hear and read cet après-midi.

The plural form is straightforward. The word itself doesn't change; you only change the article: les après-midi. For example, tous les après-midi means “every afternoon”.

L'après-midi typically covers the time from after the midday meal (around 1 PM or 13h) until the evening begins (around 6 PM or 18h). It functions exactly like its English equivalent.

💡 * Je vais au cinéma cet après-midi. (I am going to the movies this afternoon.)

On a passé un très bon après-midi à la plage. (We spent a very good afternoon at the beach.)

Elle fait une sieste tous les après-midi. (She takes a nap every afternoon.)

Bonne après-midi et à demain ! (Have a good afternoon and see you tomorrow!)

La réunion aura lieu à 15h (quinze heures) de l'après-midi. (The meeting will take place at 3 in the afternoon.)

The 'early afternoon' – le début d'après-midi

When you want to be more specific than just saying 'afternoon', the French phrase for 'early afternoon' is le début d'après-midi.

Literally, the phrase translates to “the beginning of the afternoon.” The word début means 'start' or 'beginning', providing a clear and logical way to describe this time of day.

This expression generally refers to the period right after lunch, typically from around 1 PM to 3 PM. It’s the perfect term to distinguish this timeframe from le milieu de l'après-midi (mid-afternoon) or la fin d'après-midi (late afternoon).

Using le début d'après-midi adds a layer of precision to your plans. While l'après-midi is a broad term, specifying le début helps avoid ambiguity when scheduling meetings, appointments, or social gatherings.

You will often hear this phrase paired with prepositions like au or en. For example, 'au début d'après-midi' or 'en début d'après-midi' both mean 'in the early afternoon' and are used interchangeably.

💡 * On se retrouve en début d'après-midi pour un café ? (Shall we meet in the early afternoon for a coffee?)

La réunion est prévue pour le début d'après-midi, vers 14h. (The meeting is scheduled for the early afternoon, around 2 PM.)

J'ai un rendez-vous chez le médecin au début d'après-midi. (I have a doctor's appointment in the early afternoon.)

Normalement, je fais une sieste en début d'après-midi. (I usually take a nap in the early afternoon.)

The 'late afternoon' – la fin d'après-midi

To talk about the 'late afternoon' in French, you can use the very descriptive phrase la fin d'après-midi, which literally translates to 'the end of the afternoon'.

While l'après-midi (the afternoon) covers a broad period from roughly noon until the evening, la fin d'après-midi specifically refers to the later part of this window, typically from around 4 PM to 6 PM, just before le soir (the evening) begins.

This phrase is commonly used in everyday conversation to be more precise about timing. It's perfect for scheduling activities that happen as the workday winds down or before dinner plans.

Remember that après-midi can be either masculine or feminine, but in the expression la fin d'après-midi, it is part of a feminine structure, always using la because fin is a feminine noun.

💡 * On se retrouve en fin d'après-midi pour un café ? (Shall we meet in the late afternoon for a coffee?)

J'ai un rendez-vous en fin d'après-midi, vers 17h. (I have an appointment in the late afternoon, around 5 PM.)

La lumière de la fin d'après-midi est magnifique. (The light in the late afternoon is magnificent.)

Je serai libre à partir de la fin d'après-midi. (I will be free starting in the late afternoon.)

1. The 'good afternoon' greeting – Bonjour

Contrary to what many English speakers expect, French does not have a distinct greeting for 'good afternoon'. The standard, all-purpose greeting Bonjour is used from the moment you wake up until the early evening.

This makes sense when you look at the literal translation. Bonjour breaks down into bon ('good') and jour ('day'). You are essentially wishing someone a 'good day', which is appropriate whether it's 10 AM or 3 PM.

While Bon après-midi does translate to 'good afternoon', it is almost never used as a greeting when you meet someone. Instead, it is used when you are leaving, much like saying 'Have a good afternoon!' in English.

You can confidently use Bonjour as your go-to greeting until around 6 PM or whenever it starts to get dark. At that point, it becomes appropriate to switch to Bonsoir ('good evening').

💡 * Bonjour, je viens pour le rendez-vous de 14h. (Good afternoon, I'm here for the 2 PM appointment.)

En entrant dans le bureau à 15h, elle a dit « Bonjour à tous ». (Entering the office at 3 PM, she said, "Hello everyone.")

Bonjour Monsieur, puis-je vous aider ? (Good afternoon Sir, may I help you?)

Merci pour votre aide. Bon après-midi ! (Thank you for your help. Have a good afternoon!)

The 'good afternoon' farewell – Bon après-midi

A common point of confusion for learners is how to say 'good afternoon' in French. The phrase you need is Bon après-midi.

Literally, bon après-midi translates perfectly to 'good afternoon.' The word bon means 'good,' and après-midi means 'afternoon.'

Here's the most important rule: Bon après-midi is used as a farewell, not a greeting. You say it when you are leaving someone in the afternoon, equivalent to saying 'Have a good afternoon!' in English.

If you want to greet someone in the afternoon, you should still use Bonjour. Bonjour is the standard greeting from morning until the early evening (around 6 PM).

To summarize: use Bonjour when you arrive or meet someone in the afternoon, and use Bon après-midi when you leave.

💡 * Je pars maintenant, bon après-midi ! (I'm leaving now, have a good afternoon!)

Merci de votre aide. Bon après-midi ! (Thank you for your help. Have a good afternoon!)

Au revoir, et passez un bon après-midi. (Goodbye, and have a good afternoon.)

The 'whole afternoon' – tout l'après-midi

To express the idea of the 'whole afternoon' or 'all afternoon long' in French, you use the phrase tout l'après-midi.

Let's break it down: tout means 'all' or 'whole', and l'après-midi means 'the afternoon'. The noun après-midi is masculine, so tout is used in its masculine form. This structure is key to emphasizing the full duration of a time period.

Adding tout before a time period like l'après-midi stresses that an action took place continuously throughout that entire time. For instance, J'ai travaillé l'après-midi means 'I worked in the afternoon', while J'ai travaillé tout l'après-midi implies 'I worked the entire afternoon without a break'.

You can apply this pattern to other times of the day. Just be mindful of gender agreement! For feminine nouns, you use toute:

toute la matinée (the whole morning)
toute la journée (the whole day)
toute la nuit (the whole night)

💡 * Il a plu tout l'après-midi, donc nous sommes restés à l'intérieur.

Nous avons passé tout l'après-midi à la plage à construire des châteaux de sable.

J'ai révisé pour mon examen tout l'après-midi.

Les enfants ont joué dehors tout l'après-midi.

The 'afternoon snack time' – le goûter

In France, the afternoon snack is a true institution, known as le goûter. It's more than just a quick bite; it's a specific, fourth meal of the day, especially for children, typically enjoyed after school around 4 or 4:30 PM. This tradition is a cherished part of French daily life and culture.

While anything can be eaten, a traditional goûter often consists of something sweet. Common choices include a pain au chocolat, a piece of baguette with a square of chocolate (un morceau de pain avec du chocolat), a piece of fruit, a yogurt, or biscuits. It is generally not a savory meal.

The word goûter is also a verb that means "to taste." When used to talk about the afternoon snack, you can use the expression prendre le goûter (to have the afternoon snack) or simply the verb goûter. For example, Les enfants goûtent à 4h means "The children have their snack at 4 o'clock."

💡 * Qu’est-ce que tu veux pour le goûter ? (What do you want for the afternoon snack?)

Après l'école, les enfants prennent leur goûter avant de faire leurs devoirs. (After school, the children have their snack before doing their homework.)

J’ai faim, il est l'heure de goûter ! (I'm hungry, it's time for a snack!)

Ma mère nous préparait toujours un bon goûter quand nous rentrions. (My mother always prepared a good snack for us when we came home.)

Specifying a time in the afternoon – de l'après-midi

To specify a time in the afternoon, you simply add the phrase de l'après-midi after the time. This is the direct equivalent of saying 'in the afternoon' or using 'p.m.' in English to avoid ambiguity between, for example, 2 a.m. and 2 p.m.

This phrase is primarily used with the 12-hour clock system, which is common in conversational French. When using the 24-hour clock (l'heure officielle), this phrase is redundant. For example, deux heures de l'après-midi is the same as quatorze heures (14:00).

In a sentence, de l'après-midi directly follows the stated time. For example, you would say Il est trois heures de l'après-midi (It's three o'clock in the afternoon), not Il est de l'après-midi trois heures.

💡 * Le film commence à quatre heures de l'après-midi.

On se voit à une heure de l'après-midi pour déjeuner ?

Le magasin ferme à six heures du soir, pas de l'après-midi.

Je dois appeler mon médecin à trois heures et demie de l'après-midi.

The literary 'afternoon' or 'evening' – la vesprée

The word la vesprée is a literary and somewhat archaic French term for the late afternoon or the beginning of the evening. It's not a word you'll hear in everyday conversation, but you might encounter it in classic literature, poetry, or historical texts. It evokes a sense of dusk, twilight, or the period of time around sunset.

Etymologically, la vesprée is related to the word vêpres, which refers to the evening prayers or 'vespers' in a religious context. This connection highlights its association with the end of the day. Think of it as a more poetic and old-fashioned equivalent of la fin de l'après-midi (the end of the afternoon) or le début de la soirée (the beginning of the evening).

In modern French, you would almost always use l'après-midi for 'afternoon' and le soir or la soirée for 'evening'. Using la vesprée today would sound deliberately poetic, formal, or even antiquated. It's a beautiful word to know for reading French literature, but it's best to stick to the common terms in your own speech and writing unless you're aiming for a specific literary effect.

💡 * Durant la longue vesprée d'été, nous lisions des poèmes dans le jardin. (During the long summer evening, we read poems in the garden.)

Le roman décrivait la douce lumière de la vesprée tombant sur la ville. (The novel described the soft evening light falling on the city.)

C'est un mot ancien ; on ne dit plus 'la vesprée' pour parler du soir. (It's an old word; one no longer says 'la vesprée' to talk about the evening.)

Il rentra chez lui dans le calme de la vesprée. (He returned home in the calm of the late afternoon.)

Are there other ways to say 'afternoon' in French?

This guide covers the most common and essential ways to say 'afternoon' in French. However, the French language is rich with nuance, and you might encounter other expressions, especially in literature, older films, or specific regional dialects.

For a deeper dive, you could try an online search for 'expressions pour l'après-midi en ___' followed by a specific Francophone region like Quebec or Switzerland.

If you discover a new term for 'afternoon', it's always a good idea to check its definition and observe how it's used in context. Is it formal, informal, or perhaps a bit poetic?

The best way to expand your vocabulary is through immersion. As you listen to French music, watch movies, or read books, pay close attention to how native speakers refer to different times of the day. You'll pick up on subtle distinctions.

If you're curious about related vocabulary, such as phrases for 'good afternoon' or other time-related expressions, a great resource is the Larousse dictionary entry for 'après-midi'.

We hope this guide has been helpful in mastering the French for 'afternoon'. To leave you with a final thought on the passage of time, here is a beautiful quote from Marcel Proust: 'Les jours sont peut-être égaux pour une horloge, mais pas pour un homme.' (Days are perhaps equal for a clock, but not for a man.)

'9 ways to say "afternoon" in French'