I decided to take a break from family vocab just before our final entry on in-laws, and instead make good on something I said I would do a while ago. Back when we talked about how to say hello and goodbye, I said that we’d get to more time-specific greetings, like “good morning” or “goodnight,” later. Well, it’s a lot later now, so let’s do it.

First, some basic vocabulary:

Morning: صَباح (ṣabāḥ), فَجْر (fajr, specifically “dawn” and seldom used in greetings)

Day: يَوم (yawm, the 24-hour day), نَهار (nahār, the period dawn-dusk)

Afternoon: بَعد الظُهر (baʿd al-ẓuhr, literally “after noon”)

Evening: مِساء (misāʾ), غُروب (ghurūb, specifically “sundown” and seldom used in greetings)

Night: لَيل (layl), لَيلة (laylah, yes, like the song)

Good: خَير (khayr),  جَيِّد(jayyid), or  طَيِّب(ṭayyib)

Happy: سَعٓيد (saʿīd)

Nice: لَطيف (laṭīf)

Beautiful: جَميل (jamīl)

Now, the phrases:

Good morning: صَباح الخَیر (ṣabāḥ al-khayr), response is صَباح النور (ṣabāḥ al-nūr, literally “morning of light”)

Good afternoon/evening: مِساء الخَیر (misāʾ al-khayr), response is مِساء النور (misāʾ al-nūr, literally “morning of light”)

Goodnight: لَيلة سعيدة (laylah saʿīdah)

Good day: يَوم جَيِّد (yawm jayyid), يَوم جَميل (yawm jamīl), يَوماً طَيِّباً (yawman ṭayyiban), يَوماً سَعيداً (yawman saʿīdan)

“Have a nice day!”: any of the above (under “good day”), طابَ نَهارُكَ (ṭāba nahāruka—naharuki for a woman—literally “May your day be good”), or the more formal أتَمَنى لَكَ (لَكِ) نَهاراً سَعيداً (atamaná laka—laki if speaking to a woman—nahāran saʿīdan, or “I hope you have a happy day”)