Goodnight Or Good Night: What’s The Difference?

By
Peter
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Goodnight Or Good Night: What's The Difference?

Many people have differences of opinion. Some say that we should write ‘Goodnight’ without a space between words while others say that it should be written as ‘Good night’ with a space between words.

According to the Oxford Advanced Dictionary, both the words are correct and both have their ideal meanings but it depends on the context of usage and their role in the sentence.

The words were written either together or separately serve as nouns, adjectives, or interjections in a sentence.

So today in this article I will explain to you the difference between these words and help you in their usage.

Goodnight Or Good night

·        Meaning of Goodnight

People greet each other to show concern, acknowledgment, and respect towards someone. Goodnight Or Good night is a greeting that is used at night.

In the modern living world, people greet each other with ‘good night’ when they are about to leave a place or going to bed. So it is used in the context of departure at night.

Let’s look at the other context where these words are used:

·        Goodnight as an Adjective

In the context of Goodnight as an Adjective, the word ‘Goodnight’ is written as a single word. For example, Clara couldn’t sleep until her mother gave her a goodnight kiss. So in this, the word ‘goodnight’ is describing the type of kiss.

Examples

  • I sent a goodnight text to John last night.
  • I love to have a goodnight hug from my mother before going to bed.

Good night as an Interjection

Good night as an Interjection expresses farewell to people around you. Interjections are short words and are considered complete sentences that can be used alone.

Examples

  • Good night! Sleep well.
  • Good night! my darling.

Goodnight as a Noun

Goodnight as a Noun is very scarce in usage however in some contexts it serves as an object.

Examples

Conclusion

Goodnight and Good night both words are correct depending on their context of usage. Goodnight used as an adjective describes the function of the word. Goodnight used as a noun is used very little but serves as an object. Good night as an Interjection is written separately as it has complete meaning in itself that is to greet someone at night.