jours ouvrés
The English phrase "business days" is translated into French as jours ouvrés.
jours ouvrés is used to refer to the specific days a business or organization is actually open for work. It is a common term in commercial, legal and administrative contexts, such as when a company specifies delivery times or when discussing bank processing periods.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally means "worked days" or "opened days". The word ouvrés is the past participle of the verb ouvrir (to open) or is related to ouvrier (worker).
Which one should you use?
There is a technical distinction between jours ouvrés and jours ouvrables. While jours ouvrés refers specifically to the days a business is actually open and working, jours ouvrables refers to all days that can legally be working days, which includes Saturdays.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase is typically used in the plural form jours ouvrés when discussing a duration of time, but you can use the singular jour ouvré to refer to a single business day.
Did you know?
- In French labor law, using jours ouvrables instead of jours ouvrés can legally change the number of paid vacation days an employee is owed.
- In France, if a contract specifies jours ouvrables, it could include Saturday as a working day. This is a common trap for English speakers used to 'business days' strictly meaning Monday through Friday.
- The word ouvré shares a root with ouvrier, which means 'worker', creating a direct linguistic link between the operational status of a day and the labor provided.
Examples in context
- Le traitement de votre demande prendra 5 jours ouvrables.The processing of your request will take 5 business days.
- Le délai de livraison est de trois jours ouvrés.The delivery time is three business days.
- Le délai est de trois jours ouvrés.The delay is three business days.
- Nous comptons uniquement les jours ouvrés.We only count business days.
- Il travaille cinq jours ouvrés par semaine.He works five business days per week.
Example conversation
Chloé is asking Nathan about a delivery.
- ChloéQuand recevrai-je mon colis, Nathan ?When will I receive my package, Nathan?
- NathanComptez trois jours ouvrés après l'envoi.Allow three business days after shipping.
- ChloéEst-ce que le samedi compte ?Does Saturday count?
- NathanNon, seuls les jours ouvrés sont comptés.No, only business days are counted.
