bonjour
/bɔ̃.ʒuʁ/
The phrase hello formally in French is bonjour.
bonjour is a versatile greeting that translates to 'good day' or 'hello'. It is the most common way to greet someone and is appropriate to use throughout the day until around 6 p.m.
What does it mean word for word?
The word bonjour is a compound of bon, meaning 'good' and jour, meaning 'day'.
Which one should you use?
While bonjour is used during the day, once the evening begins, you should use bonsoir, which means 'good evening'.
How do you pronounce it?
/bɔ̃.ʒuʁ/. It has 2 syllables.
When do people say it?
In formal French etiquette, it is common and polite to follow bonjour with the person's title, such as Bonjour, Monsieur or Bonjour, Madame.
Did you know?
- In many French shops, failing to say Bonjour to the shopkeeper when you enter is considered a significant social snub, sometimes even viewed as an insult.
- Despite being a formal greeting, bonjour is almost never used on the telephone to start a call in France. Instead, people typically use allô to establish the connection before switching to bonjour once the identity of the caller is clear.
- The word jour is a linguistic relative of the English word 'journal', which originally referred to a daily record.
Examples in context
- Bonjour, Monsieur.Hello, Sir.
- Bonjour, Madame la directrice.Hello, Madam director.
Example conversation
Nathan enters a formal meeting room where Léa is waiting.
- NathanBonjour, Madame.Hello, Madam.
- LéaBonjour, Nathan. Asseyez-vous.Hello, Nathan. Please, sit down.
- NathanMerci beaucoup.Thank you very much.
- LéaDe rien.You're welcome.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry bonjour, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
