bonjour
/bɔ̃.ʒuʁ/
The English phrase "hello good afternoon" is expressed in French as bonjour.
bonjour is a polite greeting used to say hello or good day. It is the most common and widely accepted way to greet someone during the afternoon.
Which one should you use?
While bonjour is used during the day, you should switch to bonsoir once the late afternoon transitions into the evening.
How does it change in a sentence?
bonjour functions as both an interjection and a noun. When referring to multiple greetings, it can be pluralized as bonjours.
How do you pronounce it?
/bɔ̃.ʒuʁ/
When do people say it?
In France, it is considered much more polite to follow bonjour with a title like Madame or Monsieur when addressing someone you do not know.
Did you know?
- In many French shops, it is considered a social faux pas or even rude to begin asking a question or making a purchase without first saying bonjour to the staff.
- While bonjour is the standard greeting, the informal salut is unique because it can be used both to say 'hello' and 'goodbye'.
- The word jour in bonjour is a cognate of the English word 'journal', which originally meant a daily record.
Examples in context
- Bonjour, comment allez-vous ?Hello, how are you?
- Bonjour tout le monde.Hello everyone.
- Bonjour, Monsieur.Hello, sir.
Example conversation
Hugo enters a small bakery to buy some bread.
- HugoBonjour, Madame.Hello, ma'am.
- EmmaBonjour ! Que voulez-vous ?Hello! What would you like?
- HugoUne baguette, s'il vous plaît.A baguette, please.
- EmmaVoilà, c'est deux euros.There you go, that is two euros.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry bonjour, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
