bonjour
/bɔ̃.ʒuʁ/
In French, "hello good morning" is said as bonjour.
bonjour is a polite greeting used when meeting someone during the first part of the day. It functions as both "hello" and "good morning."
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 for both "hello" and "good morning", it is used specifically during the daytime and is replaced by bonsoir once the sun begins to set.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
bonjour is the standard polite way to greet someone. For a more informal way to say "hi", you can use salut. In formal contexts, you might use the full phrase Bonjour, Monsieur/Madame to say "Good morning, Sir/Madam".
How do you pronounce it?
/bɔ̃.ʒuʁ/
When do people say it?
In formal French social etiquette, it is common and polite to follow bonjour with a person's title, such as Monsieur or Madame.
Did you know?
- In many French shops and cafes, failing to say bonjour when entering is considered a major social snub, almost as rude as an insult.
- Using bonjour more than once to the same person in a single day is often seen as odd or a mistake, as it signals the first meeting of the day.
- The word jour in bonjour is related to the English word 'journey', as both stem from the idea of a single day's travel or passage of time.
Examples in context
- Salut ! Bonjour !Hello! Good morning!This sentence shows how to use bonjour alongside an informal greeting.Tatoeba #493580 by Shishir, translation #435082 by lukaszpp
- Bonjour! Ça va bien, merci! Et toi?Good morning! I'm fine, thanks! And you?
- Bonjour, Monsieur. Comment allez-vous ce matin?Good morning, Sir. How are you this morning?
- Bonjour, Monsieur.Hello, good morning, sir.
- Bonjour tout le monde !Hello, good morning everyone!
Example conversation
Léa and Gabriel meet at a bakery in the morning.
- LéaBonjour, Gabriel !Hello, good morning, Gabriel!
- GabrielBonjour, Léa. Tu vas bien ?Hello, good morning, Léa. Are you doing well?
- LéaOui, ça va très bien.Yes, I am doing very well.
- GabrielTant mieux, bonne journée !That's good, have a nice day!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry bonjour, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bonjour, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
