jour
/ʒuʁ/
jour is the French word for day.
jour refers to a unit of time or a specific calendar day. While jour means day, it is almost never used alone as a greeting. Instead, it is combined with bon to form the standard greeting bonjour.
Which one should you use?
The word jour refers to a unit of time or a specific calendar day, whereas journée refers to the duration or the span of the day from morning to evening.
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form of jour is jours.
How do you pronounce it?
/ʒuʁ/
Did you know?
- English speakers might be surprised to learn that 'journey' is a distant relative of jour. It originally referred to a day's travel or the distance covered in one day.
- French uses jour in the expression à jour, which means 'up to date' but literally refers to letting light or air through a gap.
- The phrase le jour J is the French equivalent of 'D-Day', used both for historical military events and for any highly anticipated personal deadline.
Examples in context
- Le jour de votre arrivée est enfin arrivé.The day of your arrival has finally come.
- La journée internationale du travail est célébrée le 1er mai.International Workers' Day is celebrated on May 1st.
- On a passé une super journée à la plage!We had an awesome day at the beach!
- Il fait beau aujourd'hui, profite de ta journée!The weather is nice today, enjoy your day!
- Quel jour sommes-nous aujourd'hui ?What day is it today?
- Je travaille toute la journée.I am working all day.
Example conversation
Léa and Nathan are talking about a trip in a cafe.
- LéaOn part quel jour ?What day are we leaving?
- NathanLe jour de notre anniversaire.The day of our anniversary.
- LéaC'est un jour très spécial.It is a very special day.
- NathanOui, j'ai hâte.Yes, I can't wait.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry jour, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
