vivre au jour le jour
The English phrase "live one day at a time" is expressed in French as vivre au jour le jour.
vivre au jour le jour is used to describe focusing on the present moment without worrying about or planning for the future. This phrase can be used neutrally to describe a lifestyle of living in the moment, but it can also be used pejoratively to describe someone who lacks stability or foresight.
What does it mean word for word?
The locution au jour le jour literally means at the day the day, functioning as an adverbial phrase meaning "day by day" or "day to day".
Which one should you use?
While it is the standard way to express living one day at a time, vivre au jour le jour carries a stronger connotation of a lack of planning than the English equivalent might.
Did you know?
- While vivre au jour le jour is used for a carefree lifestyle, the French have a different expression croquer la vie à pleines dents to describe living life to the fullest, which literally means 'to bite into life with all one's teeth'.
- The French verb vivre shares the same Proto-Indo-European root as the English word 'quick' in its archaic sense of 'alive', such as in the phrase 'the quick and the dead'.
- The French word for 'day', jour, is a linguistic cousin to the English word 'journey', as both stem from the concept of a day's travel or progress.
Examples in context
- Vivre un jour à la fois m'aide à mieux gérer mon stress.Living one day at a time helps me better manage my stress.
- J'ai appris à prendre les jours comme ils viennent plutôt que de m'inquiéter de l'avenir.I've learned to take each day as it comes instead of worrying about the future.
- On devrait juste prendre la vie comme elle vient, sans se soucier de tout.We should just take life as it comes without worrying about everything.
- J'essaie de vivre au jour le jour et de profiter de chaque instant.I try to live day by day and enjoy every moment.
- Il a décidé de vivre au jour le jour.He decided to live one day at a time.
- Parfois, il faut simplement vivre au jour le jour.Sometimes, one must simply live one day at a time.
- Elle préfère vivre au jour le jour sans stress.She prefers to live one day at a time without stress.
Example conversation
Hugo and Chloé are talking about their lifestyles.
- HugoTu ne prépares jamais tes vacances ?Do you never plan your vacations?
- ChloéNon, je préfère vivre au jour le jour.No, I prefer to live one day at a time.
- HugoC'est une philosophie très relaxante, Chloé.That is a very relaxing philosophy, Chloé.
- ChloéC'est vrai, ça m'aide beaucoup.It's true, it helps me a lot.
