un jour
/œ̃ ʒuʁ/
The French phrase for "one day" is un jour.
un jour is the most common and standard way to express "one day" in French, typically referring to an unspecified time in the future. It can also be used to describe the age of something, such as a baby being one day old.
Meaning: at unspecified time in the future (adv)
Which one should you use?
While un jour refers to an unspecified time in the future, you might use un de ces jours to mean "one of these days" in everyday conversation. To imply that something will inevitably happen at some point, you can use un jour ou l'autre, which translates to "one day or the other".
How does it change in a sentence?
When used to describe age, such as saying a baby is "one day old", un jour functions as a noun phrase rather than an adverbial phrase.
How do you pronounce it?
/œ̃ ʒuʁ/
Did you know?
- In French, the word jour specifically refers to the daylight hours, whereas journée refers to the duration of the day.
- The French word for 'day', jour, is actually a linguistic relative of the English word 'journey', as both stem from the idea of a day's travel.
- The word jour is used in the phrase le jour J, which is the French equivalent of 'D-Day'.
Examples in context
- Le bébé a un jour.The baby is one day old.This sentence shows how to use un jour to express a specific age.Tatoeba #583078 by qdii, translation #462560 by lukaszpp
- On se reverra un jour.We'll meet again one day.This sentence demonstrates using un jour to refer to a future meeting.Tatoeba #3570845 by sacredceltic, translation #7411203 by Hybrid
- Un jour, je l'épouserai.One day, I will marry her.This sentence illustrates the use of un jour to describe a future intention.Tatoeba #3394707 by sacredceltic, translation #3387169 by Hybrid
- Un jour, je vais voyager à Paris.One day, I will travel to Paris.
- Un de ces jours, on ira à la plage ensemble.One of these days, we'll go to the beach together.
- Un jour ou l'autre, je finirai par apprendre à jouer de la guitare.One day or the other, I'll eventually learn to play the guitar.
- 139 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about their travel dreams.
- ChloéUn jour, je voyagerai au Japon.One day, I will travel to Japan.
- LucasC'est un beau projet, Chloé.That is a beautiful project, Chloé.
- ChloéEt toi, Lucas, as-tu un rêve ?And you, Lucas, do you have a dream?
- LucasUn jour, j'habiterai à Paris.One day, I will live in Paris.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “one day” translations and entries un jour, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
