aujourd'hui c'est jeudi
The phrase "today is Thursday" in French is aujourd'hui c'est jeudi.
This phrase is used to state that the current day of the week is Thursday.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "today it is Thursday" because French uses the pronoun c' (it) to identify the day.
Which one should you use?
While aujourd'hui c'est jeudi refers specifically to today, adding the definite article to form le jeudi changes the meaning to "on Thursdays" or "every Thursday". Other common ways to express this include Aujourd'hui, on est jeudi and C'est jeudi aujourd'hui.
How does it change in a sentence?
In French, days of the week like jeudi are not capitalized unless they appear at the start of a sentence. When stating what day it is today, you do not use a definite article before the day of the week. In the expression nous sommes jeudi, the literal translation is "we are Thursday".
Did you know?
- The word aujourd'hui is actually a 'collapsed' phrase. It is a linguistic fossil where four separate words, 'au', 'jour', 'de' and 'hui', fused together into one single word over centuries.
- In French, the word hui used in aujourd'hui no longer exists as a standalone word in modern conversation.
Examples in context
- Aujourd'hui c'est jeudi, n'est-ce pas ?Today is Thursday, isn't it?
- Je ne sais pas, mais aujourd'hui c'est jeudi.I don't know, but today is Thursday.
- Regarde le calendrier, aujourd'hui c'est jeudi.Look at the calendar, today is Thursday.
Example conversation
Emma and Nathan are checking their class schedule.
- EmmaNathan, quel jour sommes-nous ?Nathan, what day is it?
- NathanAujourd'hui c'est jeudi, Emma.Today is Thursday, Emma.
- EmmaAh, j'ai cours de français alors !Ah, I have French class then!
- NathanOui, c'est ça.Yes, that's right.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries aujourd'hui, c'est, jeudi, CC BY-SA 4.0.
