Kilo Lingo

/bɔ̃ʒuʁ/

Line drawing of bonjour
Coloured illustration of bonjour
#190 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

hello, good morning, good afternoon

Word origin

A compound of bon ('good', from Latin bonus) and jour ('day', from Latin diurnum). It is the everyday greeting 'good day'.

Origin
Latin
Root
bonus + diurnum
English cognates
journal, diurnal

Examples

, - cette .

Hello, I'd like to make an appointment with the doctor this week.

.

She always says hello to her neighbours with a big smile.

tous, ' cette .

Hello everyone, thank you for coming in such numbers to this conference.

.

Say hello to your mother from me.

.

You always start a letter with hello.

est la salutation standard du français, utilisée de l'aube jusqu'au début de la soirée - à partir de là, bonsoir prend le relais. Contrairement à l'anglais qui distingue good morning, good afternoon et good evening, le français utilise bonjour pour la majeure partie de la journée.

Dire bonjour (to say hello) vs faire la bise (to do the cheek-kiss) - en France, la salutation implique souvent un contact physique. Bonjour ! seul peut aussi exprimer l'ironie : ah bonjour les dégâts ! (hello, what a mess!). Ambassadeur culturel mondial du français, bonjour est l'un des mots français les plus reconnus à l'international.

Where this fits

The 1,000 most common French words

Where this word sits in the core vocabulary, and what to learn around it.

French vocabulary by CEFR level

How many words each level actually needs, with real counts.

French learning guides

Podcasts, pronunciation traps and the things a word list cannot teach.

Used in

Stories

(11)

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

French · Free printables

bonjour: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the French word "bonjour" (hello, good morning, good afternoon): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

Free for members

The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.

Start your free week

This word is part of lesson 4.