# Bonjour Meaning — What Bonjour Means and When to Say It

> **Bonjour** (bohn-ZHOOR) means “good day” and is the standard French hello. It works with anyone, formal or casual, from waking up until about 6pm — after that, French switches to **bonsoir**.

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Updated: 2026-09-07

## What it means, literally

Bonjour is two words fused into one: bon (“good”) and jour (“day”). So the literal translation is “good day” — but it does the job English gives to “hello”, “good morning” and “hi” all at once.

| French | Say it | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| bonjour | bohn-ZHOOR | hello / good morning / good day — until early evening |
| bonsoir | bohn-SWAHR | good evening — from roughly 6pm |
| salut | sah-LEW | hi — friends and family only; also means “bye” |
| coucou | koo-KOO | hiya — affectionate, for people you know well |
| rebonjour | ruh-bohn-ZHOOR | “hello again” — for the second meeting the same day |

**Two sounds English speakers usually miss** — The on in bonjour is nasal — the air goes through your nose and there is no hard n at the end. And the j is soft, like the middle of “measure”, never the hard j of “jam”. So: bohn-ZHOOR, not “bon-JOOR”.

## The rule nobody tells you: say it once

In France, bonjour is a one-per-person-per-day word. Greet the same colleague with a second bonjour an hour later and you will often get a slightly amused “on s’est déjà vu” — we’ve already seen each other.

The fix is rebonjour, or simply re among friends and colleagues. It sounds like a joke word. It is not — it is genuinely what people say.

## Where it is close to obligatory

This is the part that catches visitors out. In France, entering a small, enclosed space means greeting the people already in it. Not doing so reads as rudeness, not shyness.

- A bakery, pharmacy, small shop or market stall — say it as you cross the threshold, before you ask for anything.
- A doctor’s or dentist’s waiting room — a general bonjour to the room.
- A lift or a small hotel breakfast room.
- The start of any phone call or email to someone you do not know.

**The four-word shop script** — Bonjour on the way in, s’il vous plaît with the request, merci when you are handed it, au revoir on the way out. Those four carry an astonishing amount of goodwill, even if the rest of your French collapses.

## Bonjour or bonne journée?

These look alike and mean opposite things in practice. Bonjour is what you say arriving. Bonne journée (“have a good day”) is what you say leaving.

| French | Say it | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| bonjour | bohn-ZHOOR | you arrive, morning to early evening |
| bonne journée | bun zhoor-NAY | you leave, and their day continues |
| bonsoir | bohn-SWAHR | you arrive, evening |
| bonne soirée | bun swah-RAY | you leave, evening |
| bonne nuit | bun NWEE | you (or they) are going to bed — not a goodbye |

**Bonne nuit is not “goodnight, goodbye”** — English uses “goodnight” to leave a party. French does not. Bonne nuit is strictly for actual sleep. Leaving somewhere in the evening, you want bonne soirée.

## When it is not the French greeting

If you searched for bonjour and landed on something technical, that is a different thing entirely: Bonjour is also the name of Apple’s zero-configuration networking service, the one that finds printers and speakers on a local network. It is installed alongside iTunes on Windows. Same spelling, no French required.

The greeting is also a common name for cafés, hotels and shops worldwide, and the title of Françoise Sagan’s 1954 novel Bonjour tristesse — “hello, sadness”.

## FAQ

### What does bonjour mean in English?

It literally means “good day” — bon (good) + jour (day). In practice it covers “hello”, “good morning” and “good day”, and it is polite in every situation.

### How do you pronounce bonjour?

bohn-ZHOOR, with the stress on the second syllable. The on is nasal with no hard n sound, and the j is soft like the s in “measure” — not the j in “jam”.

### When do you say bonsoir instead of bonjour?

From roughly 6pm, or once it starts getting dark. There is no exact cut-off and nobody minds if you get it slightly wrong — French people hesitate over it too, especially in summer.

### Is bonjour formal or informal?

Both. It is the one greeting that is never wrong. Salut is the informal alternative, but it only works with friends, family and people your own age you already know.

### Why shouldn’t you say bonjour twice to the same person?

Because French treats it as a once-a-day greeting. Meeting someone a second time, say rebonjour, or just re if you know them. Repeating bonjour sounds like you have forgotten the first meeting.

### What is the difference between bonjour and bonne journée?

Bonjour is a greeting for when you arrive. Bonne journée means “have a good day” and is said when you leave. Swapping them is one of the most common beginner slips.

## Related guides

- How to say hello in French: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/hello-in-french
- French greetings: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/french-greetings
- Thank you in French: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/thank-you-in-french
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides