95 - “Jour” Vs. ”Journée”: Which One to Choose?

 
 

In this "Common Mistakes in French" series, you'll learn when to use the words "le jour" (day) and when to use "la journée" (also meaning "day") in French. 🤓

If you’d prefer to listen on the go, listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Links & Cheat Sheet

Transcript

Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!

Hello everyone! Bonjour à tous! 💖 Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast! This is episode number 95, numéro 95!

This episode is part of the "Common Mistakes in French" series, where I share with you verbs, words, or expressions that often get mixed up! 

And today, we'll look at two confusing words: "le jour" and "la journée." They both mean "day." It's sometimes possible to use both, but most of the time, they are not interchangeable. I'll explain in a minute.

Alright, so if you're new to the podcast, make sure you have your lesson's cheat sheet in front of you during the lesson. After the lesson, head over to the French Made Easy library to practice what you've learned today. All the links are in the episode notes.

Alright, so let's start.

1) "le jour" (day) is used to express a time unit. So it's the whole 24-hour day as a time unit.

Examples:

  • Il y a 7 jours dans une semaine. (There are seven days in a week.)

  • Quel jour sommes-nous ? / Quel jour on est ? (What day is today?)

  • Je pars en vacances dans 3 jours. (I'm going on vacation in 3 days.)

2) "la journée" is used to express a length of time. It's usually the length of time between sunrise and sunset. (Although it can vary.)

Examples:

  • J'ai travaillé toute la journée. (I worked all day.)

  • Est-ce que tu as passé une bonne journée ? (Did you have a good day?)

  • Il a plu toute la journée. (It rained all day.)

So in all those examples, you cannot replace “jour” with “journée” and vice versa.

So let's recap:

  1. "le jour" (day) is used to express a time unit. The whole 24-hour day.

  2. "la journée" is used to express a length of time. Usually between sunrise and sunset.

And that concludes our lesson. I hope you enjoyed it. Now it’s time to practice! Make sure you head over to the exercises library to download your exercises and practice what you’ve learned!

I'll chat with you in the next episode. xx

Merci beaucoup et à bientôt.

 
Mathilde Kien4 Comments