jours

Jour is the French noun for a 24-hour period and serves as the basic unit of time in calendar and scheduling contexts. In everyday usage, jour can refer to a calendar day or to a 24-hour span, whereas journée emphasizes the duration of daylight or the events of that day. When counting days, one says un jour, deux jours; to indicate a span, on parle de pendant trois jours or dans les jours qui viennent. Phrases such as tous les jours (every day), il y a quelques jours (a few days ago), and pendant plusieurs jours (for several days) illustrate common usages.

Etymology and related forms: Journal origin traces to Old French jorn, itself from Latin diurnum, meaning daily. The concept is cognate with the English diurnal and with Romance-language terms describing day or daily time. In modern French, the singular jour forms the plural jours, with pronunciation [ʒuʁ] in both forms.

Usage notes: The word jour contrasts with journée in nuance. Jour tends to denote discrete days or the idea of a day as a unit, while journée often focuses on the span of daylight or on the lived experience of that day, as in travailler toute la journée (to work all day) or une belle journée (a nice day). Common compound expressions include jour ouvrable (a business day) and jour férié (a public holiday). The idiomatic Jour J marks a decisive or planned moment, borrowed from military terminology; être à jour means to be up to date or current.

See also: Journée, diurnal, calendrier.