2 syllables: Bon, jour. Stress on jour.
buhn-ZHUUR
/bəˈnʒʊɹ/
Bonjour is pronounced buhn-ZHUUR (/bəˈnʒʊɹ/). It has two syllables (Bon-jour), with the stress on "jour". Bonjour is a French greeting meaning “hello” or “good day.” It is used in everyday conversation, in formal settings, and as a polite salutation. Pronounced with a nasalized first vowel and a silent final consonant in many contexts, it blends casual friendliness with the formality of French etiquette.
nounBonjour is a French greeting meaning “hello” or “good day.” It is used in everyday conversation, in formal settings, and as a polite salutation. Pronounced with a nasalized first vowel and a silent final consonant in many contexts, it blends casual friendliness with the formality of French etiquette.
"Bonjour, comment allez-vous ?"
"Elle a dit bonjour en entrant dans la salle."
"Bonjour tout le monde, bienvenue à la conférence."
Pronounce it as bon-zhoor, with nasalized /ɔ̃/ in the first syllable and a voiced /ʒ/ as in measure. Stress falls on the final syllable: [bɔ̃.ʒuʁ], where /ɔ̃/ is nasalized, the /ʒ/ is a soft, French-made ‘zh,’ and the final /ʁ/ is uvular. For ease, think of starting with ‘bon’ as in ‘bone’ but nasalized, then glide into ‘zhur.’ Audio references include standard French pronunciation resources; listen for the nasal vowel and the clear palatal approximant. Analogies: ‘bon’ with a light nasal, followed by a soft, rounded ‘zh’ and a throaty French r.
Common mistakes: (1) Dropping the nasalization of the first vowel, which makes it sound more like ‘boro’ than the French nasal /ɔ̃/. (2) Over-rolling the final /ʁ/ or turning it into an English r; French /ʁ/ is uvular and more throaty. (3) Misplacing the /ʒ/ as /ʃ/ or as a hard ‘j,’ which can alter the center of gravity of the word. Correction tips: nasalize the first vowel with relaxed lips and an open jaw to allow the air to escape nasally; produce the /ʒ/ with the tongue blade near the palate; finish with a light, throaty /ʁ/. Practice with minimal pairs to keep nasalization and consonant quality distinct.
US, UK, and AU French accents share the core sounds but differ in r-closure and vowel quality. US/UK/AU generally preserve the nasal /ɔ̃/ but slightly differ in lip rounding and jaw tension. US often features a more open /ɔ̃/ with less lip rounding, UK tends to a tighter jaw and more precise nasalization, while AU can exhibit a slightly broader /ɔ̃/ with softer r if influenced by non-standard English intonation. The /ʒuʁ/ segment remains largely similar, but in some accents the final /ʁ/ might be less pronounced or devoiced. Keep the nasalisation stable across all regions.
The difficulty lies in the nasalized first vowel, which many English speakers don’t nasalize naturally, and the French uvular /ʁ/ at the end, which is produced far back in the throat. The /ʒ/ sound also requires precise tongue position behind the alveolar ridge, not a typical English ‘j’. Coordinating a nasal vowel with a palatal fricative and a pharyngeal-like /ʁ/ demands careful mouth shaping and airflow. With practice in French-specific intake, you can stabilize the nasal and the final vowel.
Does bonjour have a liaison-ready final consonant? In fluent speech, bonjour can connect to a vowel-initial next word via a subtle, almost inaudible liaison where the /ʁ/ links to the following vowel, but many speakers drop the audible connection in careful speech. The true difficulty is maintaining nasalization in the first syllable while keeping the /ʒuʁ/ sequence clean and explosive. Remember: the nasal should not bleed into the following segment, and the /ʁ/ should remain posterior in the throat.
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Bonjour derives from the Old French expression bon jorn, literally 'good day.' Bon comes from Latin bonum, meaning ‘good.’ Jorn (jour) stems from Latin diurnum via Old French jorn, meaning ‘day.’ The phrase evolved into a general greeting in medieval and early modern French, consolidating into the modern bonjour with the pronunciation shift that softened the final consonant and nasalized the initial vowel. Early modern French spelling often alternated between bon jour and bonjour until the 18th century standardization. The use of bonjour as a universal daytime greeting became firmly established as French social etiquette codified politeness in public spaces. The pronunciation developed nasalization on the first vowel in many regional variants, while the final r was pronounced in some dialects and dropped in others depending on liaison and register. First known written attestations align with the late medieval period, but the stable modern form bonjour is well documented by the 17th century in normative grammars. In contemporary use, bonjour also appears in cross-cultural conversations as a recognizable French greeting, retaining its polite, daytime salutation sense across contexts.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Bonjour" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Bonjour"
-our sounds
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