Jour vs journée

Posted by Josh on 11th Mar 2025 in the blog in the vocabulary category

French signpost

Certain units of time in French have both a masculine and feminine form. You may have come across the following words, and wondered what the difference is.

  • an/année = year
  • jour/journée = day
  • matin/matinée = morning
  • soir/soirée = evening

This can be confusing to native speakers of English, which doesn’t have this distinction (although that’s partly why words such as matinée and soirée have entered the language as loanwords, while the English word ‘journey’ comes from the French journée, in the sense of ‘a day’s travel’).

The masculine form

When we use the masculine forms of these words, we are referring to a specific point in time, or using time as a measurement.

Elle a quarante-cinq ans = She is forty-five years old

Il y a sept jours dans une semaine = There are seven days in a week

Je travaille le matin = I work in the morning

Ils regardent la télévision le soir = They watch TV in the evening

The feminine form

When we use the feminine forms of these words, however, we are referring to a unit of time in its duration.

Elle a beaucoup voyagé pendant son année sabbatique - She travelled a lot during her gap year

Il dort pendant la journée - He sleeps during the day

Ma mère était au téléphone toute la matinée - My mother was on the telephone all morning

Passe une bonne soirée ! - Have a good evening!

For more information on the differences on these nouns, check out Alexa’s past live lesson on the subject.

Check out some of our other blog posts!

What are the Paris 2024 Olympic Mascots?

Posted on by Josh in the category

Discover the meaning behind these triangle-shaped fellows

Read more

How to use inclusive language in French

Posted on by Josh in the learning french category

Since gender plays a huge role in the French language, it can be difficult to speak and write in a way that doesn't exclude certain genders. Let's look at some of the things people have proposed to make French more inclusive.

Read more

Have fun learning French Today

People from all over the world enjoy learning French with Alexa Polidoro’s popular French audio and video lessons.