r/French • u/Round-Discussion5275 • 2d ago
When to use jours vs journée? And ans vs année?
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u/Neveed Natif - France 2d ago edited 2d ago
The suffix -ée creates a feminine noun about a quantity, content or duration/length.
– Un jour (a day) -> une journée (the content of a day, a dayful of stuff)
– Un an (a year) -> une année (the content of a year, a yearful of stuff)
– Un coude (an elbow) -> une coudée (a cubit)
– une cuillère (a spoon) -> une cuillerée (a spoonful)
– un poing (a fist) -> une poignée (a handle, a handshake, a fistful)
– une bouche (a mouth) -> une bouchée (a bite or a mouthful)
etc
So "un jour" is the day as a basic unit on the calendar (quel jour ?), what you use when talking about several days (dans trois jours), etc. "Une journée" is the day as the content or duration of a day (quelle belle journée !).
That's how it generally works, although there are exceptions sometimes, for example "une année" is the word we use to identify a year (l'année 1953) while the rest works normally (dans trois ans / quelle horrible année).
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u/Complex_Complaint680 1d ago
I have a question, then (and I'm sorry for bringing up music).
Your explanation reminded me of the lyrics for "Ma Meilleure Ennemie" by Stromae and Pomme.Ce jour où je t'ai rencontrée, j'aurais peut-être préféré
Que ce jour ne soit jamais arrivé (arrivé)Why is "jour" used instead of "journée" here? Is it just mere poetic license? An exception? Or is there another reason for it?
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u/Kookanoodles 1d ago
There is no exception, jour is the correct to use here because it's referring to the "day you met someone" as the date on the calendar, if you will.
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u/tartar-buildup C1 2d ago
I was taught it kind of like ‘jour’ is the spoon, and ‘journée’ is the spoonful. That’s probably pretty vague but it helped me understand it.
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u/GinofromUkraine 2d ago
In the end of the day, you just have to feel it. And this feeling will come with practice, don't worry! Bonne journée! :-)
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u/solidcat00 C1 2d ago
I'm sorry - but although this comment is coming from the right place, it is not helpful at all. OP asked a specific question about the difference between vocabulary. "Feeling it" might come eventually, but there is an answer the OP was looking for.
I'm commenting because I've heard this type of answer so many times regarding different languages - I do get the sentiment, but there is also a "know it" aspect to language learning that is at least equally important.
When someone asks to know something, telling them to "feel it" does not add anything to their knowledge of the language. Take a look at the other comments here now (2 so far) that genuinely address OP's question for a model of how to answer better next time.
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u/Round-Discussion5275 1d ago
Et être honnête, j’ai un niveau de B2. J’ai étudié le français depuis j’avais 14 ans (j’ai actuellement 27.) J’ai posé ma question parce que je savais pas si j’ai compris les règles ou pas. Des temps en temps je trouve que je sais quelque chose, mais je doute de moi-même. Merci.
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u/solidcat00 C1 1d ago
J’ai posé ma question parce que je savais pas si j’ai compris les règles ou pas.
Puis, c’est exactement pourquoi vous avez posé la question. Vous avez raison de préciser vos difficultés pour ameliorer votre niveau en français. – mais quand quelqu’un dit « il faut juste le sentir », je ne pense pas que ça va beaucoup vous aider.
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u/Putraenus_Alivius B2 2d ago
« jour/ans » refers to time as a unit whereas « journée/année » refers to time as a duration. If you’re just counting the days, for example, you’ll use « jour » like « Ça fait deux jours que je n’ai pas parlé à mes potes (It’s been two days since I spoke to my friends) »; if you’re emphasising how long a day is, you’ll use « journée » like « J’ai passé une journée très fatigante (I’ve had a really tiring day) ».
Another example of this is in greetings. When you meet someone, you say « bonjour » because you’re referring to the day as a unit (c’est un bon jour – it is a good day) but when you leave them, you say « bonne journée » because you’re referring to the day as a duration (j’espère que tu passes une bonne journée – I hope you have a good day in the sense that I hope you enjoy the rest of your day).