How to Say Good Morning in French (Hint: It's Just Bonjour)

Good morning in French is simply bonjour — and here’s the twist: French has no dedicated “good morning.” Bonjour literally means “good day,” and it covers the entire stretch from sunrise until evening. The direct translation you might be tempted to build — bonne matinée — exists, but it’s a goodbye, not a greeting. Getting bonjour right matters more than almost any other word in French, because in France the greeting isn’t decoration: it’s the password that opens every interaction, and skipping it is genuinely rude.

The main way to say it

Bonjour — pronounced bohn-ZHOOR.

Two pronunciation notes that instantly make you sound better:

• The on is a nasal vowel: air flows through your nose, and the n is never fully pronounced. Say “bohn” while stopping your tongue before it touches the roof of your mouth — that’s the French nasal.
• The j is the soft “zh” sound in “measure” or “vision” — never the hard j of “jump.” And the final r is a light, back-of-the-throat breath: bohn-ZHOOR.

Why no “good morning”? French simply carves the day differently: bonjour until roughly sunset, then bonsoir (“good evening”) takes over. Morning, noon, and afternoon are all bonjour territory. If you want to acknowledge the early hour, you say bonjour and then comment on it — you don’t change the greeting.

And the golden rule of French daily life: bonjour comes first, always. Walking into a bakery, a pharmacy, a tiny shop — you greet before you ask for anything. Launching straight into “Une baguette, s’il vous plaît” without a bonjour marks you instantly, and in Paris you may get a pointed “Bonjour.” back as a correction.

Variations

Phrase	When to use it	Register
Bonjour	Universal — anyone, anywhere, until evening	Neutral, always safe
Bonjour à tous	”Good morning, everyone” — groups, meetings	Neutral
Salut	”Hi” — friends, family, peers only	Casual
Coucou	”Hey you!” — affectionate, texts and close friends	Very casual, playful
Bonsoir	The evening switch, from dusk onward	Neutral
Bonne journée	”Have a good day” — said when leaving	Neutral
Bonne matinée	”Have a good (rest of the) morning” — also a goodbye	Neutral
Re-bonjour / Re !	Jokey second greeting when you cross paths again	Casual

The pair that trips everyone up: bonjour vs bonne journée. Bonjour opens the interaction; bonne journée closes it. Greet the barista with bonjour, leave with merci, bonne journée ! Reverse them and the sentence still parses — it just sounds charmingly backwards.

One more distinctly French rule: you only say bonjour to the same person once per day. Greeting a coworker with a second bonjour at 3 p.m. quietly implies you forgot the first one. That’s why the French invented the winking re-bonjour (or just “re !”) for second encounters.

Hear it in context

At the boulangerie (the morning classic):

— Bonjour madame ! — Bonjour monsieur. Qu’est-ce que je vous sers ? — Deux croissants et une baguette, s’il vous plaît. — Et voilà. Bonne journée ! — Merci, à vous aussi !

Good morning, ma’am! — Good morning, sir. What can I get you? — Two croissants and a baguette, please. — There you go. Have a good day! — Thanks, you too!

Between coworkers (casual):

— Salut Julie ! Ça va ce matin ? — Coucou ! Ça va, mais il me faut un café. T’en veux un ? — Volontiers. La machine est réparée ? — Même pas. On descend au coin de la rue ?

Hi Julie! How’s it going this morning? — Hey! I’m fine, but I need a coffee. Want one? — Gladly. Is the machine fixed? — Not even. Shall we go down to the corner café?

Common mistakes

• Inventing “bonne matin.” It doesn’t exist. Matin is masculine anyway, and no version of it works as a greeting. Morning hello = bonjour, full stop.
• Using “bonne journée” as hello. It means “have a good day” and only works on your way out. Hello = bonjour; goodbye = bonne journée.
• Skipping bonjour before a request. The single fastest way to earn Parisian frost. Greeting first, request second — in shops, at counters, even when asking a stranger for directions (Bonjour, excusez-moi…).
• Saying bonjour twice to the same person. Once per day per person. Second sighting? Re-bonjour, a smile, or a nod.
• Pronouncing the n and the j hard. “Bon-JOOR” with a full n and an English j is the classic beginner tell. Nasalize the on, soften the j to “zh”: bohn-ZHOOR.
• Saying “salut” to a stranger. Salut is for people you know. To a shopkeeper, a waiter, or anyone behind a counter, it’s bonjour — anything less reads as overfamiliar.

Related phrases

Once bonjour feels automatic, complete the set:

• How to say how are you in French — because bonjour and ça va ? almost always travel together.
• How to say good night in French — bonne nuit is only for bedtime; the evening greeting is bonsoir.
• Nail the nasal vowels and the French r with our guide to French pronunciation.

FAQ

Is there a literal “good morning” in French? No. Bonjour (“good day”) covers the whole morning and afternoon. Bonne matinée exists but means “have a good morning” — a parting wish, never a greeting.

When do I switch from bonjour to bonsoir? Around dusk — in practice, anywhere from 5 to 7 p.m. depending on season and speaker. If someone greets you with bonsoir, just mirror it back.

What’s the difference between bonjour and bonne journée? Bonjour says hello when you arrive; bonne journée wishes someone a good day as you leave. They bookend the interaction and are not interchangeable.

Can I say bonjour to the same person twice in one day? Convention says no — a second bonjour implies you forgot the first meeting. Use re-bonjour (playful), or just smile and nod.

Is “salut” okay in the morning? Yes, with friends, family, and peers. With strangers, staff, elders, or anyone in a professional setting, stick to bonjour — salut would sound too familiar.

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