LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "le jour" in French?
luh ZHOOR — the soft "j" of "measure", the back "oo" of "soup", and a throat "r".
The phrase peaks on JOUR. The noun is masculine, which is why the article is "le" — and worth pairing with "la journée", the feminine form that emphasises the day as a stretch of time.
Listen: le jour
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Quel jour sommes-nous ?
What day is it today?
Listen: Quel jour sommes-nous ?
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"Quel jour sommes-nous ?" is an idiom that translates badly: literally "what day are we", using "être" where English uses "is it". The inversion "sommes-nous" links across the hyphen. "Quel" agrees with the masculine noun in spelling, though all four forms sound identical.
Where English speakers slip
The "j" comes out hard, as in English "journey" — which is descended from this very word but has drifted. French wants the soft buzz with no stop in front. The "r" also gets curled; make it at the back of the throat while the "oo" stays clean. And the jour/journée distinction catches people: "bonne journée" wishes someone a good day ahead, while "bonjour" is just the greeting.