French Phrase
Tu fais les courses quel jour ?
Meaning
The sentence asks someone on which day they usually do the grocery shopping. It combines the verb faire (to do) with the noun les courses (shopping, errands) and the interrogative quel jour (what day). It’s a casual, everyday question you might hear among friends or family.
When to use
Use this phrase when you want to coordinate shopping plans, ask a roommate, partner, or a friend about their grocery‑shopping schedule, or simply make small‑talk about daily routines.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Tufaislescoursesqueljour?
Faire + les courses
The verb faire is used idiomatically with les courses to mean ‘to do the grocery shopping’.
Quel jour
Quel (masculine singular) modifies jour (day) to ask for a specific day; it stays in the masculine form because jour is masculine.
Word order in informal questions
In everyday spoken French you can place the interrogative phrase at the end: "Tu fais les courses quel jour ?". Formal inversion would be "Quel jour fais‑tu les courses ?".
Pronoun‑verb agreement
Tu is the second‑person singular subject, so the verb faire conjugates as fais.
🗨In Conversation
Tu fais les courses quel jour ?
When do you do the shopping?
Je les fais le samedi matin.
I do them on Saturday morning.
✕Common Mistakes
Tu fais les cours quel jour ?
Cours means "classes"; the correct noun for shopping is "courses" with an "e".
Quel jour tu fais les courses ?
In spoken French the inversion is optional, but the more natural order is "Tu fais les courses quel jour ?" or "Quel jour fais‑tu les courses ?".
Tu fais les courses quel jour‑là ?
Adding "‑là" changes the meaning to "which day (specifically)" and sounds less natural in this context.
↔Alternatives
Quel jour fais‑tu les courses ?
What day do you do the shopping?
Tu vas faire les courses quel jour ?
Which day are you going to do the shopping?
C’est quel jour pour tes courses ?
Which day is it for your shopping?
Cultural Tip
In France, "faire les courses" usually refers to grocery shopping at a supermarket or market. The phrase is informal; in a more formal context you could say "Quand faites‑vous vos courses ?". Also, French speakers often specify the time of day (le matin, l’après‑midi) when talking about shopping routines.