A detailed analysis of the structure of turbulence in a temporal planar turbulent jet is reported. Instantaneous snapshots of the flow and
three-dimensional spatial correlation functions are considered. It is found that the flow is characterized by large-scale spanwise vortices
whose motion is felt in the entire flow field. Superimposed to this large-scale motion, a hierarchy of turbulent structures is present. The most
coherent ones take the form of quasi-streamwise vortices and high and low streamwise velocity streaks. The topology of these interacting
structures is analyzed by quantitatively addressing their shape and size in the different flow regions. Such information is recognized to be relevant for a structural description of the otherwise disorganized motion in turbulent free-shear flows and can be used for the assessment of
models based on coherent structure assumptions. Finally, the resulting scenario provides a phenomenological description of the elementary
processes at the basis of turbulence in free-shear flows.