Days, Months & Dates

Being able to talk about days, months, and dates is essential for making appointments, understanding schedules, and discussing plans. French handles dates differently from English in several important ways.

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Days of the Week (Les jours de la semaine)

French	English	Pronunciation
lundi	Monday	"luhn-DEE"
mardi	Tuesday	"mar-DEE"
mercredi	Wednesday	"mair-kruh-DEE"
jeudi	Thursday	"zhuh-DEE"
vendredi	Friday	"vahn-druh-DEE"
samedi	Saturday	"sam-DEE"
dimanche	Sunday	"dee-MAHNSH"

Key Rules

1. Days are NOT capitalised in French (unless at the start of a sentence).
2. The French week starts on Monday (lundi), not Sunday.
3. To say "on Monday" (a specific Monday), use just the day name with no preposition: lundi = "on Monday".
4. To say "on Mondays" (every Monday), add le: le lundi = "on Mondays / every Monday".

French	English
Je travaille lundi.	I am working on Monday. (this coming Monday)
Je travaille le lundi.	I work on Mondays. (every Monday)
Lundi, je suis libre.	On Monday, I am free.

Talking About Days

French	English
Quel jour sommes-nous ?	What day is it?
On est quel jour ?	What day is it? (informal)
Nous sommes lundi.	It is Monday.
On est mardi.	It is Tuesday. (informal)
aujourd'hui	today
demain	tomorrow
hier	yesterday
avant-hier	the day before yesterday
après-demain	the day after tomorrow
la semaine	the week
la semaine prochaine	next week
la semaine dernière	last week
le week-end	the weekend

Fun Fact: Most French day names come from planets/Roman gods: lundi (Moon/Luna), mardi (Mars), mercredi (Mercury), jeudi (Jupiter), vendredi (Venus). Samedi comes from "sabbath day" and dimanche from Latin "dies dominicus" (Lord's day).

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Months of the Year (Les mois de l'année)

French	English	Pronunciation
janvier	January	"zhahn-VYAY"
février	February	"fay-VREE-ay"
mars	March	"mahrs"
avril	April	"ah-VREEL"
mai	May	"may"
juin	June	"zhwan"
juillet	July	"zhwee-YAY"
août	August	"oot" (or "ah-OOT" in some regions)
septembre	September	"sep-TAHM-bruh"
octobre	October	"ok-TOH-bruh"
novembre	November	"noh-VAHM-bruh"
décembre	December	"day-SAHM-bruh"

Key Rules

1. Months are NOT capitalised in French.
2. To say "in January", use en: en janvier or au mois de janvier (in the month of January).

French	English
Mon anniversaire est en mars.	My birthday is in March.
Il fait froid en décembre.	It is cold in December.
Nous partons au mois de juillet.	We are leaving in July.

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Ordinal Numbers (Les nombres ordinaux)

Ordinal numbers are needed for dates (the first, the second, etc.):

Number	French	Abbreviation
1st	premier / première	1er / 1re
2nd	deuxième	2e
3rd	troisième	3e
4th	quatrième	4e
5th	cinquième	5e
6th	sixième	6e
7th	septième	7e
8th	huitième	8e
9th	neuvième	9e
10th	dixième	10e

Forming Ordinal Numbers

The pattern is simple: cardinal number + -ième.

Cardinal	Remove final -e (if present)	Add -ième	Result
deux	—	deuxième	2nd
trois	—	troisième	3rd
quatre	quatr-	quatrième	4th
cinq	cinqu-	cinquième	5th
neuf	neuv-	neuvième	9th

Exception: "First" is premier (m.) / première (f.), NOT "unième". However, in compound numbers like 21st, you say vingt-et-unième.

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Saying Dates

The Formula

In French, dates follow this structure:

le + cardinal number + month + year