Dates In French: Guide And Tips

Do you want to learn how to use and write dates in French in less than ten minutes?

In conversations, we place a lot of importance on the days of the week, especially when we’re talking to people we don’t know very well. Then there are all the documents and travel booking websites where the date must be indicated. 

If you’re learning French or planning a trip to France, understanding the names of the months and days of the week in French — as well as how to write the date — will come in handy.

Dates In French: Guide And Tips

Here’s a quick rundown of the key terms for dates in French, as well as how to say and write them.

1. Days Of The Week and The Twelve Months In French

Before learning how to say or write the dates in French, you must first learn the French equivalent of the days of the week and the months. 

Days of the Week

Monday – mundi

Tuesday – mardi

Wednesday – mercredi

Thursday – jeudi

Friday – vendredi

Saturday – samedi

Sunday – dimanche

Months Of The Year 

January – janvier

February – février

March – mars

April – avril

May – mai

June – juin

July – juillet

August – août

September – septembre

October – octobre

November – novembre

December – décembre

2. Other related words when learning  the dates in French

The following are words that may be used along with the dates in French. 

Seasons – Les saisons 

spring – printemps

summer ,– été

autumn/fall – automne

winter – hiver

Year in French

In French, there are two words for “year”: a and année. They cannot, however, be used interchangeably.

When expressing your age or counting years, the word “an” is frequently used with a number.

For example: 

• seven years – sept ans
• twenty years – vingt ans
• a hundred years – cent ans

The term “anneée” meanwhile, is used to refer to the entire year. It is commonly used in expressions like “toute l’année” (all year long). Or with ordinal numbers such as troisième année (third year) and douzième année (twelfth year). 

3. How to ask the date in French

If you want to ask someone about certain dates, these are the common questions in French: 

What the date today?– Quelle est la date aujourd’hui?

What day is it? – Quel jour est-ce ?

What is the date of your birthday ? – Ton anniversaire est le combien ?

What day is Christmas this year? – Quel jour tombe  Noël cette année ?

4. How to answer and say the date in French

The question can be answered in a variety of ways. However, the simplest method is to use this form:

• C’est + le + number + month 
• C’est + day of the week + number + month (if you want to add a specific day to the date)

For example: 

• C’est le quatorze juillet – It’s July 15
• C’est mardi quinze décembre – It’s Tuesday, December 15
• C’est le vingt-deux août – It’s August 22

Except for the first day of the month, this structure applies to all other days of the month. To indicate the first of the month, you must use “premier,” which literally means “first” (as in first, second, third, etc).

For example, if you want to say  “It’s November 1”, say: “c’est le premier novembre.“

• C’est le premier février – It’s February 1.
• C’est le premier décembre – It’s December 1.
• C’est le premier avril – It’s April 1.  

Premier is the sole ordinal number that is used to represent the first of each month. Every other day is a cardinal number.

5. How to write the date in French

Let’s look at how to write the date in French now that you know the days of the week and the months of the year. The proper order for writing the date is day, date, then month.

For example, if you want to write “Tuesday, 13 December”, you will write it as mardi, 13 décembre.  Remember that the French do not use “th” or “st” when writing the numbers. 

Again, the sole exception when writing French dates where they use cardinal numbers, is on the first of the month, when they write and pronounce le premier instead.  For example, when writing December1, you must write le premier décembre. 

When writing the date informally using only numerals, the French follow the same convention as the rest of Europe: the date comes first, followed by the month. As a result, the date April 18, 2019 would be written as 18/4/19.

Make sure you understand how to count in French before using either of these date formats.

The order remains the same, even if the date is abbreviated:

Jour / Mois / Année – Day / Month / Year

For example: 1

• 3/3/2021 –  March 13, 2021

• Le 22 avril – April 22

• Mercredi 11 juin – Wednesday, March 11

• 12/06/2020 / le 12 avril 2021 – April 12, 2020

• 29-sept.-1983 / le 30 septembre 1988 – September 30th, 1983 

(This abbreviation style is unusual but you might find it in some administrative paperwork)

6. Using “le” when expressing the date in French

In French, don’t use “le” + day  when referring to the day of the week. When you say LE + DAY, you’re referring to something you do on that day every week.

Monday’s example: (every Thursday).

These examples are the correct way to say the day of the week along with the date in French: 

• samedi 3 octobre. (not le samedi  3 octobre)
• vendredi  (not le vendredi)

When you don’t use the weekday in expressing the date in French, use the following structure: le + number + month j  year

• Nous sommes le 17 juillet 2020 – Today is July 17, 2020
• C’est le 17 juillet 2020 – It’s July 17, 2020

7. When expressing dates in French, keep the following in mind:

• Days, months, and seasons are all masculine in the French calendar.

• Data, months, and seasons are not capitalized in France.

• Premier is used to denote the first of each month, although it is the only ordinal number used. For all other days, cardinal numbers are utilized.

• In most cases, years are expressed in hundreds, just as they are in English.

For example: 

mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-neuf (1989)

deux mille vingt et un (2021)

deux mille (2000)

• When writing a date in numbers, the French use the same order as when speaking: day + month + year.

Example: 

April 7, 2021 – le 7 avri 2001 or 07/04/2021

Want to learn more French phrases? Check out our language guides below:

• Gender In French
• Body Parts in French
• Numbers In French
• Colors In French
• Family In French Vocabulary
• Beautiful In French
• C’est La Vie – Meaning And How To Use It