Days of the Week in French: Express Time and Date in French Easily

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Whether you have just binge-watched Emily in Paris and now decided to learn French, or you’re planning a trip with your best friends to the sunny beaches of the Côte d’Azur (the glamorous South of France), learning about Days of the week in French and months of the year is a great start. That will allow you to build basic conversations about different times of the week and of the year, quickly building up your vocabulary.

This quick and easy guide will teach you not only the French words for days and months, but also their pronunciation, as well as some tips and strategies to help you remember them whenever needed.

So, let’s start! Or, as we would say in French, “Allons-y!”

Table of Contents

1. Days of the week in French – Les jours de la semaine

Below is how French people write and say the days of the week. The table shows both the phonetic pronunciation and the simplified one; the latter might be very useful in case you are not yet familiar with French phonetics.

French	English	Pronunciation
lundi	Monday	Lun-dee
mardi	Tuesday	Mar-dee
mercredi	Wednesday	Mare-cruh-dee
jeudi	Thursday	Zhuh-dee
vendredi	Friday	Von-druh-dee
samedi	Saturday	Sam-dee
dimanche	Sunday	Dee-monsh

Try to say them out loud by following the pronunciation guide in the third column. No worries about making mistakes, that’s how you learn a new language!

Also, you may notice a few key things:

Unlike English, the days are not capitalized in French;
All of them end in “di”, except from dimanche (Sunday), which starts with “di”. Small tricks like this will help you remember!

Now check out a few basic sentences using the days of the week:

Vous venez au cinéma ce dimanche ?

Are you coming to the cinema this Sunday?

J’ai rencontré Antoine lundi passé.

I met Antoine last Monday.

A useful note: days of the week are masculine in French!

Ce samedi, je vais aller à la mer.

This Saturday, I will go to the seaside.

Vous avez une table pour vendredi soir ?

Do you have a table for Friday night?

As you can see, there are no complicated grammar rules concerning the days of the week, their use is very similar to English. There is only one point you should remember: the use of the article “le” (the, masculine) before days of the week in French.

If you talk about a habit, or something that happens frequently, then you should put “le” before the day, as in the sentences below:

Qu’est-ce que tu fais le mardi en général ?

What do you do on Tuesday in general?

Le mardi, en général, je vais à l’école.

On Tuesday, in general, I go to school.

Instead, if you talk about the past or the future and without wanting to emphasize the fact that something is a habit, you should not use the article before the day, as in the sentences below:

Qu’est-ce que tu fais mardi prochain ?

What are you doing next Tuesday?

Mardi prochain, je vais à l’école.

Next Tuesday, I will go to school.

Now, let’s wrap up French days of the week vocabulary with this video!

Months of the year in French – Les mois de l’année

Moving on to the months of the year, here they are, together with their correct pronunciation:

French	English	Pronunciation
janvier	January	zhan-vee-ay
février	Feburary	feh-vree-ay
mars	March	mahrs
avril	April	ah-vreel
mai	May	meh
juin	June	zhuahn
juillet	July	zhui-ay
août	August	oot
septembre	September	sep-tohm-br
octobre	October	ok-toh-br
novembre	November	noh-vahm-br
décembre	December	deh-sem-br

Remember that French months, like days, are not capitalized. Now try to pronounce them out loud a few times!

Here are a couple example sentences using the months of the year:

Mon anniversaire est en août.

My birthday is in August.

Quelle est la date aujourd’hui ? Aujourd’hui est le 24 (vingt-quatre) avril.

What is today’s date? Today is April 24th.

Now, let’s wrap up French months of the year vocabulary with this video!

How to write French dates

Now that you have learned the days and months in French, here is how to correctly put them together in order to write dates. It’s easy! You just have to follow the general French date structure:

day + article “le” + date (number) + month + year

Also, keep in mind that to write the date in French, you should use the cardinal number (for example, six) instead of the ordinal number (sixth). This is a key difference between English and French. The only case in which the ordinal number is used is for the first day of the month. In French, first is le premier (pronounced: leh praymay).

Just one last key point and you’re good to go! When writing dates, the definite article “le” (“the”, masculine) precedes the date. Remember this if you want to sound like a native.

Here are some examples of how to use dates in French:

Quel jour tu es né ? Je suis né le vingt-sept (27) fevrier.

What date were you born? I was born on February 27th.

If, instead of the full date, you want to write condensed dates, in French you should still keep the structure indicated above, i.e. date/month/year.

As in “10/11/2020”, for example, which would be November 10th, 2020. Or, in French, le 10 novembre 2020.

How to remember French days and months

After having read – and possibly repeated out loud – all of these new words, you may be wondering “Now, how do I remember them?”. Repeating them over and over is surely a good start, but it could get boring. Below are a few other tricks to learn French days and months.

TIP #1: Set your phone calendar to French

Here is something new you could try: go into your phone settings and set French as your calendar’s language. This can be done on most phones, and if you want to learn French, making it a part of your everyday life is key. Now, every time you will check the calendar or set a new event, you’ll be reminded of the words for days and months in French. This might look different in the beginning, but over time it will help you a lot remember the days and months in French!

TIP #2: Journal in French

Another fun way to expand your vocabulary well beyond days and months is journaling! Start by writing a few simple sentences about your day. If there are additional words you need to describe your day, you can easily google them. You’ll notice in a few weeks that your vocabulary has expanded considerably, simply by describing your everyday life. But remember, consistency is key! So, the pro-tip is: stick to a few sentences per day, and write your journal every day.

TIP#3: Learn French days and months with a song

What better way to learn French days and months, than with a catchy song? Check out this song for the days of the week in French, or this one for the months of the year. Try to listen to them a few times and sing them along! For sure this a fun way to learn a new language. Also, by listening to a native pronouncing the days and months, you’ll be able to significantly improve your own pronunciation.

FAQs about days and months in French

Finally, here are the answers to a few frequently asked questions about days and months in French:

What gender are days and months in French? No need to worry, it’s easy! All days and months in French are masculine.
Do you need to capitalize days and months in French? No, you don’t. differently from English, you don’t capitalize days and months in French, as shown by the tables and the examples above. The only case in which you must capitalize them is when they start a sentence, of course.
Does the French week start on Sunday or Monday? Unlike other countries, like the US, the French week starts on Monday (lundi).

Hope this guide was useful! Now go on and practice what you’ve learned today as much as possible. In the meantime, we’ll be waiting for you with more articles like this one, to help you build your French knowledge quickly and effectively!

See you soon!

À bientôt!

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