Got a case of the Mondays? Celebrating Thirsty Thursday? We place a lot of emphasis on the days of the week in our conversations, particularly when we’re making small talk with someone we may not know that well. Then there are all the documents and travel booking sites where we have to indicate the date. That’s why learning the names of the months and the days of the week in French — and how to write the date — will be extremely useful for your next trip to France, or the next time you’re chatting with a French-speaking acquaintance. Here’s your guide to the basic words you should know and how to pronounce them.
Days Of The Week In French
Monday — lundi
Tuesday — mardi
Wednesday — mercredi
Thursday — jeudi
Friday — vendredi
Saturday — samedi
Sunday — dimanche
Months Of The Year In French
January — janvier
February — février
March — mars
April — avril
May — mai
June — juin
July — juillet
August — août
September — septembre
October — octobre
November — novembre
December — décembre
Write The Date In French
Now that you know the days of the week in French and the months of the year, let’s go over how to write the date in French. The formal way of writing the date is day, then date, then month. For example, you would write mardi, 18 avril (Tuesday, 18 April). Note that the French don’t use “th” or “st” with the numbers like we do. The only time they don’t use just the number is on the first of the month, for which they write and say le premier (i.e. le premier janvier is January 1st). They also don’t capitalize the month, like American English speakers do.
When writing the date informally, using only numerals, French do it the same way as other Europeans: the date goes before the month. So April 18, 2019 would be written as 18/4/19.
Before you use either of these date formats, you’ll want to make sure you review how to count in French.