How to Say Date in French: A Complete Guide for Learners
Understanding how to express dates in French is essential for everyday conversation, travel, and academic work. Whether you’re filling out a form, making an appointment, or simply chatting with a French‑speaking friend, knowing the correct structure will make your communication clear and natural. This guide walks you through the rules, formulas, and common phrases you need to master dates in French, from the basics of days and months to more nuanced expressions like “the first of January” or “the twenty‑third of March Worth knowing..
Introduction: Why Dates Matter in French
Dates appear in countless contexts: train schedules, historical events, birthdays, and business deadlines. French date format differs from the English one in both word order and the use of articles. Day to day, while English often says “March 5, 2024,” French prefers “le 5 mars 2024” (literally “the 5 March 2024”). Grasping this pattern helps you avoid confusion and sound more like a native speaker.
Basic Structure of a French Date
A full date in French follows the pattern:
le + [day number] + [month] + [year]
- le – the definite article “the,” always used before the date.
- [day number] – written as a cardinal number (1, 2, 3…) except for the first day of the month, which uses premier (first).
- [month] – the name of the month in lowercase (French does not capitalize months).
- [year] – the full year, spoken as a number (e.g., deux mille vingt‑quatre for 2024).
Example
- English: April 12, 2023
- French: le douze avril deux mille vingt‑trois
Notice that there is no comma between the day and the month, and the year follows directly after the month without any separator Simple, but easy to overlook..
Days of the Month: Numbers and Special Cases
Cardinal Numbers (1‑31)
French uses cardinal numbers for most days. Here are the numbers you’ll need, written out in full (useful for speaking) and in numerals (useful for writing):
| Number | French (word) | Numeral |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | premier / première* | 1er / 1re |
| 2 | deux | 2 |
| 3 | trois | 3 |
| … | … | … |
| 20 | vingt | 20 |
| 21 | vingt et un | 21 |
| 22 | vingt‑deux | 22 |
| 30 | trente | 30 |
| 31 | trente‑et‑un | 31 |
* Premier is used for masculine nouns (e., le premier janvier). g.g.For feminine contexts, you would say la première (e., la première semaine), but dates always use the masculine form because le jour (the day) is masculine.
Writing the Date
When writing dates formally, you’ll often see the day number followed by a superscript “er” or “re” for the first day:
- 1er janvier (January 1st)
- 2 février (February 2nd)
- 31 décembre (December 31st)
In informal writing, simply use the numeral: 1 janvier, 2 février, etc.
Months of the Year
French month names are similar to English but not capitalized. Below is the list with pronunciation tips:
| Month | French | Pronunciation (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| January | janvier | zhahn-vyay |
| February | février | fay-vree-ay |
| March | mars | mahrs |
| April | avril | ah-vreel |
| May | mai | may |
| June | juin | zhwan |
| July | juillet | zhwee-ay |
| August | août | oot |
| September | septembre | sep-tahm-br |
| October | octobre | oktohbr |
| November | novembre | noh-vahm-br |
| December | décembre | day-sahm-br |
Note that août (August) carries a circumflex and is pronounced without the “g” sound Simple, but easy to overlook..
Years: How to Say Them
French years are read as a series of numbers, just like in English, but with a few nuances:
- 2000 – deux mille
- 2001 – deux mille un
- 2010 – deux mille dix
- 2024 – deux mille vingt‑quatre
- 1999 – mille neuf cent quatre‑vingt‑dix‑neuf
When speaking, you do not use “and” between hundreds and tens as you might in some English dialects. Simply state each block: mille neuf cent quatre‑vingt‑dix (1990) then add the units It's one of those things that adds up..
For dates before the year 1000, you would say the number as usual (e.Now, g. , sept cent cinquante‑trois for 753).
Putting It All Together: Full Date Examples
| English | French |
|---|---|
| January 1, 2022 | le premier janvier deux mille vingt‑deux |
| February 14, 2023 | le quatorze février deux mille vingt‑trois |
| March 30, 2021 | le trente mars deux mille vingt et un |
| May 5, 2020 | le cinq mai deux mille vingt |
| July 21, 2019 | le vingt et un juillet deux mille dix‑neuf |
| December 31, 1999 | le trente‑et‑un décembre mille neuf cent quatre‑vingt‑dix‑neuf |
The official docs gloss over this. That's a mistake Practical, not theoretical..
Notice that the article le appears before every date, and the month stays lowercase.
Common Phrases Involving Dates
Beyond stating a raw date, you’ll often need to ask or answer questions about when something happens. Here are useful expressions:
- Quelle est la date aujourd’hui ? – What is today’s date?
- Aujourd’hui, c’est le … – Today is …
- Quel jour sommes‑nous ? – What day is it? (literally “What day are we?”)
- Nous sommes le … – We are the … (used to give the date)
- Le rendez‑vous est fixé au … – The appointment is set for …
- Mon anniversaire tombe le … – My birthday falls on the …
- Le premier avril – April Fools’ Day (literally “the first of April”)
When referring to a recurring event (e.g., every Monday), you use the day of the week with the definite article:
- Le lundi – on Mondays
- Tous les lundis –
