French Days, Months and Dates: Names, Rules and Useful Phrases

The days and months in French, why they're not capitalised, how to say dates, and the difference between 'lundi' and 'le lundi'.

Days and dates come up constantly, in appointments, travel plans and everyday small talk. French handles them differently from English in a few key ways.

The days of the week

lundi — Monday
mardi — Tuesday
mercredi — Wednesday
jeudi — Thursday
vendredi — Friday
samedi — Saturday
dimanche — Sunday

In French, days and months are not capitalised unless they start a sentence. The week in France starts on Monday.

Several of the names come from Roman gods, as in English: lundi (Moon), mardi (Mars), mercredi (Mercury), jeudi (Jupiter), vendredi (Venus). Samedi and dimanche have Christian roots (Sabbath and Lord's day).

The months

janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin
juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre

"On Monday" versus "every Monday"

lundi (no article) means this coming Monday or last Monday: Je te vois lundi. — I'll see you on Monday.
le lundi (with le) means every Monday: Le lundi, je travaille. — On Mondays, I work.

This tiny difference matters a lot in making plans.

Saying the date

The pattern is le + number + month + year:

le 5 octobre 2026 — 5 October 2026
le 14 juillet — 14 July (Bastille Day)
le 25 décembre — 25 December

For the first of the month, French uses the ordinal: le premier mai (1 May). For all other days, cardinal numbers: le deux mai, le trois mai.

Asking the date

Quelle est la date aujourd'hui ? — What's the date today?
Nous sommes le combien ? — What date is it? (colloquial)
On est le 5 octobre. — It's 5 October.
Quel jour sommes-nous ? — What day is it?

Prepositions with months and seasons

en octobre or au mois d'octobre — in October
au printemps — in spring
en été, en automne, en hiver — in summer, autumn, winter

Time expressions

aujourd'hui — today
demain — tomorrow
hier — yesterday
après-demain — the day after tomorrow
avant-hier — the day before yesterday
cette semaine — this week
la semaine prochaine — next week
la semaine dernière — last week
le mois prochain — next month
tous les jours — every day
tous les deux jours — every other day

Writing dates

French writes dates in the order day/month/year: 05/10/2026 means 5 October, not May 10. Be careful when filling in forms, especially with American-style dates.

Holidays

Key public holidays include le jour de l'An (1 January), la fête du Travail (1 May), la fête nationale (14 July), la Toussaint (1 November) and Noël (25 December).

Useful phrases

Quel jour sommes-nous ? — What day is it?
C'est quand, ton anniversaire ? — When's your birthday?
Mon anniversaire, c'est le 3 mars. — My birthday is 3 March.
On se voit vendredi ? — See you Friday?
Je suis libre le mardi. — I'm free on Tuesdays.

Practice

Write out your week in French, then say the date of your next three appointments aloud.

Look up days, months and dates with English French Dictionary →