FlexiLingoIn one line
le+ number + month — node, no capital letter, and only the first of the month is an ordinal.
The table
| Days of the week | Months | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
lundi /lœ̃.di/ — Monday | janvier /ʒɑ̃.vje/ | le printemps /lə pʁɛ̃.tɑ̃/ — spring |
mardi /maʁ.di/ — Tuesday | février /fe.vʁi.je/ | l'été /le.te/ — summer |
mercredi /mɛʁ.kʁə.di/ — Wednesday | mars /maʁs/ | l'automne /lo.tɔn/ — autumn |
jeudi /ʒø.di/ — Thursday | avril /a.vʁil/ | l'hiver /li.vɛʁ/ — winter |
vendredi /vɑ̃.dʁə.di/ — Friday | mai /mɛ/ | |
samedi /sam.di/ — Saturday | juin /ʒɥɛ̃/ | |
dimanche /di.mɑ̃ʃ/ — Sunday | juillet /ʒɥi.jɛ/ | |
août /ut/ | ||
septembre /sɛp.tɑ̃bʁ/ | ||
octobre /ɔk.tɔbʁ/ | ||
novembre /no.vɑ̃bʁ/ | ||
décembre /de.sɑ̃bʁ/ |
The French week starts on
lundi, not on Sunday. In calendars and timetables Monday is always the first column.
Writing the date
| Structure | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| the rule | le /lə/ + number + month | le 15 mars /lə kɛ̃z maʁs/ |
| the first of the month | le premier /lə pʁə.mje/ | le 1er janvier /lə pʁə.mje ʒɑ̃.vje/ |
| with the weekday | le /lə/ + day + number + month | le lundi 15 mars /lə lœ̃.di kɛ̃z maʁs/ |
| with the year | + year | le 15 mars 2026 /lə kɛ̃z maʁs dø mil vɛ̃t.sis/ |
| asking | Quelle est la date ? /kɛ.l‿ɛ la dat/ |
Three things English will make you add, and French does not want:
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
le 15 de mars | le 15 mars | no "of" |
le Mars | le mars | months are lowercase |
le quinzième mars | le quinze mars | cardinal, not ordinal |
That last one is the one to fix first. English says "the fifteenth of March" — an ordinal every single time. French says the plain number:
le quinze mars, "the fifteen March". Only the first is an ordinal:le premier janvier.
And a practical warning about numeric dates.
05/03/2026is 5 March in France and May 3rd in the United States. France writes day/month/year. On a form, a ticket or a contract, read the format before you read the date.
Capital letters — none of them
Days, months and seasons are all lowercase in French:
| French | English |
|---|---|
lundi /lœ̃.di/ | Monday |
mars /maʁs/ | March /maʁʃ/ |
le printemps /lə pʁɛ̃.tɑ̃/ | Spring |
This is one of the most frequent writing mistakes, because English does the opposite.
le in front of a day — a real difference in meaning
| Meaning | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
Lundi, je travaille. | this coming Monday I'm working | /lœ̃.di ʒə tʁa.vaj/ |
Le lundi, je travaille. | on Mondays I work — a habit | /lə lœ̃.di ʒə tʁa.vaj/ |
The same for le matin, le soir:
Le matin, je bois du café.— in the mornings I drink coffee
English marks the same difference with a plural
-s: "on Monday" versus "on Mondays". French usesleinstead —le lundiis English "on Mondays", and it never takes ans.
Prepositions with months and seasons
| Preposition | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| month | en /ɑ̃/ or au mois de /o mwa də/ | en mars /ɑ̃ maʁs/ au mois de mars /o mwa də maʁs/ |
| year | en /ɑ̃/ | en 2026 /ɑ̃ dø mil vɛ̃t.sis/ |
printemps /pʁɛ̃.tɑ̃/ | au /o/ | au printemps /o pʁɛ̃.tɑ̃/ |
été /e.te/ automne /o.tɔn/ hiver /i.vɛʁ/ | en /ɑ̃/ | en été /ɑ̃.n‿e.te/ en hiver /ɑ̃.n‿i.vɛʁ/ |
au printempsis the only season that takesau— because it begins with a consonant, and the others begin with a vowel.
Common time expressions
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
aujourd'hui | /o.ʒuʁ.dɥi/ | today |
hier | /jɛʁ/ | yesterday |
avant-hier | /a.vɑ̃.t‿jɛʁ/ | the day before yesterday |
demain | /də.mɛ̃/ | tomorrow |
après-demain | /a.pʁɛ.də.mɛ̃/ | the day after tomorrow |
la semaine dernière | /la sə.mɛn dɛʁ.njɛʁ/ | last week |
la semaine prochaine | /la sə.mɛn pʁo.ʃɛn/ | next week |
le mois dernier | /lə mwa dɛʁ.nje/ | last month |
l'année prochaine | /la.ne pʁo.ʃɛn/ | next year |
en ce moment | /ɑ̃ sə mɔ.mɑ̃/ | at the moment |
de nos jours | /də no ʒuʁ/ | these days |
an or année
| When | Example | |
|---|---|---|
an /ɑ̃/ | with a number | deux ans /dø.z‿ɑ̃/ J'ai 30 ans. /ʒe tʁɑ̃.t‿ɑ̃/ |
année /a.ne/ | with an adjective or for a duration | une bonne année /yn bɔ.n‿a.ne/ toute l'année /tut la.ne/ |
The same pair applies to jour/journée, matin/matinée, soir/soirée:
Bonjour— a greeting at a moment ·Bonne journée— have a good day, all of it
Examples
| English | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| What's the date? | Quelle est la date ? | /kɛ.l‿ɛ la dat/ |
| It's the fifteenth of March. | C'est le quinze mars. | /sɛ lə kɛ̃z maʁs/ |
| The first of January. | Le premier janvier. | /lə pʁə.mje ʒɑ̃.vje/ |
| I'm coming on Monday. | Je viens lundi. | /ʒə vjɛ̃ lœ̃.di/ |
| I work on Mondays. | Le lundi, je travaille. | /lə lœ̃.di ʒə tʁa.vaj/ |
| In March. | En mars. | /ɑ̃ maʁs/ |
| In spring. | Au printemps. | /o pʁɛ̃.tɑ̃/ |
| In summer. | En été. | /ɑ̃.n‿e.te/ |
| I'm thirty. | J'ai trente ans. | /ʒe tʁɑ̃.t‿ɑ̃/ |
| Have a good day. | Bonne journée. | /bɔn ʒuʁ.ne/ |
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
le 15 de mars | le 15 mars | No de |
le Mars | le mars | Months are lowercase |
le quinzième mars | le quinze mars | Only the first is an ordinal |
J'ai trente années. | J'ai trente ans. | With a number it is an |
en printemps | au printemps | The only season taking au |
Lundi je travaille for a habit | Le lundi, je travaille. | The le makes it habitual |
Where the names of the days came from
seven planets, seven gods
The French day names come from the Roman planets, and each carries -di, from Latin dies, "day":
| Day | Planet |
|---|---|
lundi /lœ̃.di/ | Luna — the Moon |
mardi /maʁ.di/ | Mars |
mercredi /mɛʁ.kʁə.di/ | Mercurius |
jeudi /ʒø.di/ | Jupiter |
vendredi /vɑ̃.dʁə.di/ | Venus |
samedi /sam.di/ | from sabbatum /sa.ba.tɔm/ — the Hebrew sabbath |
dimanche /di.mɑ̃ʃ/ | from dies dominicus /di do.mi.ni.kys/ — the Lord's day |
The last two are Christian and break the pattern — and they are exactly the two whose -di is missing or moved. dimanche is the only day with the di at the front instead of the end.
English names its days after the same seven planets — it just used the Germanic gods instead of the Roman ones. Line them up and they match one for one:
| French | English | The same planet | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
lundi | Monday | the Moon | /lœ̃.di/ |
mardi | Tuesday | Mars = Tiw | /maʁ.di/ |
mercredi | Wednesday | Mercury = Woden | /mɛʁ.kʁə.di/ |
jeudi | Thursday | Jupiter = Thor | /ʒø.di/ |
vendredi | Friday | Venus = Frigg | /vɑ̃.dʁə.di/ |
samedi | Saturday | Saturn — English kept the Roman name | /sam.di/ |
dimanche | Sunday | the Sun — French switched to the Lord's day | /di.mɑ̃ʃ/ |
So the two lists are the same list. mardi is Tuesday because Mars is Tiw; jeudi is Thursday because Jupiter is Thor. If you confuse mardi and mercredi, count on the English: Tuesday–Mars–mardi, Wednesday–Woden/Mercury–mercredi.