How To Write The Date In French (Formats, Examples, And Traps To Avoid)

The first time I wrote a date in France, I accidentally moved a doctor’s appointment two months into the future. I wrote 03/04/2023 thinking “March 4th,” because English brain. The receptionist looked at it, nodded, and calmly booked me for le 3 avril 2023 /lə tʁwɑ avʁil dø mil vɛ̃t.tʁwɑ/ — April 3rd, 2023.

I only realised the mix-up when I turned up in March and they looked at me like a very polite time-traveller. That was the day I learned: French dates are day–month–year, the months don’t get capital letters, and writing 03/04 in France is basically playing calendar roulette.

By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to write and say dates in French without confusion, how to avoid the classic Anglo traps, and how to sound normal when someone asks you to write the date on a form instead of accidentally booking a haircut in 2085.

Quick Primer: French Date Format In One Glance

Core rule: French writes dates in day–month–year order.

Key points:

Word order: le + number + month + year
In writing, days and months are usually not capitalised: lundi, janvier.
Numeric dates are DD/MM/YYYY, not MM/DD/YYYY.

If your brain is used to “March 4th,” think “third of April” instead: le 3 avril /lə tʁwɑ avʁil/.

Writing Calendar Dates In French (Standard Format)

The standard written format is:

le + cardinal number + month + year

Examples:

Only one special case: the first of the month.

French | IPA | English
le 1er janvier 2024 | /lə pʁəm.je ʒɑ̃.vje dø mil vɛ̃t.katʁ/ | 1 January 2024

Here you’ll usually see 1er /pʁəm.je/ — “premier” (first).
For all other days, you use ordinary cardinals: le 2, le 3, le 15, le 31, never “2ème” in the date.

So:

✅ le 1er mars 2025
✅ le 2 mars 2025
❌ le 2ème mars 2025 (not used for dates)

You can write the year fully (2024) or sometimes shortened in casual writing (24), but for learners, the full year is safer.

Saying The Date Out Loud (Sound Like You Live There)

There are a few very common ways people actually say the date in France.

1. Starting With Aujourd’hui

aujourd’hui, on est le 3 juin | /o.ʒuʁ.dɥi ɔ̃ nɛ lə tʁwɑ ʒɥɛ̃/ | today is the 3rd of June
aujourd’hui, nous sommes le 15 octobre | /o.ʒuʁ.dɥi nu sɔm lə kɛ̃z ɔk.tɔbʁ/ | today is the 15th of October

Patterns:

Aujourd’hui, on est le + date
Aujourd’hui, nous sommes le + date (a bit more formal)

2. Just Giving The Date

If someone asks “What’s the date?”, you can answer with:

Or the full version with year if needed:

French | IPA | English
Nous sommes le 10 novembre 2023. | /nu sɔm lə dis nɔ.vɑ̃bʁ dø mil vɛ̃t.tʁwɑ/ | It’s 10 November 2023.

Notice there is no “of” between the number and the month:

French: le 10 novembre
Not: le 10 de novembre

Month And Day Names You Actually Need

You don’t have to tattoo them on your arm, but you do need them handy.

Months In French

Tricky bits:

juin /ʒɥɛ̃/ and juillet /ʒɥi.jɛ/ love to trip tongues. Practice them out loud.
août /ut/ looks scary, sounds simple: just /ut/.

Days Of The Week (For Dates That Include Them)

You can combine them with the date:

French | IPA | English
lundi 3 avril 2023 | /lœ̃.di tʁwɑ avʁil dø mil vɛ̃t.tʁwɑ/ | Monday, 3 April 2023

Often in writing you can skip le when you include a weekday like that.

French Date Formats In Numbers (And Why 03/04 Is Dangerous)

Written with numbers, French uses:

DD/MM/YYYY

Examples:

French | IPA | English
03/04/2023 | — | 03/04/2023 → 3 April 2023
15/09/2025 | — | 15/09/2025 → 15 September 2025

Common variants in more formal or digital contexts:

03.04.2023
03-04-2023
3/4/2023 (no leading zeros, more informal)

The ISO YYYY-MM-DD format (2023-04-03) appears in digital systems, but normal humans buying baguettes will still think in le 3 avril 2023.

If you’re the kind of person who automatically writes 04/03 for “April 3rd,” you have two survival strategies in France:

Write the month out in letters:
- le 3 avril 2023
Or think “day first” every time you see slashes.

Prepositions With Dates: On, In, And Since

You don’t just need dates; you need dates inside sentences.

On + Date

Use le:

No extra preposition for “on”—it’s just le + date.

In + Month / Year

For decades and centuries it stays en too: en 1990, en 2020, en 2025.

Since + Date

French | IPA | English
depuis le 5 mai 2020 | /də.pɥi lə sɛ̃ mɛ dø mil vɛ̃t/ | since May 5th, 2020

Example:

J’habite en France depuis le 5 mai 2020.
/ʒa.bit ɑ̃ fʁɑ̃s də.pɥi lə sɛ̃ mɛ dø mil vɛ̃t/
I’ve been living in France since May 5th, 2020.

Classic Date Mistakes English Speakers Make

A few traps that catch almost everyone at first.

Mistake 1: Writing Month–Day–Year

❌ 04/03/2023 meaning “April 3rd”
✅ 03/04/2023 meaning “3 April”

If there’s any risk of confusion, write le 3 avril 2023 in letters. Your future self will thank you.

Mistake 2: Capitalising Months And Days

❌ Le 5 Mars 2024
✅ le 5 mars 2024

In French, months and days are lower case unless they start a sentence.

Mistake 3: Using Ordinals For Every Day

English: the 21st of June
French: le 21 juin /lə vɛ̃.t‿e œ̃ ʒɥɛ̃/, not le 21ème juin

Only the 1st uses 1er:

le 1er mai
le 2 mai, le 3 mai, le 4 mai…

Mistake 4: Adding “de” Between Day And Month

❌ le 5 de juin
✅ le 5 juin

There is no de between the number and the month.

Mistake 5: Forgetting “Le”

When you give a full date, French likes its le.

❌ Nous sommes 3 avril
✅ Nous sommes le 3 avril.

In short handwritten notes, people sometimes drop words, but as a learner, keep the le.

Mini Dialogues: Dates Doing Real-Life Work

Dialogue 1: Asking The Date At The Bank

Excusez-moi, on est quel jour aujourd’hui ?
/ɛk.sky.ze.mwa ɔ̃ nɛ kɛl ʒuʁ o.ʒuʁ.dɥi/
Excuse me, what’s the date today?

Nous sommes le 14 février.
/nu sɔm lə ka.tɔʁz fe.vʁi.je/
It’s the 14th of February.

D’accord, merci.
/da.kɔʁ mɛʁ.si/
Okay, thank you.

Dialogue 2: Booking An Appointment

Vous êtes disponible le 5 mars ?
/vu zɛt dis.pɔ.ni.blə lə sɛ̃ maʁs/
Are you available on the 5th of March?

Le 5, non, mais le 7 mars, oui.
/lə sɛ̃ nɔ̃ mɛ lə sɛt maʁs wi/
The 5th, no, but the 7th of March, yes.

Parfait, le 7 mars à 10h alors.
/paʁ.fɛ lə sɛt maʁs a d‿œʁ a.lɔʁ/
Perfect, the 7th of March at 10 o’clock then.

Dialogue 3: Talking About How Long You’ve Been There

Tu habites ici depuis quand ?
/ty a.bit i.si də.pɥi kɑ̃/
Since when have you been living here?

J’habite ici depuis le 1er septembre 2021.
/ʒa.bit i.si də.pɥi lə pʁəm.je sɛp.tɑ̃bʁ dø mil vɛ̃t‿œ̃/
I’ve been living here since the 1st of September 2021.

Ah oui, ça fait déjà un moment.
/a wi sa fe de.ʒa œ̃ mɔ.mɑ̃/
Oh yeah, that’s already been a while.

Quick Reference: Date Patterns In French

Five-Minute Practice Plan: Make Dates Automatic

Your Birthday In French
Write your birthday as a full French date and say it out loud:
Je suis né(e) le … + day–month–year.
Repeat it five times until it feels natural.
Three Important Dates
Pick three real dates (a holiday, a trip, an anniversary). Write and say:
- Je pars le…
- C’est le…
- J’habite ici depuis le…
Month Drill Out Loud
Go through the months in order, saying each one twice with its IPA in your head:
janvier, février, mars…
Watch out for juin and juillet and give them extra reps.
Convert The Format
Take these English-style dates and write them French-style (both numeric and in words):
- 03/21/2024
- 11/05/2025
- 07/01/2023
  Then check: did you switch month/day correctly?
Mirror “What’s The Date?” Drill
In front of a mirror, ask yourself:
On est quel jour aujourd’hui ? /ɔ̃ nɛ kɛl ʒuʁ o.ʒuʁ.dɥi/
Answer with three different fake dates:
Nous sommes le 2 mai.
Nous sommes le 18 octobre.
Aujourd’hui, on est le 27 décembre.

Turning Dates From Trap To Flex

Once you’ve got le 3 avril 2023, DD/MM/YYYY, and that lonely little 1er under control, French dates stop being a trap and start being a tiny flex. You can book appointments without accidental time travel, fill out forms without hesitation, and confidently say when things happened without drawing a calendar in the air. For a learner yak wandering around France, that’s one of those small skills that quietly makes everything else easier.