If you learned dates in English first, French date formats can look weirdly backwards at first. Day, then month, then year? No comma? Month names not capitalized? Very French. Very sensible. Slightly rude to your English-speaking brain.
By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to read, write, and say dates in French clearly and naturally. You’ll also avoid common mistakes like writing the month with a capital letter, saying le un janvier instead of le premier janvier, or panicking when you see 01/09/2025 and wonder whether school starts in January or September.
If you want more French basics after this, the main Learn French hub is a good place to keep going.
The Basic French Date Format
In standard French, the usual order is:
day + month + year
So:
| French Date | Pronunciation Help | Meaning | Example Sentence | Translation | Learner Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 juillet 2025 | katorz jwee-yay duh mil van-sank | 14 July 2025 | Le 14 juillet 2025 tombe un lundi. | 14 July 2025 falls on a Monday. | No comma before the year. |
| 3 mars 2024 | trwah mars duh mil van-katr | 3 March 2024 | La réunion est prévue pour le 3 mars 2024. | The meeting is scheduled for 3 March 2024. | Use le when giving a full date. |
| 25 décembre 2026 | van-sank day-sahmbr duh mil van-sis | 25 December 2026 | Nous partons en voyage le 25 décembre 2026. | We’re leaving on a trip on 25 December 2026. | French dates usually read as plain numbers, except the 1st. |
That day-month-year order is the big rule. If you only remember one thing from this article, make it that.
How To Write the Date in French
When writing the date in French, you normally use:
- the article le
- the day number
- the month name
- optionally the year
Pattern:
le + number + month + year
| Pattern | Meaning | French Example | English Translation | Learner Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| le 12 avril | the 12th of April | Mon examen est le 12 avril. | My exam is on 12 April. | Very common for appointments and events. |
| le 12 avril 2025 | 12 April 2025 | Le contrat commence le 12 avril 2025. | The contract starts on 12 April 2025. | Standard full written format. |
| nous sommes le… | today is… | Nous sommes le 12 avril. | Today is 12 April. | A common way to state today’s date. |
| on est le… | it’s… | On est le 12 avril. | It’s 12 April. | More informal and very natural in speech. |
If you want a deeper step-by-step guide focused only on writing dates, see write the date in French.
French Month Names
French month names are not capitalized unless they begin a sentence. That is one of the easiest mistakes for English speakers to make.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning | Example Sentence | Translation | Learner Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| janvier | zhahn-vee-ay | January | Je pars en vacances en janvier. | I’m going on holiday in January. | Lowercase in normal French writing. |
| février | fay-vree-ay | February | Mon anniversaire est en février. | My birthday is in February. | The accent matters in spelling. |
| mars | mars | March | Il fait encore frais en mars. | It’s still cool in March. | Pronounced clearly; final s is heard. |
| avril | ah-vreel | April | Le semestre commence en avril. | The semester starts in April. | The final l is pronounced. |
| mai | meh | May | Nous déménageons en mai. | We’re moving in May. | Short and simple, thankfully. |
| juin | zhwan | June | L’école finit en juin. | School ends in June. | Nasal sound; don’t say “joo-in.” |
| juillet | jwee-yay | July | Paris est très animé en juillet. | Paris is very lively in July. | Looks scary, sounds less scary. |
| août | oot | August | Beaucoup de gens voyagent en août. | Lots of people travel in August. | The circumflex stays in standard spelling. |
| septembre | sep-tahmbr | September | La rentrée est en septembre. | The return to school is in September. | A very useful month in French life. |
| octobre | ok-tobr | October | Les feuilles tombent en octobre. | The leaves fall in October. | Final e is silent. |
| novembre | no-vahmbr | November | Il pleut souvent en novembre. | It often rains in November. | Another silent final e. |
| décembre | day-sahmbr | December | On fête Noël en décembre. | We celebrate Christmas in December. | Accent on the first e. |
How To Say the Date Out Loud
French dates are usually read in the same order they are written: day, month, year.
- le 4 mai = the 4th of May
- le 19 octobre 2027 = 19 October 2027
- le 8 juin = the 8th of June
Examples:
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning | Example Sentence | Translation | Learner Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| le 9 septembre | luh nuhf sep-tahmbr | 9 September | La conférence a lieu le 9 septembre. | The conference takes place on 9 September. | le links smoothly to the number. |
| le 22 novembre | luh van-duh nuh-vahmbr | 22 November | Le concert est prévu le 22 novembre. | The concert is planned for 22 November. | French numbers matter here, obviously. |
| le 30 août | luh trahnt oot | 30 August | Le magasin ferme le 30 août. | The shop closes on 30 August. | août is pronounced like “oot.” |
The Special Rule for the First Day of the Month
Here’s the little trap that catches almost everyone: in French, the first day of the month is usually said as le premier, not le un.
le 1er mai is read as le premier mai
For the other dates, you just use the normal number:
- le 2 mai
- le 3 mai
- le 14 mai
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning | Example Sentence | Translation | Learner Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| le premier janvier | luh pruh-mee-ay zhahn-vee-ay | 1 January | Le Nouvel An, c’est le premier janvier. | New Year’s Day is 1 January. | Use premier, not un. |
| le premier avril | luh pruh-mee-ay ah-vreel | 1 April | En France, on fait des blagues le premier avril. | In France, people play jokes on 1 April. | Very common cultural date. |
| le 2 avril | luh duh ah-vreel | 2 April | Le stage commence le 2 avril. | The internship starts on 2 April. | Back to normal numbering immediately. |
How Dates Are Written in Numbers
In French-speaking countries, the standard numeric order is usually:
day / month / year
So if you see 04/07/2025, that usually means 4 July 2025, not April 7. This is where English speakers regularly get ambushed by paperwork.
| French Numeric Date | Pronunciation Help | Meaning | Example Sentence | Translation | Learner Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/05/2025 | premier mai deux mille vingt-cinq | 1 May 2025 | La fête est prévue le 01/05/2025. | The celebration is planned for 1 May 2025. | In speech, read it as a normal date. |
| 14/02/2026 | quatorze février deux mille vingt-six | 14 February 2026 | Le dîner aura lieu le 14/02/2026. | The dinner will take place on 14 February 2026. | French numeric dates are not month/day/year. |
| 31/12/2027 | trente et un décembre deux mille vingt-sept | 31 December 2027 | Le contrat se termine le 31/12/2027. | The contract ends on 31 December 2027. | Very common in forms and admin documents. |
You may also see dots or hyphens in some contexts, but day-month-year still rules:
- 14/07/2025
- 14-07-2025
- 14.07.2025
They all point to the same date order.
Useful French Date Phrases
Here are some genuinely useful date phrases you’ll hear in daily life, at work, in school, on forms, and during those fun moments when someone asks you to confirm an appointment and your soul briefly leaves your body.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning | Example Sentence | Translation | Learner Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quelle est la date aujourd’hui ? | kel eh lah daht oh-zhoor-dwee | What’s today’s date? | Quelle est la date aujourd’hui ? J’ai oublié. | What’s today’s date? I forgot. | Very common beginner phrase. |
| Nous sommes le… | noo som luh | Today is… | Nous sommes le 5 juin. | Today is 5 June. | Neutral and standard. |
| On est le… | on eh luh | It’s… | On est le 5 juin. | It’s 5 June. | More casual speech. |
| le lendemain | luh luhn-duh-mahng | the next day | Je suis arrivé mardi, et je suis reparti le lendemain. | I arrived on Tuesday, and I left the next day. | Useful in storytelling. |
| la veille | lah vehy | the day before | J’ai préparé mes affaires la veille. | I got my things ready the day before. | Also used with events. |
| en janvier | ahn zhahn-vee-ay | in January | Nous voyageons en janvier. | We travel in January. | Use en before months. |
| au mois de mai | oh mwah duh meh | in the month of May | Il y a beaucoup de jours fériés au mois de mai. | There are many public holidays in May. | More explicit than just en mai. |
| à cette date | ah set daht | on that date / by that date | Le document doit être prêt à cette date. | The document must be ready by that date. | Often formal or administrative. |
| fixer une date | feek-say ewn daht | to set a date | Il faut fixer une date pour la réunion. | We need to set a date for the meeting. | Very practical expression. |
| reporter la date | ruh-por-tay lah daht | to postpone the date | Nous devons reporter la date du rendez-vous. | We have to postpone the appointment date. | Useful for work and admin life. |
| à partir du 3 mars | ah par-teer dew trwah mars | from 3 March | Le tarif change à partir du 3 mars. | The price changes from 3 March. | du = de + le. |
| jusqu’au 10 avril | zhoos-koh dees ah-vreel | until 10 April | L’inscription est ouverte jusqu’au 10 avril. | Registration is open until 10 April. | au = à + le. |
Common Mistakes English Speakers Make
These are the big ones.
- Using month/day/year order
Wrong for standard French numeric dates: 04/07/2025 is usually 4 July, not April 7. - Capitalizing months
Write janvier, février, mars, not Janvier, Février, Mars in normal text. - Saying le un janvier
Use le premier janvier. - Forgetting le
French often says le 8 juin, not just 8 juin, especially in full sentences. - Using on with dates like English does
English says “on June 8.” French often just uses le 8 juin without a separate word for “on.” - Misreading admin forms
If a form asks for date de naissance, fill it in day/month/year unless the form clearly says otherwise.
Quick Comparison Table
| English Habit | French Standard | French Example | English Translation | Learner Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month first | Day first | 18 octobre 2025 | 18 October 2025 | This is the core format shift. |
| Months capitalized | Months lowercase | en décembre | in December | Unless at the start of a sentence. |
| 1 = one | 1st = premier | le premier mai | 1 May | Special rule only for the first. |
| on June 5 | le 5 juin | On se voit le 5 juin. | We’ll see each other on 5 June. | No separate word for “on” here. |
Mini Practice
Try these quick conversions.
- 07/09/2025 → le 7 septembre 2025
- 1 April → le premier avril
- December 12, 2026 → le 12 décembre 2026
- in July → en juillet
- What’s today’s date? → Quelle est la date aujourd’hui ?
If those felt easy, nice. If not, also nice. That just means you found the exact bit worth practicing.
Related French Practice
To keep building this skill, you can review French date formats explained again, go deeper with write the date in French, check your level with the French placement test CEFR, or test your everyday words with the French vocabulary test.
Quick Reference Summary
- French dates usually go day + month + year.
- Numeric dates are usually day/month/year.
- Use le before a full date: le 12 mars.
- Use premier for the first day of the month: le premier mai.
- Month names are usually lowercase: janvier, février, mars.
- Use en with months: en avril, en novembre.
- Nous sommes le… is standard; On est le… is more informal.
Yak takeaway: French dates are not trying to confuse you. They just want the day first, the month in lowercase, and a tiny bit of respect for le premier. Honestly, that’s not so much to ask.
