Days, Months & Seasons
Learn the days of the week, months of the year, and four seasons.
CAPITALIZATION: Days, months, and seasons are NOT capitalized in French (unlike English): lundi, janvier, l'hiver. Only capitalize them at the start of a sentence
DAYS OF THE WEEK: lundi (Monday) , mardi (Tuesday) , mercredi (Wednesday) , jeudi (Thursday) , vendredi (Friday) , samedi (Saturday) , dimanche (Sunday) . The week starts on Monday in France
PREPOSITION EN for months: en janvier (in January), en février (in February), en mars (in March), etc ALL months use EN: je suis né en mars (I was born in March). There is no au janvier
SEASONS: this is a fixed set to memorize, not a general rule: au printemps (in spring) BUT en été (in summer), en automne (in autumn), en hiver (in winter)
ASKING THE DATE: Quelle est la date aujourd'hui? (what is today's date) or On est quel jour? (what day is it). Answer: Aujourd'hui, c'est le mardi 5 mars. (today is Tuesday, March 5th)
LE + DAY: Every/on that weekday (habitual): Le lundi (on Mondays), je travaille (I work). (On Mondays / Every Monday, I work.): le (the) acts like 'every'
DATES: structure: le + cardinal number + month: le 3 mars (the third of March), le 15 août (the fifteenth of August), le 31 décembre (the thirty-first of December). Exception: the FIRST always uses premier: le 1er janvier (the first of January), le premier mai (the first of May)
Common mistake: le premier février (the first February) but le deux février (the second of February): only the first uses the ordinal (premier), all others use cardinals (deux, trois, etc.)
- Aujourd'hui, c'est lundi. — Today is Monday.
- Je travaille le samedi. — I work on Saturdays.
- Mon anniversaire est le 3 mai. — My birthday is on May 3rd.
- En été, il fait chaud. — In summer, it's hot.
- Au printemps, il fait beau. — In spring, it's nice.