Date and Time in French (Level A)

MONTHS OF THE YEAR / LES MOIS DE L’ANNEE

Listen to the pronunciation

Januaryjanvier/ʒɑ̃vje/
Februaryfévrier/fevʀije/
Marchmars/maʀs/
Aprilavril/avʀil/
Maymai/mɛ/
Junejuin/ʒɥɛ̃/
Julyjuillet/ʒɥijɛ/
Augustaoût/u(t)/
Septemberseptembre/sɛptɑ̃bʀ/
Octoberoctobre/ɔktɔbʀ/
Novembernovembre/nɔvɑ̃bʀ/
Decemberdécembre/desɑ̃bʀ/
monthle mois/lə mwa/
yearl’an (as an ‘unit’) / l’année (duration)/lɑ̃/ /lane/
decadela décennie/deseni/
centuryle siècle/lə sjɛkl/
millenniumle millénaire/milenɛʀ/

To express in a certain month, such as in May, use en before the month as in “en mai.”  With dates, the ordinal numbers are not used, except for the first of the month:  le premier mai but le deux juin.  Also note that months are all masculine and not capitalized in French (same as days of the week).

Exemple: DATE OF THE DAY:  Le mercredi 7 juillet

DAYS OF THE WEEK / LES JOURS DE LA SEMAINE

Monday = Lundi

Tuesday = Mardi

Wednesday = Mercredi

Thursday = Jeudi

Friday = Vendredi

Saturday = Samedi

Sunday = Dimanche

Listen to the pronunciation

dayle jour (as an ‘unit’) / La journée (duration)/lə ʒuʀ/
weekla semaine/la s(ə)mɛn/
todayaujourd’hui/oʒuʀdɥi/
yesterdayhier/jɛʀ/
tomorrowdemain/dəmɛ̃/
nextprochain / prochaine/pʀɔʃɛ̃/ /pʀɔʃɛn/
lastdernier / dernière/dɛʀnje/ /dɛʀnjɛʀ/
day before yesterdayavant-hier/avɑ̃tjɛʀ/
day after tomorrowaprès-demain/apʀɛdmɛ̃/
the following dayle lendemain/lə lɑ̃dəmɛ̃/
the day beforela veille/la vɛj/

Articles are not used before days, except to express something that happens habitually on a certain day, such as le lundi= on Mondays. Days of the week are all masculine in gender and they are not capitalized in writing.

SEASONS / LES SAISONS

 Listen to the pronunciation 

Summerl’été/lete/in the summeren été/ɑ̃ nete/
Falll’automne/lotɔn/in the fallen automne/ɑ̃ notɔn/
Winterl’hiver/livɛʀ/in the winteren hiver/ɑ̃ nivɛʀ/
Springle printemps/lə pʀɛ̃tɑ̃/in the springau printemps/o prɛ̃tɑ̃/

 

TIME / LE TEMPS (HEURE)

 Listen to the pronunciation

What time is it?Quelle heure est-il ?/kɛl œʀ ɛ til/
It is…Il est…/il ɛ/
one o’clockune heure/yn œʀ/
two o’clockdeux heures/dø zœʀ/
noonmidi/midi/
midnightminuit/minɥi/
a quarter after threetrois heures et quart/tʀwɑ zœʀ e kaʀ/
one o’clock sharpune heure précise/yn œʀ pʀesiz/
four o’clock sharpquatre heures précises/katʀœʀ pʀesiz/
twelve thirtymidi (minuit) et demi/midi (minɥi) e dəmi/
six thirtysix heures et demie/si zœʀ e dəmi/
a quarter to sevensept heures moins le quart/sɛt œʀ mwɛ̃ lə kaʀ/
five twentycinq heures vingt/sɛ̃k œʀ vɛ̃/
ten fiftyonze heures moins dix/ɔ̃z œʀ mwɛ̃ dis/
in the morning/AMdu matin/dy matɛ̃/
in the afternoon/PMde l’après-midi/də lapʀɛmidi/
in the evening/PMdu soir/dy swaʀ/

Official French time is expressed as military time (24 hour clock.) You can only use regular numbers, and not demi, quart, etc. when reporting time with the 24 hour system. For example, if it is 18h30, you must say dix-huit heures trente. The word pile /pil/ is also a more informal way of saying précise (exactly, sharp).