In this lesson you will learn how to ask, read and tell the date in French. This could come in extremely handy in France when trying to schedule side trip and planning events. First it might be a good idea to first review my previous lessons on French numbers and the months in French. After getting the date down, you can also learn how to tell time.
How to ask the date
- Quelle est la date aujourd’hui?
- What the date today?
How to say the date
There are several ways to answer the question. The easiest way is to use this form:
- For example, it’s July 14: C’est le quatorze juillet.
This construction holds true for all of the days of the month except the first. To say the first of the month you must use the word “premier” which literally means first (as in first, second, third, etc).
So, to say, “It’s January 1”, say: “c’est le premier janvier“.
There are two more ways to say the date which you should learn:
- Nous sommes + le + number + month
- On est + le + number + month
So, “Nous sommes le 5 avril” literally means, “We are April 5” and “On est le 15 november” means “One is November 15”.
Now practice saying some dates:
| le 4 avril April 4 | le premier juillet July 1 |
| le 23 mai May 23 | le 28 mars march 28 |
| le 25 juin June 25 | le 2 août August 2 |
| le premier november November 1 | le 15 octobre October 15 |
| le 10 octobre October 10 | le 6 september September 6 |
| le 17 octobre October 17 | le 25 août August 25 |
| le 22 février February 22 | le 17 janvier January 17 |
| le 13 avril April 13 | le 6 février February 6 |
How to write the date
Writing the date out in French is different to the North American system. In French, you must reverse the month and day.
This can be a bit confusing at first for Americans but should not cause any confusion for people from the UK as they use the same system.
Here are some useful examples:
- le 5 juin 2012 OR 5/6/2012
June 5, 2012 OR 6/5/2012 - le 25 décembre 2012 OR 25/12/2012
December 25, 2012 OR 12/15/2012 - le 3 november 2012 OR 11/03/2012
November 3, 2021 OR 3/11/21
Suggested courses (with reviews)
Related lessons:
Discover more:
- Writing the date in French (FrenchToday)
- How to write the date in French (Babble)
- Comment écrire la date en français (French Explanation)
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Bonjour! My name is David Issokson. I'm based in Victor, Idaho and have helped hundreds of students to learn French via Skype or Zoom since 2014. 
