Teaching guidelines +/- 15 minutes

Learn to form dates in French using the structure "le + day + month + year," with key vocabulary like "le 1er janvier" (January 1st) and "le 14 juillet" (July 14th). Understand when to include the year or day of the week, and how to write dates both fully and in abbreviated form.
  1. The dates follow the order: "le" + "jour" + "mois" + "année".
  2. The months of the year are not capitalised.
  3. Cardinal numbers are used for the day.
DateExemple
Complète (Complete)le 1er janvier 2025
Sans l'année (without the year)le 14 juillet
Avec le jour de la semaine (With the day of the week)le jeudi 25 décembre 2022
Abrégée (Abbreviated)22/02/2023

Exceptions!

  1. We say "le 1er" for the first day of the month.

Exercise 1: Comment former la date?

Instruction: Fill in the correct word.

Show translation Show answers

Le 11 novembre, le 1er septembre, le 6 janvier, Le 1er janvier, le 25 décembre, le 15 août, le 1er avril, Le 14 juillet

1. 01/01:
... est le jour de l'an.
(1 January is New Year's Day.)
2. 25/12:
Nous célébrons ... en famille.
(We celebrate 25 December as a family.)
3. 01/09:
Nous revenons à l'école ....
(We go back to school on 1 September.)
4. 15/08:
On part en vacances ....
(We are going on holiday on 15 August.)
5. 06/01:
Je suis né ....
(I was born on 6 January.)
6. 14/07:
... est une fête nationale en France.
(14 July is a national holiday in France.)
7. 11/11:
... est un jour férié.
(11 November is a public holiday.)
8. 01/04:
On mange du chocolat ....
(We eat chocolate on 1 April.)

Exercise 2: Multiple Choice

Instruction: Choose the correct solution

1. Nous célébrons Noël ____ 25 décembre.

(We celebrate Christmas ____ December 25th.)

2. La rentrée scolaire est ____ 1er septembre.

(The school year starts ____ September 1st.)

3. Le jour de l'an est ____ 1er janvier.

(New Year's Day is ____ January 1st.)

4. La fête nationale française est ____ 14 juillet.

(French National Day is ____ July 14th.)

5. Pâques tombe ____ 17 avril cette année.

(Easter falls ____ April 17th this year.)

6. Nous partons en vacances ____ 21 juin.

(We go on vacation ____ June 21st.)

How to Form Dates in French

This lesson guides you step-by-step through the basics of forming dates in French, tailored for beginner (A1) learners. Understanding date formation correctly is essential for everyday communication, scheduling, and understanding written material.

Basic Structure of Dates

In French, dates follow a specific order: le + day + month + year. Here are some examples you will see:

  • le 1er janvier 2025 (the 1st of January 2025) — complete date with day, month, and year
  • le 14 juillet (the 14th of July) — without the year
  • le jeudi 25 décembre 2022 (Thursday, December 25, 2022) — including the day of the week
  • 22/02/2023 — abbreviated numeric form

Important Points to Remember

  • The article le always precedes the date structure.
  • The months of the year are not capitalized in French.
    Examples: janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin, juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre
  • Use cardinal numbers for the day, except the first day of the month where you use le 1er instead of le un.
  • Including the day of the week is optional but common for clarity.

Comparison Between English and French Dates

English dates can be written in various ways such as "January 1, 2025" or "1st of January, 2025" and typically do not use an article before the date. By contrast, French dates always include the article le before the day and use a fixed word order. Also, English months are capitalized, while French months are not.

Useful Words and Phrases

  • le — the (used before dates)
  • 1er — first (used only for the first day of the month)
  • Days of the week: lundi (Monday), mardi (Tuesday), mercredi (Wednesday), jeudi (Thursday), vendredi (Friday), samedi (Saturday), dimanche (Sunday)
  • Months: janvier (January), février (February), mars (March), avril (April), mai (May), juin (June), juillet (July), août (August), septembre (September), octobre (October), novembre (November), décembre (December)

Summary

Mastering date formation in French means remembering the set order with the article le, correctly using the ordinal form 1er for the first day, and noting the lowercase months. Adding the day of the week enhances precision. This lesson prepares you to read, write, and talk about dates naturally in everyday French.

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This content has been designed and reviewed by the coLanguage pedagogical team: About coLanguage

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Alessia Calcagni

Languages for communication in international enterprises and organizations

Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

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Last Updated:

Thursday, 17/07/2025 03:34