Dates in French
Format, Pronunciation, and Year in Words
Updated June 2026
French dates follow a specific format that differs from both American and British English conventions. The structure is always day-of-week, date number, month, year - and crucially, only the 1st of the month uses an ordinal. Every other date uses a plain cardinal number. Months and days are always lowercase in French.
French date format (numeric)
DD/MM/YYYY
17/04/2026 = 17 April 2026 · day first, then month, then year
France writes dates day-first, the reverse of the American MM/DD/YYYY. So 04/05/2026 is 4 May in French, not April 5. Separators are usually slashes; day and month names stay lowercase. Written in words it becomes le 17 avril 2026.
How to write a date in French
[day] [date] [month] [year]
vendredi 17 avril 2026 ·
Only the 1st takes an ordinal: lundi 1er juin 2026
Days and months are lowercase. Numeric format is day-first, DD/MM/YYYY (17/04/2026), never the American MM/DD/YYYY. The year stays in digits when written; read aloud, 2026 is deux mille vingt-six. Full year guide: 2026 in French, in depth.
The Format
Pattern: [day] [date] [month] [year]
vendredi 17 avril 2026
jeudi 1er mai 2025
Note: "1er" (premier) only on the 1st. All others use numbers.
The day of the week is often omitted in numeric or casual contexts. Numeric format: DD/MM/YYYY (e.g. 17/04/2026). Never MM/DD/YYYY as in the United States.
Watch out
French numeric dates are day-first, not month-first. An American 04/17/2026 read the French way is day 4 of month 17, and there is no 17th month, so the date simply fails to parse. The dangerous cases are days 1 to 12, where both readings exist: 04/05/2026 is 4 May in French but April 5 in American English. Always verify format context.
Date to French Converter
lundi 20 juillet deux mille vingt-six
Months in French
| Month | French | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| January | janvier | |
| February | février | |
| March | mars | |
| April | avril | |
| May | mai | |
| June | juin | |
| July | juillet | |
| August | août | |
| September | septembre | |
| October | octobre | |
| November | novembre | |
| December | décembre |
Years in Words
Modern French always uses mille for thousands in years. An older spoken tradition used the hundreds format for 1100-1999 (like English "nineteen hundred"), but this is less common today.
| Year | French | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| 1789 | mille sept cent quatre-vingt-neuf | |
| 1945 | mille neuf cent quarante-cinq | |
| 1999 | mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf | |
| 2000 | deux mille | |
| 2020 | deux mille vingt | |
| 2026 | deux mille vingt-six |
Useful Date Phrases
| French | English | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Quelle est la date aujourd'hui? | What is today's date? | |
| On est le 17 avril. | It's the 17th of April. | |
| Nous sommes le vendredi 17 avril 2026. | We are on Friday 17 April 2026. | |
| La semaine prochaine | Next week | |
| Le mois dernier | Last month | |
| Dans trois jours | In three days |
FAQ
What is the French date format?
Day-of-week, date number, month, year. For example: vendredi 17 avril 2026. Day and month are lowercase in French. Numeric format uses DD/MM/YYYY (17/04/2026), the opposite of American MM/DD/YYYY. Always check the format when reading French dates numerically to avoid confusion.
Does France use DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY?
France uses DD/MM/YYYY, day-first: 17/04/2026 is 17 April 2026. This is the reverse of the American MM/DD/YYYY. The ambiguous cases are days 1 to 12, where 04/05/2026 means 4 May in French but April 5 in American English, so always confirm which convention is in use.
How do you say the year 2026 in French?
Deux mille vingt-six. Years above 2000 always use "mille" (not "deux-mille" as one word). Years from 1100-1999 can also be expressed in hundreds format: 1999 = dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf (nineteen-hundred-ninety-nine), though modern French prefers mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf.
Why is the 1st of the month special in French dates?
Only the first day of the month uses an ordinal in French: le premier mai (1st of May). All other dates use cardinal numbers: le 2 mai, le 17 avril, le 31 décembre. This mirrors how English once said "the first of May" but now more often says "May 1st". In French, this rule is strict.
How do you say "on Monday 17 April" in French?
Le lundi 17 avril or simply lundi 17 avril (without the article in casual speech). Note that days and months are lowercase in French: "lundi" not "Lundi", "avril" not "Avril". The article "le" is often included in formal written contexts.