Dates in French
Format, Pronunciation, and Year in Words
Updated 17 April 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.
The Format
Pattern: [day] [date] [month] [year]
lundi 17 avril 2026
mardi 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. 04/17/2026 would be 4 November 2026 in French reading (4th of the 17th month - which doesn't exist). Always verify format context.
Date to French Converter
vendredi 17 avril deux mille vingt-six
Months in French
| Month | French | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| January | janvier | |
| February | fevrier | |
| March | mars | |
| April | avril | |
| May | mai | |
| June | juin | |
| July | juillet | |
| August | aout | |
| September | septembre | |
| October | octobre | |
| November | novembre | |
| December | decembre |
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 lundi 17 avril 2026. | We are on Monday 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: lundi 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.
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 decembre. 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.