How to Write the Date in French

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Learn the names of the months.

   The French names are written above in italic, with the French pronunciation following in parentheses.An (n) in parentheses represents a nasalized "n." January: janvier (zhah(n)-vyay) February: février (fay-vree-yay) March: mars (mahrs) April: avril (ah-vreel) May: mai (meh) June: juin (zhwa(n)) July: juillet (zhwee-eh) August: août (oot) September: septembre (sehp-tah(n)br) October: octobre (ohk-tohbr) November: novembre (noh-vah(n)br) December: décembre (day-sah(n)br)
2. 2

   Step 2: Learn how to write the date.

   In French, the date is written in "day month year" order, with no commas separating each term.
   
   Note that the month is not capitalized.
   
   Here are a couple examples (plus the abbreviated version): 4 août 1789 (4/8/1789) 15 mars 2015 (15/3/2015) , To read the date out loud, add le to the beginning of the date, and read all dates as cardinal numbers ("five" instead of "fifth").Here are the previous examples written as you would say them.
   
   Study how to count in French if you are not familiar with reading French numbers: "le quatre août mille sept cent quatre-vingt-neuf" "le quinze mars deux mille quatorze" Every month is a masculine noun, so the article used is always le. , When talking about the first day of the month, use "1er" in writing, and say "premier" when speaking aloud.
   
   This is the only date that uses ordinal numbers ("first") instead of cardinal ("one").
   
   For example: 1er avril (1/4), spoken "le premier avril"
3. 3

   Step 3: Say the date out loud.

4. 4

   Step 4: Learn the exception for the first of the month.

Detailed Guide

About the Author