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Les dates
If you ever write letters, make plans, or request appointments, this lesson will be invaluable. There are a few little formulas to memorize in French, but otherwise, dates are very easy to talk about.
Asking about the date
Today’s date
| Quelle est la date ? | What’s the date? | |
| Quelle est la date aujourd’hui ? | What’s today’s date? | |
| Nous sommes le combien aujourd’hui ? (formal) On est le combien aujourd’hui ? (informal) | ||
Some other date
| Quelle est la date de (ton anniversaire, la fête…) ? Quel jour est (ton anniversaire, la fête…) ? | What date is (your birthday, the party…)? | |
| Quel jour arrivez-vous / arrive-t-il ? | What date are you / is he coming? |
The only possible translation of "what" here is the interrogative adjective quelle; you can’t say qu’est-ce que la date or qu’est-ce qui est la date. More about this in a future lesson.
Talking about the date
Here’s the basic formula to indicate a date:
le (definite article) + cardinal number + month (+ year)
Par exemple…
| Le 31 novembre n’existe pas. | There is no November 31. | |
| Nous avons acheté la maison le 15 avril 2013. | We bought our house on April 15, 2013. |
American English speakers take note: the number must precede the month in French. This is particularly important to remember when writing the short form of dates:
| le 12 octobre | 12/10 | |
| le 10 décembre | 10/12 |
For the first day of any month, the formula is slightly different – the ordinal number is used instead:
- le premier + month (+ year)
- le 1er + month (+ year)
Par exemple…
| Le 1er mai est un jour férié en France. | May 1st is a holiday in France. | |
| Je vais y aller le premier décembre 2014. | I’m going on December 1st 2014. |
To talk about today’s date, you just need to add a couple of words to the above formula:
- C’est le + cardinal number + month (+ year)
- Nous sommes le + cardinal number + month (+ year) (informal)
- On est le + cardinal number + month (+ year) (informal)
Par exemple…
| Aujourd’hui, c’est le 8 septembre 2014. | It’s September 8, 2014. | |
| Nous sommes le 1er février aujourd’hui. | It’s February 1st today. |
Dates with days of the week
If you want to include the day of the week of the date in question, the formulas are as follows:
- C’est le + day + number + month (+ year)
informal
- Nous sommes le + day + number + month (+ year)
- On est le + day + number + month (+ year)
| Aujourd’hui, c’est le lundi 8 septembre. | Today is Monday, September 8. | |
| Nous sommes le vendredi 1er février aujourd’hui. | It’s Friday, February 1st today. |
French expressions
- être au rendez-vous – to be on time for an appointment
- le jour J – D-Day
- Tous les 36 du mois – Once in a blue moon
- le vendredi treize – Friday the 13th
Related lessons
- All about c’est
- An vs année, jour vs journée
- Days and months
- Definite articles
- Être conjugations
- Numbers and counting
- Ordinal numbers
- Quel: interrogative adjective
- Telling time
- Weather
- Years
- Zodiac signs
French lesson plan
- Race to write (Lesson, K-8th grade)
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