French · Months

Months in French

The twelve months of the year in French with pronunciation, translation and an example sentence each, plus the words for month, year, season and date.

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The twelve months and the words for the year

Months come up in every date, birthday and holiday plan. Here are the twelve with their pronunciation and an example sentence each, then the words for the month, the year, the season, the calendar and the date.

The words

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janvier[ʒɑ̃vje]January
Il fait très froid en janvier.It is very cold in January.
février[fevʁije]February
Le mois de février est le plus court de l'année.The month of February is the shortest of the year.
mars[maʁs]March
Le printemps commence en mars.Spring begins in March.
avril[avʁil]April
Il pleut souvent en avril.It often rains in April.
mai[mɛ]May
Le 1er mai, c'est la fête du Travail.The 1st of May is Labour Day.
juin[ʒɥɛ̃]June
L'été commence le 21 juin.Summer begins on 21 June.
juillet[ʒɥijɛ]July
Le 14 juillet est la fête nationale française.The 14th of July is the French national holiday.
août[ut]August
Beaucoup de Français partent en vacances en août.Many French people go on holiday in August.
septembre[sɛptɑ̃bʁ]September
Les enfants retournent à l'école en septembre.Children go back to school in September.
octobre[ɔktɔbʁ]October
Les feuilles tombent en octobre.The leaves fall in October.
novembre[nɔvɑ̃bʁ]November
Mon anniversaire est le 3 novembre.My birthday is on 3 November.
décembre[desɑ̃bʁ]December
Noël est le 25 décembre.Christmas is on 25 December.
le mois[lə mwa]month
Il y a douze mois dans une année.There are twelve months in a year.
l'an[lɑ̃]year (counted)
J'apprends le français depuis deux ans.I have been learning French for two years.
la saison[la sɛzɔ̃]season
Ma saison préférée est l'automne.My favourite season is autumn.
le calendrier[lə kalɑ̃dʁije]calendar
J'ai noté l'anniversaire de mon ami sur le calendrier.I marked my friend's birthday on the calendar.
la date[la dat]date
Quelle est la date d'aujourd'hui ?What is today's date?

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Lowercase, and le premier mai

French months are written in lowercase and are masculine: janvier, en mai or au mois de mai. The first of the month is le premier, le 1er mai; every other date takes a plain number: le 2 mai.

Août is said like the English word oo, with a silent a; some speakers sound the t as well. L'an is a year counted, l'année a year lived through.

Questions about these words

Are the months similar in different languages?: Very. English, Spanish, German and French all name the months after the Roman calendar, so July, julio, Juli and juillet sound alike. The differences are in spelling, capital letters and the words used with a date.
How do I say a date?: Learn the pattern once and fill in the day and the month: the example under each month shows one. Spanish, German and French put the day before the month; American English puts the month first.

Words by topic

Other languages: Months in Spanish Months in German