Days Names in French: Pronunciation, Meanings, and Examples

Key takeaways

• The seven French days of the week are: lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche.
• Days of the week in French are not capitalised unless they begin a sentence.
• To say on Monday (a specific day), use no article: je vais lundi. To say on Mondays (every week), use le/la: je vais le lundi.
• All days except dimanche (Sunday) are named after celestial bodies from Roman mythology.
• The French week traditionally starts on Monday (lundi), not Sunday.

French days of the week are among the first vocabulary items taught in any French course, yet the grammar around them trips up learners for a long time. The days themselves are simple to memorise; knowing when to use le/la, whether to capitalise, and how to build next Monday or last Friday sentences are the skills that take consistent practice.

This guide covers all seven French days of the week with pronunciation, etymology, how to say on Monday vs. on Mondays, expressions for next/last/this week, and common sentences using days of the week.

italki has 30,000+ tutors across 150+ languages, making it simple to find French teachers who can build scheduling and daily life conversation practice around this vocabulary until it becomes automatic.

The seven days of the week in French

French	Pronunciation (approximate)	English	Named after
lundi	lun-DEE	Monday	la lune (the moon)
mardi	mar-DEE	Tuesday	Mars (planet/god of war)
mercredi	MEHR-kruh-dee	Wednesday	Mercure (Mercury)
jeudi	zhuh-DEE	Thursday	Jupiter
vendredi	vahn-druh-DEE	Friday	Vénus (Venus)
samedi	sahm-DEE	Saturday	Sabbath (Hebrew origin)
dimanche	dee-MAHNSH	Sunday	dies Dominica (the Lord’s day)

Perfect your pronunciation of the nasal sounds in dimanche and vendredi with a French online tutor, which are distinctively French and often mispronounced by learners reading the spelling.

Capitalisation rule

Days of the week in French are NOT capitalised unless they begin a sentence. Wrong: Je travaille Lundi. Right: Je travaille lundi.

The same rule applies to months in French, which are also written in lowercase.

on monday vs. on mondays

On Monday (a specific, one-off occasion): use the day name alone, no article.

• Je pars lundi. (I am leaving on Monday.)
• Elle arrive vendredi. (She is arriving on Friday.)

On Mondays (every week, habitual): use le + day name.

• Je fais du sport le lundi. (I do sport on Mondays.)
• Elle travaille le samedi. (She works on Saturdays.)

Internalise the article rule through scheduling conversations with a French tutor, alternating between specific events and habitual routines.

Useful expressions with days of the week

French	English
aujourd’hui	today
hier	yesterday
demain	tomorrow
ce lundi / lundi prochain	this Monday / next Monday
lundi dernier	last Monday
la semaine prochaine	next week
la semaine dernière	last week
le week-end	the weekend

Common sentences using days of the week

French	English
Quel jour sommes-nous ?	What day is it today?
Nous sommes lundi.	It is Monday.
On se voit jeudi ?	Shall we meet on Thursday?
Je suis libre mercredi après-midi.	I am free Wednesday afternoon.
Le magasin est fermé le dimanche.	The shop is closed on Sundays.
Je travaille du lundi au vendredi.	I work from Monday to Friday.

Days of the week are simple to memorise but require real conversation to use naturally in speech, especially the article rules and scheduling grammar. A French tutor on italki can build scheduling conversations around this vocabulary until you stop translating and start speaking automatically. Book a trial lesson on italki today.

FAQ

Why does French week start on Monday instead of Sunday?

In France and most of Europe, the ISO 8601 standard defines Monday as the first day of the week. The Sunday-first convention is primarily used in the United States. In French, le week-end covers samedi and dimanche, which are the non-working days.

How do you say every other week in French?

Every other week is une semaine sur deux (one week out of two) or toutes les deux semaines (every two weeks). For a specific day every other week: un lundi sur deux (every other Monday).

Is it quel jour est-il? or quel jour sommes-nous? in French?

Quel jour sommes-nous? is the more widely used form in everyday French speech. Quel jour est-on? (more informal) is also common in casual conversation. Quel jour est-il? sounds more formal and slightly old-fashioned.