Everything You Need to Know About the French Months

Key takeaways

• The 12 months in French are not capitalised: janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin, juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre.
• French does not use an article before months in most common constructions: en janvier (in January), au mois de mars (in the month of March), not dans le janvier.
• To say “in” a month, use en or au mois de: both are correct. For “last month” and “next month”: le mois dernier / le mois prochain.
• French dates use the ordinal only for the first of the month (le premier); all other dates use cardinal numbers: le deux janvier, le quinze mars, le trente et un décembre.

The months are among the first vocabulary sets every French learner encounters, and one of the first where learners accumulate small errors that go uncorrected for months: capitalising where they shouldn’t, using the wrong article (or using one at all), producing the date the English way (le vingt-trois mars is correct; le vingt-troisième mars is not). This guide covers all of it: the vocabulary, the pronunciation, and the grammar rules that determine how months actually appear in real French.

This guide covers the 12 months in French with pronunciation notes, how to use months in dates and sentences, seasonal vocabulary, and the cultural events and associations that make the vocabulary come alive.

italki has 30,000+ teachers across 150+ languages, including French teachers who move grammar into conversation quickly: discussing plans, dates, and events in French from the first lesson. Find a French tutor and practice talking about your own calendar, plans, and past events.

The 12 months in French

French	English	Pronunciation hint
janvier	January	zhan-VYAY
février	February	fay-VRYAY
mars	March	MARSS
avril	April	ah-VREEL
mai	May	MAY
juin	June	ZHWAHN
juillet	July	zhwee-YAY
août	August	OOT (the -t is pronounced) or oo (silent -t): both are acceptable
septembre	September	sep-TAHN-bruh
octobre	October	ok-TOH-bruh
novembre	November	no-VAHN-bruh
décembre	December	day-SAHN-bruh

Critical rule: French months are never capitalised unless they appear at the start of a sentence. This is one of the first written errors French learners make after studying in English, where month names are always capitalised.

Correct: Je suis né en janvier. (I was born in January.) Incorrect: Je suis né en Janvier.

Pronunciation guide

Several French months have features that catch English speakers off guard.

Janvier (January): The j in French is pronounced like the “s” in “measure” or the “g” in “genre.” Not like the English “j” in “January.”

Février (February): Two distinct French sounds: the é (closed e, like “ay”) and the nasalised ending -ier (VYAY). The -bru- cluster in the middle is fully pronounced.

Juin (June): The ui combination produces a sound between “oo-ee” said quickly: ZHWAHN. The final -n is nasalised, not pronounced separately.

Juillet (July): Contains the French ill sound (pronounced like a “y”): zhwee-YAY. The -et at the end is silent.

Août (August): This is the most variable month pronunciation in French. The traditional pronunciation is OOT (with the -t pronounced); the modern colloquial version often drops the -t entirely. Both are accepted in standard French.

Septembre/Octobre/Novembre/Décembre: The -bre endings are fully pronounced in French, unlike English where they are reduced. The nasal vowels (-an-, -em-) are consistent features.

A French pronunciation tutor who works on pronunciation can run through the month names with you and check that the nasalisation, the j, and the ui sounds are landing correctly before they become habitual errors.

Grammar rules for using months

1. no capitalisation

Already noted but worth repeating as it applies to all months in all contexts.

2. no article before the month (in most cases)

Correct	Incorrect	Translation
en janvier	dans le janvier	in January
au mois de mars	dans le mars	in the month of March
Je pars en août.	Je pars dans l’août.	I’m leaving in August.

Exception: When the month is specified with a year or a modifying word, an article appears:

• Ce janvier a été particulièrement froid. (This January was particularly cold.)
• Le janvier de l’année dernière… (Last year’s January…)

3. En vs. Au mois de

Both are correct and interchangeable for expressing “in [month]”:

• Il fait froid en décembre. / Il fait froid au mois de décembre.

Au mois de is slightly more emphatic and formal. In everyday speech, en is the default.

4. other useful constructions

French	English
le mois prochain	next month
le mois dernier	last month
ce mois-ci	this month
début janvier	early January
fin mars	late March
mi-août	mid-August
à partir du mois de juin	from June onward
jusqu’en septembre	until September

How to say dates in French

French date format: le + cardinal number + month + year (day before month, year at the end, no commas)

The first of the month: uses the ordinal: le premier (abbreviated le 1er)

• le premier janvier: the first of January

All other dates: use cardinal numbers (two, three, fifteen…), not ordinal:

• le deux février: the second of February
• le quinze mars: the fifteenth of March
• le trente et un décembre: the thirty-first of December

This is different from English, which uses ordinal numbers for all dates. French learners from English often say le deuxième février, which is incorrect in the context of calendar dates.

Full date expressions:

French	English
Nous sommes le vingt-cinq juin.	Today is the twenty-fifth of June.
Je suis né(e) le treize avril 1990.	I was born on the thirteenth of April 1990.
La réunion est le premier lundi de mars.	The meeting is the first Monday in March.
Quelle est la date aujourd’hui?	What is today’s date?
On est le combien?	What’s the date? (colloquial)

Asking and saying the year:

• En quelle année? (What year?)
• en deux mille vingt-quatre (2024)
• en dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix (1990)

For years before 2000, French traditionally says them in groups: dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix (1990) rather than mil neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix. Both are used.

The grammar for talking about time, dates, and frequency uses the same present tense structures covered in the French present tense guide, which is where the verb conjugations for être, aller, and avoir in date expressions come from.

Seasons in French

French	English	Preposition used
le printemps	spring	au printemps
l’été	summer	en été
l’automne	autumn / fall	en automne
l’hiver	winter	en hiver

Note the preposition inconsistency: au printemps (masculine noun) vs. en été, en automne, en hiver. The seasons do not follow the same preposition rule as each other.

Months by season (France):

• Spring: mars, avril, mai
• Summer: juin, juillet, août
• Autumn: septembre, octobre, novembre
• Winter: décembre, janvier, février

Month vocabulary in context

French	English
Quel mois sommes-nous?	What month is it?
Je pars en vacances en juillet.	I’m going on holiday in July.
Le contrat expire fin octobre.	The contract expires at the end of October.
Je l’ai rencontré en septembre de l’année dernière.	I met him in September last year.
Les soldes commencent début janvier.	The sales start at the beginning of January.
Le festival a lieu en juin chaque année.	The festival takes place every year in June.
Je travaille à Paris depuis mars.	I’ve been working in Paris since March.
Elle est enceinte de huit mois.	She is eight months pregnant.
Ça fait trois mois que j’étudie le français.	I’ve been studying French for three months.

The ça fait + durée + que construction is extremely common in spoken French for expressing how long something has been going on. It is one of the first patterns to move from the grammar page into real conversation.

Cultural events and associations by month

Month	Cultural association in France/French-speaking world
janvier	Nouvelle Année (New Year), Galette des Rois (Epiphany, 6 Jan tradition)
février	Chandeleur (Crêpe Day, 2 Feb), Valentine’s Day (la Saint-Valentin)
mars	Journée internationale des droits des femmes (8 March), spring beginning
avril	Poisson d’avril (April Fool’s; children tape fish cutouts to backs)
mai	1er mai (Labour Day, public holiday), Victoire (VE Day, 8 May), Ascension, Pentecôte
juin	Fête de la Musique (21 June, music in every public space), Fête des Pères
juillet	Fête Nationale (14 July, Bastille Day), summer exodus from cities, les Grandes Vacances begin
août	Peak summer, Paris closes, les vacances, beaches
septembre	La rentrée (the return to school and work, a major cultural reset moment in France)
octobre	Vendanges (grape harvest in wine regions), Toussaint (1 Nov) approaching
novembre	Toussaint (1 Nov, All Saints, flowers on graves), Armistice (11 Nov)
décembre	Avent, Noël (Christmas), les fêtes de fin d’année (holiday season)

La rentrée (September) deserves particular attention: in French culture, it marks the end of summer with the same social weight as New Year. Shops, publishers, television channels, and businesses plan their calendars around it. The phrase la rentrée signals far more than just going back to school.

Making dates and months conversational

Months become functional vocabulary when they appear in real conversation: making plans, talking about the past, describing schedules, referring to seasonal events. The grammar rules covered here (no capitals, en + month, cardinal numbers for dates) prevent errors that otherwise persist for years.

italki has matched 10M+ learners with teachers across 150+ languages since 2007, and has French teachers who use everyday topics (plans, dates, events) to build grammar naturally from the first session. Find an online French tutor and spend a session talking about your calendar, your plans, and your favourite months.

FAQ

Are the months in French capitalised?

No. French months are lowercase in all positions except the start of a sentence: en janvier, au mois de mars, le quinze décembre.

How do you say “in January” in French?

En janvier or au mois de janvier. Both are correct. Do not use dans le janvier, which is a common error.

How do you say dates in French?

Use le + cardinal number + month + year: le quinze mars, le premier janvier, le trente et un décembre. Only the first of the month uses the ordinal (premier); all others use cardinal numbers.

How do you say “next month” and “last month” in French?

Le mois prochain (next month) and le mois dernier (last month). For “this month”: ce mois-ci.

What is la rentrée in French?

La rentrée (literally “the return”) is the September return to school and work after the summer break. It is a major cultural event in France, associated with new plans, new starts, and the resetting of professional and social rhythms.