Whether making future plans or discussing French holidays, knowing les mois (the months) in French is essential to many conversations. Beyond mastering the most basic French words, the months of the year in French are a key tool to have in your French vocabulary toolbox. Discover useful phrases, grammar rules, and the months’ origins.
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Les mois (the months) in French and their pronunciations
Most of the month names French cognates. This means they look similar enough to their English translations for you to know what they mean. However, their pronunciations are a bit different, even when the spelling is similar!
| English | French | Pronunciation | |
| January | janvier | jzahn-vee-ay | |
| February | février | fay-vree-ay | |
| March | mars | mahrs | |
| April | avril | ah-vreel | |
| May | mai | may | |
| June | juin | jzoo-ehn | |
| July | juillet | jzoo-ee-ay | |
| August | août/aout | oot | |
| September | septembre* | sept-ahm-bruh | |
| October | octobre* | ohkt-oh-bruh | |
| November | novembre* | noh-vahm-bruh | |
| December | décembre* | day-sahm-bruh | |
*The -re at the end of months is often pronounced with the “uh” sound but can also sound like a throwaway French -r, which is almost silent.
How to spell August in French
As the above chart shows, the word for August has two spellings in French: août and aout. Both are considered correct. Originally, the accent circonflexe (ˆ) was required, but a 1990 decision by the Académie Française deemed both spellings acceptable. However, it’s more common to see the spelling with the accent mark, despite a controversial 2016 decision to remove it from school curriculum in France.
Grammar rules for the months in French
There are a few notable differences in French grammar with the months of the year that impact how you write them or use them in sentences.
Months in French are not capitalized
As you may have noticed in the chart above, unlike English, the months in French are not capitalized. (Neither are the days of the week in French!)
- C’est le cinq janvier. = It’s January fifth.
- Est-ce le premier juin ? = Is it June first?
French months are all masculine
Although French gender rules can often be confusing, the good news is every month is masculine. If you need to use a French article in front of a month, use un (a) or le (the). When making a generalized statement about a month, use the article le.
- C’est un beau mars. = It’s a beautiful March.
- Le juillet est en été. = [The] July is in summer.
The definite article le is needed to say the date in French
The definite article le is also needed when saying a date in French, even when we normally wouldn’t say “the” in English. This is similar to the more formal way of saying dates, such as “the second of July.”
- C’est le cinq janvier. = It’s [the] January fifth./It’s the fifth of January.
- Est-ce le premier juin ? = Is it [the] June first?/Is it the first of June?
Numbers come first when saying the date (and usually aren’t ordinal)
As you can see in the examples, the number comes before the month when saying the date in French. Also, with the exception of the first of the month, the numbers are cardinal (two, three, four), not ordinal (second, third, fourth).
- C’est le six avril. = It’s April sixth.
- Mon anniversaire c’est le premier novembre. = My birthday is November first.
Additionally, when writing the date shorthand, the day still comes before the month.
- 13/10 = October 13th
- 02/03/24 = March 2nd, 2024
Knowing your French numbers is also important for saying the date.
How to describe French months in sentences
Beyond saying a date, you’ll want to be prepared for the following common phrases that are useful with months in French.
‘In’: en
To speak generally about something happening in or during a month, use en.
- Normalement je vais en vacances en août. = Normally I go on vacation in August.
You do not need an article (le) when using en.
‘Every’: chaque/tous les
Saying “every” is not as straightforward as “in” when it comes to months. There are a couple of ways to say “every” followed by a month.
- Chaque février, nous allons en Espagne. = Every February, we go to Spain.
- Tous les juillets, je rends visite à mon oncle. = Every July, I visit my uncle.
Chaque can also translate to “each,” so the month following stays singular (no “s” needed). Tous les translates to “all the,” so the month following needs to be pluralized (add an “s”).
‘Last’: dernier
Because the word dernier (last) is an adjective, it needs to agree in gender and number with the noun it’s describing. The good news is that because all of the months (and the word “month” itself) are all masculine singular, you only need that form. It’s also most common to use en preceding the phrase.
Note that the word dernier comes after the month, as with most French adjectives. To simply say “last month,” say le mois dernier.
- En juin dernier, je suis allé à Dakar. = Last June, I went to Dakar.
- Il a vu son père le mois dernier. = He saw his father last month.
‘Next’: prochain
The same rules apply to the word prochain (next) as dernier (last). Use en before a specific month, and le before the word “month” itself.
- En septembre prochain, tu iras au Portugal. = Next September, you’re going to Portugal.
- Vous fêtez la Saint Valentin le mois prochain ? = Are you celebrating Valentine’s Day next month?
‘Until’: jusqu’à
Normally, the word “until” in French is jusqu’à. However, when discussing specific months, we use the form jusqu’en or the phrase jusqu’au mois de (until the month of).
- Nous serons au Canada jusqu’en décembre. = We will be in Canada until December.
- Jusqu’au mois de mai, le magasin sera fermé. = Until May, the shop will be closed.
If you want to use a specific date with “until,” you use jusqu’au.
- Il travaillera pour l’entreprise jusqu’au 31 octobre. = He will be working for the company until October 31st.
‘Before’: avant
Avant (before) is used the same as in English, simply followed by the month. It is also common to say avant le mois de (before the month of), just as with the word “until.”
- Il faut soumettre votre candidature avant mars. = You must submit your application before March.
- Avant le mois d’avril, nous devons acheter une voiture. = Before April, we need to buy a car.
Note that just like le (the), de (of) becomes d’ when followed by a vowel.
‘After’: après
Après (after) follows the same rules as avant (before). You can use après or the phrase après le mois de (after the month of).
- Après le mois de septembre, nous serons libres. = After September, we’ll be free.
- Août est après juillet. = August is after July.
‘Since’: depuis
Once again, there are two ways to say “since”: depuis or depuis le mois de (since the month of). Both are used interchangeably.
- Il habite en France depuis janvier 2010. = He’s lived in France since January 2010.
- Depuis le mois de juin, il ne fume plus. = Since June, he no longer smokes.
Origins of the names of the months in French
Because the names of the months in French are cognates, these month name origins are also true for English month names. Both the French and English names come from the Latin calendar.
- Janvier is named after the Roman god Janus, who looked both to the past and the future with his two faces.
- Février comes from the Latin root Februarius, which used to be the last month of the year. The festival Februa was one of purification before the new year.
- Mars, once the first month of the year, is named after the Roman god of war Mars.
- Avril comes from the Roman month of Aprilis. The Latin verb aperire means “to open,” like flowers in springtime.
- Mai is named after the goddess Maia. She was the goddess of fertility and springtime.
- Juin is named after Juno, the goddess of marriage and childbirth.
- Juillet and août are named after Julius Caesar and the Roman emperor Augustus, respectively. These months were added by Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.E.
Septembre, octobre, novembre, and décembre used to be the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth months of the Roman calendar (before Julius Caesar). The months simply correlate to the Latin words for the numbers seven, eight, nine, and ten.
Use the French months in all your conversations
Making plans, talking about your past, and so many more topics of conversation require the use of the names of the months in French. Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent speech recognition engine can help you master saying the names of the months in French, so you’ll be ready to book travel accommodations, discuss your friend’s birthday party, or converse about any date-related activities!
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