French/Vocabulary/Dates, time, and numbers

Days of the week

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Vocabulary
The days of the week · Les jours de la semaine
French Pronunciation English Origin
lundi /lœ̃di/ (luh(n)-dee) Monday (Moon)
mardi /maʁdi/ (mahr-dee) Tuesday (Mars)
mercredi /mɛʁkʁədi/ (mehr-kruh-dee) Wednesday (Mercury)
jeudi /ʒødi/ (zhew-dee) Thursday (Jupiter)
vendredi /vɑ̃dʁədi/ (vah(n)-druh-dee) Friday (Venus)
samedi /samdi/ (sahm-dee) Saturday (Saturn)
dimanche /dimɑ̃ʃ/ (dee-mah(n)sh) Sunday (Dies Solis, Sun's day)
  • The days of the week are not capitalized in French.
  • The calendar starts on Monday
  • For phrases relating to the day of the week, see the phrasebook.

The Months of the Year

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Vocabulary
The months of the year · Les mois de l'année
French Pron. English
janvier /ʒɑ̃vje/ (zhah(n)-vyay) January
février /fevʁije/ (fay-vree-yay) February
mars /maʁs/ (mahrs) March
avril /avʁil/ (ahv-reel) April
mai /mɛ/ (meh) May
juin /ʒɥɛ̃/ (zhoo-a(n)) June
juillet /ʒɥijɛ/ (zhwee-yeh) July
août /ut/, /u/ (oot/oo) August
septembre /sɛptɑ̃bʁ/ (sehp-tah(n)-br) September
octobre /ɔktɔbʁ/ (ohk-toh-br) October
novembre /nɔvɑ̃bʁ/ (noh-vah(n)-br) November
décembre /desɑ̃bʁ/ (day-sah(n)-br) December
  • The months of the year are not capitalized in French.
  • For phrases relating to the months of the year, see the phrasebook

The Seasons

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Vocabulary
The Seasons · Les Saisons
la saison /la sɛ.zɔ̃/ (lah seh-zoh(n)) season
le printemps   /lə pʁɛ̃.tɑ̃/ (luh pra(n)-tah(n)) Spring
l'été (m)   /le.te/ (lay-tay) Summer
l'automne (m)   /lo.tɔn/ (loh-tohn) Autumn
l'hiver (m)   /li.vɛʁ/ (lee-vehr) Winter

Les nombres (adjectifs numéraux cardinaux et ordinaux)

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Vocabulary
Numbers · Les nombres
Cardinal Numbers 001-019 Ordinal Numbers 001-010 Cardinal Numbers 020 - 069
# French Pron. English # French Pronunciation Abbr. English # French Pronunciation English
000 zéro zairo zero 020 vingt vahn twenty
001 un uhn one 1st premier(ère) prem me ay (air) 1er first 021 vingt et un vahntay uhn twenty-one
002 deux deuh two 2nd deuxième deuhzee ehm 2ième second Numbers twenty-two to twenty-nine are
configured in the form of vingt-[02-09].
For example twenty-two is vingt-deux.
003 trois trwah three 3rd troisième trawhzee ehm 3ième third
004 quatre catr four 4th quatrième catree ehm 4ième fourth 030 trente trahnt thirty
005 cinq sank five 5th cinquième sankee ehm 5ième fifth 031 trente et un trahntay uhn thirty-one
006 six seese six 6th sixième seesee ehm 6ième sixth Numbers thirty-two to thirty-nine are
configured in the form of trente-[02-09].
For example thirty-three is trente-trois.
007 sept set seven 7th septième setee ehm 7ième seventh
008 huit weet eight 8th huitième weetee ehm 8ième eighth 040 quarante cahrahnt forty
009 neuf neuhf nine 9th neuvième neuhvee ehm 9ième ninth 041 quarante et un cahrahntay uhn forty-one
010 dix deese ten 10th dixième deezee ehm 10ième tenth Numbers forty-two to forty-nine are
configured in the form of quarante-[02-09].
For example forty-four is quarante-quatre.
011 onze ohn eleven
012 douze dooz tweleve 050 cinquante sankaunte fifty
013 treize trehz thirteen 051 cinquante et un sankauntay uhn fifty-one
014 quatorze catorz fourteen Numbers fifty-two to fifty-nine are
configured in the form of cinquante-[02-09].
For example fifty-five is cinquante-cinq.
015 quinze canz fifteen
016 seize sehz sixteen 060 soixante swahsahnt sixty
017 dix-sept deeset seventeen 061 soixante et un swahsahntay uhn sixty-one
018 dix-huit deezweet eighteen Numbers sixty-two to sixty-nine are
configured in the form of soixante-[02-09].
For example sixty-six is soixante-six.
019 dix-neuf deeznuf nineteen
  • This pattern changes slightly after the sixties:
    • Numbers seventy to seventy-nine are configured in the form of soixante-[10-19]. For example seventy is soixante-dix (60-10), seventy-three is soixante-treize (60-13), and seventy-seven is soixante-dix-sept (60-10-7).
    • Number eighty is configured in the form of quatre-vingts (4 - 20's) || catr vahn || eighty
    • Numbers eighty-one to ninety-nine are configured in the form of quatre-vingt-[01-19]. For example eighty-one is quatre-vingt-un (4*20-one), ninety is quatre-vingt-dix (4*20-10), and ninety-four is quatre-vingt-quatorze(4*20-14).
  • une dizaine (one ten)
  • une douzaine (one dozen)
cent 100 une centaine (one hundred)
[deux - neuf] cents 200-900
mille 1.000 un millier (one thousand)
(un) million 1.000.000
(un) milliard 1.000.000.000
  • The French commonly use '.' instead of ',' to separate thousands.
  • For 70-79, it builds upon "soixante" but past that it builds upon a combination of terms for 80-99.
  • Only the first (21,31,41,51,etc.) have "et un"; but past this it is simply both words consecutively (vingt-six, trente-trois, etc).
  • For 100-199, it looks much like this list already save that "cent" is added before the rest of the number; this continues up to 1000 and onward.

The Time

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Vocabulary
The Time · L'heure
French Pron. English
l'heure (f) ? time, (one) hour, o'clock
une demi-heure ? half-hour (half an hour)
le matin ? morning
le midi ? noon
l'après-midi (m) ? afternoon
le soir ? night
le minuit ? midnight
la journée ? daytime
  • Use heure in between the hour and the minutes when telling the time, e.g., Il est cinq heures dix
  • Note that there is no "a.m." or "p.m." in French. Use du matin, de l'après midi, and du soir to disambiguate a given time. "Il est sept heures du soir" makes it clear that it is 7 o'clock at night, and not in the morning. Alternatively, you could use the 24-hour system: "Il est dix-neuf heures" has no ambiguity; time is often expressed in this fashion, particularly in professional/commercial settings.
  • Midi and minuit can be used without an article when telling the time: "Il est midi." (It is noon.)