Your Information to the 12 Months in French With Pronunciations

How one can spell August in French

Because the above chart exhibits, the phrase for August has two spellings in French: août and aout. Each are thought-about appropriate. Initially, the accent circonflexe (ˆ) was required, however a 1990 determination by the Académie Française deemed each spellings acceptable. Nonetheless, it’s extra widespread to see the spelling with the accent mark, regardless of a controversial 2016 determination to take away it from faculty curriculum in France. 

Grammar guidelines for the months in French

There are a number of notable variations in French grammar with the months of the yr that impression the way you write them or use them in sentences.

Months in French are usually not capitalized

As you’ll have observed within the chart above, not like English, the months in French are usually 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

Though French gender guidelines can typically be complicated, the excellent news is each month is masculine. If you should use a French article in entrance of a month, use un (a) or le (the). When making a generalized assertion a couple of month, use the article le.

• C’est un beau mars. = It’s a stunning March.
• Le juillet est en été. = [The] July is in summer season.

The particular article le is required to say the date in French

The particular article le can also be wanted when saying a date in French, even after we usually wouldn’t say “the” in English. That is much like the extra formal manner of claiming dates, reminiscent of “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 often aren’t ordinal)

As you’ll be able to see within the examples, the quantity comes earlier than the month when saying the date in French. Additionally, except the primary of the month, the numbers are cardinal (two, three, 4), 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.

Moreover, when writing the date shorthand, the day nonetheless comes earlier than the month.

• 13/10 = October thirteenth
• 02/03/24 = March 2nd, 2024

Figuring out your French numbers can also be essential for saying the date.

How one can describe French months in sentences

Past saying a date, you’ll need to be ready for the next widespread phrases which can be helpful with months in French.

‘In’: en

To talk typically about one thing taking place in or throughout a month, use en.

• Normalement je vais en vacances en août. = Usually I am going on trip in August.

You don’t want an article (le) when utilizing en.

‘Each’: chaque/tous les

Saying “each” will not be as simple as “in” on the subject of months. There are a few methods to say “each” adopted by a month.

• Chaque février, nous allons en Espagne. = Each February, we go to Spain.
• Tous les juillets, je rends visite à mon oncle. = Each July, I go to my uncle.

Chaque may translate to “every,” so the month following stays singular (no “s” wanted). Tous les interprets to “all of the,” so the month following must be pluralized (add an “s”).

‘Final’: dernier

As a result of the phrase dernier (final) is an adjective, it must agree in gender and quantity with the noun it’s describing. The excellent news is that as a result of the entire months (and the phrase “month” itself) are all masculine singular, you solely want that kind. It’s additionally commonest to make use of en previous the phrase. 

Observe that the phrase dernier comes after the month, as with most French adjectives. To easily say “final month,” say le mois dernier.

• En juin dernier, je suis allé à Dakar. = Final June, I went to Dakar.
• Il a vu son père le mois dernier. = He noticed his father final month.

‘Subsequent’: prochain

The identical guidelines apply to the phrase prochain (subsequent) as dernier (final). Use en earlier than a selected month, and le earlier than the phrase “month” itself.

• En septembre prochain, tu iras au Portugal. = Subsequent September, you’re going to Portugal.
• Vous fêtez la Saint Valentin le mois prochain ? = Are you celebrating Valentine’s Day subsequent month?

‘Till’: jusqu’à

Usually, the phrase “till” in French is jusqu’à. Nonetheless, when discussing particular months, we use the shape jusqu’en or the phrase jusqu’au mois de (till the month of).

• Nous serons au Canada jusqu’en décembre. = We shall be in Canada till December.
• Jusqu’au mois de mai, le magasin sera fermé. = Till Could, the store shall be closed.

If you wish to use a selected date with “till,” you employ jusqu’au.

• Il travaillera pour l’entreprise jusqu’au 31 octobre. = He shall be working for the corporate till October thirty first.

‘Earlier than’: avant

Avant (earlier than) is used the identical as in English, merely adopted by the month. Additionally it is widespread to say avant le mois de (earlier than the month of), simply as with the phrase “till.”

• Il faut soumettre votre candidature avant mars. = You need to submit your software earlier than March.
• Avant le mois d’avril, nous devons acheter une voiture. = Earlier than April, we have to purchase a automobile.

Observe that similar to le (the), de (of) turns into d’ when adopted by a vowel.

‘After’: après

Après (after) follows the identical guidelines as avant (earlier than). You should 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

As soon as once more, there are two methods to say “since”: depuis or depuis le mois de (because the month of). Each 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 not smokes.

Origins of the names of the months in French

As a result of the names of the months in French are cognates, these month identify origins are additionally true for English month names. Each the French and English names come from the Latin calendar.

• Janvier is known as after the Roman god Janus, who seemed each to the previous and the longer term along with his two faces.
• Février comes from the Latin root Februarius, which was once the final month of the yr. The competition Februa was one among purification earlier than the brand new yr.
• Mars, as soon as the primary month of the yr, is known as after the Roman god of battle Mars.
• Avril comes from the Roman month of Aprilis. The Latin verb aperire means “to open,” like flowers in springtime.
• Mai is known as after the goddess Maia. She was the goddess of fertility and springtime.
• Juin is known as after Juno, the goddess of marriage and childbirth.
• Juillet and août are named after Julius Caesar and the Roman emperor Augustus, respectively. These months have been added by Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.E.

Septembre, octobre, novembre, and décembre was once the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth months of the Roman calendar (earlier than Julius Caesar). The months merely correlate to the Latin phrases for the numbers seven, eight, 9, and ten.

Use the French months in all of your conversations

Planning, speaking about your previous, and so many extra subjects of dialog require using the names of the months in French. Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent speech recognition engine may also help you grasp saying the names of the months in French, so that you’ll be able to e-book journey lodging, talk about your pal’s birthday celebration, or converse about any date-related actions!