Date & Years
French: Cambridge International GCSE, topic 1.1.6
Les Dates et Années - Dates and Years
Talking about the year
- The year in French uses four digits
- deux mille vingt-quatre (2024)
- We say the year as a full number, not in parts.
- L'année deux mille vingt-quatre est importante.
- The year two thousand twenty-four is important.
- The number in the year is always pronounced fully.
Saying the date
- The date starts with the day, then the month in French.
- We say the day as a number:
- 'Le 7 avril' means the 7th of April.
- The word le comes before the day number.
- Mon anniversaire est le quinze juin.
- My birthday is the fifteenth of June.
The first day of the month
- The first of the month is special:
- We say le premier, not un.
- Nous sommes le premier mai aujourd'hui.
- Today is the first of May.
- Always use premier for the first day, never un.
Saying dates in full
- Use le + day + month + year for full dates.
- le vingt-cinq décembre deux mille vingt
- the twenty-fifth of December two thousand twenty
- We do not use ordinal numbers after the first day.
- La fête est le dix octobre deux mille vingt-trois.
- The party is the tenth of October two thousand twenty-three.
Test yourself on Date & Years
How do you say 'the first of March' in French?