Pascal says: Bonne nouvelle! (Good news!) French month names look very similar to English ones because both languages borrowed them from Latin. You already half-know these. Let me help with the other half!

🎯 Today's Mission

Learn the twelve months of the year.
Learn how to say in which month something happens.
Connect the months to the four seasons.
Learn how to say and write full dates.

📄 Document Déclencheur

Un carton d'invitation: Vous êtes invités à l'anniversaire de Léa ! Le 14 mai, à partir de 18h. Chez Léa, 12 rue des Lilas. Réponse avant le 1er mai, merci !

Qu'est-ce que tu remarques ?

Quel mois est mentionné pour la fête ? → mai
Comment est écrite la date limite de réponse ? → le 1er mai (avec "1er", pas "1")
Quel jour du mois est la fête ? → le 14

Section 1: The Twelve Months (Les Douze Mois)

Just like the days of the week, months are never capitalized in French.

To say something happens in a month, use the preposition en:

Mon anniversaire est en juillet. — My birthday is in July.
Noël est en décembre. — Christmas is in December.
Les vacances scolaires commencent en février. — School holidays start in February.
Il fait très chaud en août. — It's very hot in August.

Mini-dialogue:

— C'est quand, ton anniversaire? (When's your birthday?) — En mai. Et toi? (In May. And you?) — En octobre. (In October.)

Common Mistakes

❌ Mon anniversaire est à juillet. → ✅ Mon anniversaire est en juillet. — Use en, not à, before a month.
❌ Janvier capitalized mid-sentence → ✅ janvier — months, like days, stay lowercase in French.

Which month comes after 'octobre'?

How do you say 'My birthday is in April'?

Which preposition is used before a month to mean 'in'?

Section 2: Saying Full Dates

To give a full date, French uses the pattern le + number + month (+ year). Only the 1st uses the special word premier (1er); every other date uses the regular number.

Le 14 juillet. — The 14th of July.
Le 1er janvier. — The 1st of January.
Le 25 décembre 2026. — The 25th of December, 2026.

To ask for the date:

Quelle est la date aujourd'hui? [kel eh lah dat oh-zhoor-dwee] — What's the date today? On est le combien? [on eh luh com-byaN] — What's the date? (casual)

You can answer with:

On est le 3 mars. OR C'est le 3 mars. (It's the 3rd of March.)

Mini-dialogue:

— On est le combien aujourd'hui? (What's the date today?) — On est le 20 juin. (It's the 20th of June.)

Section 3: The Seasons & Important Dates

To say "in" a season, use au for printemps (because it's masculine and starts with a consonant), and en for the other three:

Au printemps, il pleut souvent. — In spring, it often rains.
En été, il fait chaud. — In summer, it's hot.
En automne, les feuilles tombent. — In autumn, the leaves fall.
En hiver, il neige dans les Alpes. — In winter, it snows in the Alps.

🔊 Phonétique: The final consonants in month names are often silent: mars drops the "s" sound in casual speech in some regions but is usually pronounced [mars]; août is famously tricky — the whole word collapses to just [oot] or even [ut], with the "a" and final "t" both silent for most speakers. Notice also juin [zhwaN] and juillet [zhwee-yay] — both start with the same "zhw" glide, easy to mix up.

Pascal's Tip: August (août) is a special month in France. Many small businesses close completely for several weeks. 'Fermé pour les vacances' (Closed for the holidays) is a sign you'll see often. The French take their summer seriously!

Some important dates to know:

Le 14 juillet — Bastille Day (The biggest French national holiday!)
Le 1er janvier — New Year's Day
Le 25 décembre — Christmas Day

Common Mistakes

❌ Le 1 janvier → ✅ Le 1er janvier — only the 1st takes the special "premier" (1er) form.
❌ En printemps → ✅ Au printemps — printemps uses "au," unlike the other three seasons.

In France, which month is in the season of 'l'été' (summer)?

The French national holiday, Bastille Day, is in which month?

How do you correctly write 'the 1st of January'?

Which preposition goes with 'printemps' to mean 'in spring'?

Civilisation

Le 14 juillet is far more than a date on a calendar — it commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, the spark of the French Revolution. Every year, Paris hosts a massive military parade down the Champs-Élysées, watched by the President, while towns across France end the day with a bal des pompiers (firefighters' ball) and fireworks over town halls. Smaller communities often hold their fireworks the night before, on le 13 juillet, so families can watch two nights of celebration. It remains the one day when even the smallest villages put on a public show.

Recap

The twelve months are never capitalized: janvier through décembre.
Use en before a month: en juillet, en décembre.
Full dates follow le + number + month, with premier (1er) reserved for the 1st only.
The four seasons: le printemps, l'été, l'automne, l'hiver — remember au printemps but en été/automne/hiver.

🙌 Agissons !

Look up today's date and write it out in French using le + number + month, then add your birthday the same way (e.g. "Aujourd'hui, on est le [date]. Mon anniversaire est en [mois]."). Say both sentences out loud, paying attention to the liaison in le 1er if either date happens to be the 1st.

✨ Coming Up Next...

Pascal: We're ready for the other super-verb: Avoir (to have). It's just as important as être, and it will unlock a whole new range of things you can say. À demain!