Expressing dates in French

In French, dates are expressed differently to English.

Learn about dates in French

Take a look at the way to express dates in French:

le 24 janvier 201224th January, 2012

le 3 mars 2013 3rd March, 2013

Here's the general structure:

le + number + month + year

"Le" 

Don't forget the definite article le before the date. 
Note that dates are always masculine, so it's never la.

ATTENTION: 
You say le onze and NOT l'onze :

le 11 juillet  
le onze juillet
11th of July
 

 

Number

The main difference between dates in English and in French is the numbers we use: 

English dates use ordinal numbers (2nd, 3rd, 10th...) while French dates require cardinal numbers (deux (2), trois (3), dix (10)...) and NOT deuxième (2e), troisième (3e), dixième (10e)...

EXCEPTION: 

For the 1st day of the month only, you always use the ordinal number le premier (1er) = the first (1st).
le 1er avril 19971st of April 1997

 

Month

In French, months don't take a capital letter :

janvier mai septembre
février juin octobre
mars juillet novembre
avril août décembre 

 

Year

In French, there are two ways to read years from before 2000:

- as a full number, reading the thousands + hundreds + tens + units
e.g  1465

1615 (mille six cent quinze)1615 (sixteen fifteen -> literally "one thousand six hundred fifteen")

1776 (mille sept cent soixante-seize)1776 (seventeen seventy-six -> literally "one thousand seven hundred seventy-six")

984 (neuf cent quatre-vingt-quatre)984 (nine *hundred* eighty-four)

1900 (mille neuf cents)1900 (nineteen hundred -> literally "one thousand nine hundred")

by splitting it at the "hundreds" (similarly to English), reading the hundreds + tens + units
e.g  1465

1615 (seize cent quinze)1615 (sixteen *hundred* fifteen)

1776 (dix-sept cent soixante-seize)1776 (seventeen *hundred* seventy-six)

984 (neuf cent quatre-vingt-quatre)984 (nine *hundred* eighty-four)

1900 (dix-neuf cents)1900 (nineteen hundred)

Note that in French, you always need the word cent in this case.
You cannot say : dix-sept vingt  (1720)

 

As for the years post 2000's,

There is only one way to read them, and that is as a full number:

2003 (deux mille trois)2003

2013 (deux mille treize)2013 (twenty thirteen -> literally "two thousand thirteen")

  

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Examples and resources

le 3 mars 2013 3rd March, 2013
1776 (mille sept cent soixante-seize)1776 (seventeen seventy-six -> literally "one thousand seven hundred seventy-six")
le 24 janvier 201224th January, 2012
1615 (mille six cent quinze)1615 (sixteen fifteen -> literally "one thousand six hundred fifteen")
Halloween est le 31 octobre.Halloween is October 31st.
1900 (mille neuf cents)1900 (nineteen hundred -> literally "one thousand nine hundred")
le 10 septembre 200910th of September 2009
984 (neuf cent quatre-vingt-quatre)984 (nine *hundred* eighty-four)
2013 (deux mille treize)2013 (twenty thirteen -> literally "two thousand thirteen")
le 7 février 20127th of February 2012
le 13 juin13th of June
le 11 juillet  
le onze juillet
11th of July
2003 (deux mille trois)2003
1615 (seize cent quinze)1615 (sixteen *hundred* fifteen)
1776 (dix-sept cent soixante-seize)1776 (seventeen *hundred* seventy-six)
1900 (dix-neuf cents)1900 (nineteen hundred)

exception with 1st


le 1er avril 19971st of April 1997
Clever stuff happening!