Look at how we say next and last with durations:
Le weekend prochain, nous allons à Brighton.
Next weekend, we're going to Brighton.
La semaine dernière, j'ai rencontré ses parents.
Last week, I met her parents.
La fois dernière, c'était parce qu'il était malade!
Last time, it was because he was sick!
Le mois dernier, j'ai passé deux semaines à l'étranger.
Last month, I spent two weeks abroad.
L'année prochaine, il commence l'université.
Next year, he's starting university.
In French when you say next/last + [generic duration term] (month, week, year...), you will use :
le/la/l' + [duration term] + prochain/prochaine (next)
le/la/l' + [duration term] + dernier/dernière (last)
Note that to say the next day or the following day in French, you use le lendemain, and the previous day/the day before is la veille.
See also the more advanced When to use "demain"/"hier" vs "le lendemain"/"la veille" vs "le jour suivant"/"le jour précédent"
ATTENTION:
For specific days (next Monday, last Friday, ...), you won't use the definite article le :
Mardi prochain, elle va à un concert.
Next Tuesday, she is going to a concert.
Jeudi dernier, je t'ai donné mon coeur.
Last Thursday, I gave you my heart.
For specific months (last February, next March, ...), you will use :
En janvier dernier, Simon a emménagé en France.
Last January, Simon moved to France.
En septembre prochain, Gareth visitera Madrid.
Next September, Gareth will visit Madrid.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Le weekend prochain, nous allons à Brighton.
Next weekend, we're going to Brighton.
Mardi prochain, elle va à un concert.
Next Tuesday, she is going to a concert.
La semaine dernière, j'ai rencontré ses parents.
Last week, I met her parents.
La fois dernière, c'était parce qu'il était malade!
Last time, it was because he was sick!
Jeudi dernier, je t'ai donné mon coeur.
Last Thursday, I gave you my heart.
L'année prochaine, il commence l'université.
Next year, he's starting university.
En septembre prochain, Gareth visitera Madrid.
Next September, Gareth will visit Madrid.
Le mois dernier, j'ai passé deux semaines à l'étranger.
Last month, I spent two weeks abroad.
En janvier dernier, Simon a emménagé en France.
Last January, Simon moved to France.
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
25/04/18
Hi Nabeel,
this is a very good question and got me thinking.
prochain before the noun somehow implies the next within a sequence.
prochain after the noun implies the temporally next occurrence.
Here is an example. Suppose you're sitting in a meeting which convenes every other Monday (i.e., every two weeks). Then someone says either of the two sentences below:
On en parlera plus prochain lundi. -- This refers to the next Monday on which the meeting will reconvene, i.e., Monday in two weeks.
On en parlera plus lundi prochain. -- In this case the speaker refers to the Monday immediately following the meeting.
I hope that makes sense. Certainly, this topic would benefit from the input of a native speaker.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/03/17
You got it! Basically "jeudi prochain" is used to talk about a future action from a present standpoint (= next Thursday), whereas "le jeudi d'après" is used to express "the following Thursday".
À bientôt !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
9/12/16
Here Le Présent is acceptable, like "Gareth is visiting Madrid next September" could be correct as well.
However, I agree that Le Futur Simple would be better here, as this is not in the immediate future.
I've decided to change this example accordingly.
Merci et à bientôt !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
24/10/16
The difference is as such:
- "Prochain" = (x) next
l'été prochain = NEXT summer
- "Suivant" = following/next
l'été suivant = the following summer / THE next summer
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
John
Kwiziq community member
24/10/16
So, l'été prochain je vais visiter Paris, et l'été suivant (deux ans de maintenant) je vais visiter Madrid.
Is that correct? Thanks.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
25/10/16
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
11/10/16
This lesson has been recently updated, please have a look at it again, and let me know if it still confuses you :)
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
3/08/16
There's a slight difference in meaning.
La fois prochaine means "next time - and soon."
La prochaine fois means "next time" whenever that may be.
Jennifer
Kwiziq community member
3/08/16
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
13/06/16
Bonjour Melody !
Thanks for pointing this out: I checked with my AngloSaxon colleagues, and indeed you would use 'to' in English:
Simon moved to France.
Thanks to you, it's now been edited!
Merci et à bientôt !
Patrick
Kwiziq community member
1 May 2018
1 reply
Is there a difference between "l'année passée" and "l'année dernière" or can they both mean "last year"? Thanks!
Chris
Kwiziq community member
2 May 2018
2/05/18
Hi Patrick,
this is a question about nuance which, of course, benefits from the input of a native speaker. That said, I would say that they are about as similar to each other as "last year" and "the year past".
-- Chris (not a native speaker).