Talking about months in French
Updated: March 20, 2021 by Mylene in French VocabularyArray ▪
There are words that sound familiar to many foreign speakers in their native tongue. In French, months’ names are one of those words. Learning what are the months in French would evoke a sort of connection with what months are called in other languages.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- How similar are months in English and in French?
- How to say months in French?
- What are the months of the year in French?
- How to pronounce the months in French?
- Month by month in France
How similar are months in English & French
Months in English and in French share a number of similarities. In some cases, the only difference is the last 2 letters.
For instance, just switch the order of the last 2 letters of November and you’ll get the name of the same month in French.
Did you get it, right? If not, don’t worry. You are at the right place.
In this lesson, we will learn all the French months. In addition, you can listen to the audio recordings to hear how the months are pronounced in French.
If you want to go beyond the months in French and grow your French vocabulary, check out French vocabulary lists.
How do you say months in French?
Before learning the name of the months of the year in French, it is useful to know that the word mois means month. In singular as well as in plural the word mois doesn’t change. So you can say un mois (singular) or les mois (plural).
What are the months of the year in French?
As everyone knows, there are twelve months of the year in French. Find in the following list the months in order from January to December. You’ll also learn the correct way to write the French months’ names.
Note that months in French do not have capital letters.
- January is janvier
- February is février
- March is mars
- April is avril
- May is mai
- June is juin
- July is juillet
- August is août
- September is septembre
- October is octobre
- November is novembre
- December is décembre
If you’re learning about months in French, chances are you’ll want to learn about seasons in French or telling time in French.
How to pronounce the months in French
Below are the audio recordings of every month of the year in French.
When you click on the audio, you’ll play a recording that shows you how each month is pronounced in French:
Month by Month in France
Janvier (January)
Janvier is a cold month in France.
There are 31 days in January and its first day is called Le jour de l’An (New Year’s Day).
In January, you can taste the traditional Galette des Rois.
Février (February)
Février is also another cold month of the winter season.
February has 28 days, except leap years when it has 29 days.
In February, le jour de la Saint-Valentin (Valentine’s Day) is celebrated.
Mars (March)
Mars is the third month of the year and has 31 days.
Usually, it shows some signs of spring but also it’s well known for its heavy rain (les giboulées de mars).
Avril (April)
C’est le mois d’avril, c’est le printemps!
Well yes but remember the famous French saying “En avril, ne te découvre pas d’un fil.” (In April don’t take any clothes off because it is still cold).
April is a 30 days month. Pâques is usually celebrated in April.
Mai (May)
The weather gets warmer in May and the French famous saying clearly states: “En avril, ne te découvre pas d’un fil. Mais en mai, fais ce qu’il te plaît”.
May is a 31 days month that is well-known for its public holidays.
In particular, le 1er mai (la fête du Travail / Labor Day) and le 8 mai (Victoire 1945 / Victory Day 1945).
Check out our video on Labor Day in France.
Juin (June)
The really nice weather starts in June.
It’s hot and it’s the month when everyone starts talking about vacation time.
Juin is a 30 days month and La Fête de la Musique is in June.
Juillet (July)
Juillet is the official month when vacation starts.
The school year is over and it’s just summertime for, almost, everyone.
France celebrates its national holiday, la Prise de la Bastille, le quatorze juillet (the 14th of July).
You can read our article on numbers in French for a more detailed explanation on:
- how to count in French
- how to write numbers in French
Août (August)
Août is another hot month in the summer.
It’s a 31 days month where nothing gets done, the country simply shuts down.
Septembre (September)
Septembre, c’est la rentrée!
People return from their summer vacations and the school year is ready to start.
There are 30 days in the month of September.
Octobre (October)
The fall is here and temperatures become moderate.
Octobre is a 31 days month. Usually in octobre, France celebrates la fête de la science.
Halloween falls in October, but it’s not, yet, a popular celebration as it’s the case in North America.
Novembre (November)
Novembre is the month that lead-up to the winter season as well as the end-of-year holidays. Novembre is a 30 days month.
L’Armistice is celebrated le 11 novembre (Armistice of World War I).
Décembre (December)
Décembre is the last month of the year. C’est la fin de l’année.
Christmas is celebrated in December as well as New Year’s Eve which is the last day of the year (31 December).
Learn French Every Month
Félicitations, you made it through an entire year in French.
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