Question

French Tutorial: Dates

Answer 1

\({\bf{Saying~the~Date:}}\)

le ___ [day, as a number] ___ [month]
with the exception of "premier" to refer to the first day of the month

ex: le premier avril
le deux avril, etc.

Please review the months here: https://questioncove.com/study#/updates/5e72dc71568c11cac44fd800

\({\bf{Saying~the~Year:}}\)
Two main ways:

- start with the millenium and century as a two-digit number (ex: 19__ becomes dix-neuf), then express the rest of the year as a two digit number. (ex: 1984 becomes dix-neuf cent quatre-vignt-quatre)
- start with mille (ex: 19 becomes mille neuf) then the rest of the year is expressed starting with cent (ex: 1984 becomes mille neuf quartre-vignt-quatre). This method is much more customary esp. starting w/ the 2000's

Answer 2

cont.

In digits, write the date first, then the month, then the year

ex: 1.4.2020 is April 1st, 2020 not January 4th

To state the year, write "en" + the year

ex: Je suis né en mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-seiz. (I was born in 1996)
Nous sommes en deux mille dix (We are in 2020/It's 2020).

So, to write out today (the day of writing this tutorial) in full:

C'est le premier avril, deux mille dix.

Informally, you may see numerals instead of numbers being written out completely.

Answer 3

\({\bf{References:}}\)

Rochester, Myrna B. Easy French Step-by-Step, United States, McGraw-Hill Education, 2009, 72-73.

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/dates/

CollinsDictionary for French and English translations

Forvo (https://forvo.com/), a French pronunciation database with samples from native French speakers