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French days of the week: names, spelling and le lundi

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

The seven French days of the week on one page: spelling, no capital letters, and when to say lundi, le lundi or ce lundi. With a quick check.

In short

The days are lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche, all masculine and written without a capital. Say lundi for one particular Monday, le lundi for every Monday, and lundi prochain for next Monday.

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Coffee, bread and a jacket ready for a weekday morning.
Le lundi can describe a regular Monday routine. Illustration: Atelier

Les jours · fiche

1 · The seven days

All masculine, all lower case, and the week starts on Monday in France.

lundiMonday
mardiTuesday
mercrediWednesday
jeudiThursday
vendrediFriday
samediSaturday
dimancheSunday

Nous sommes mardi.It's Tuesday.

2 · One day: no article

For a single, specific day, use the day on its own. English says "on Monday", French says nothing.

Je pars lundi.I'm leaving on Monday.

On se voit samedi ?Shall we meet on Saturday?

3 · Every week: le

Le + day means a regular habit, like English "on Mondays".

Le mercredi, je vais à la piscine.On Wednesdays I go to the pool.

Le magasin est fermé le dimanche.The shop is closed on Sundays.

4 · Every single one: tous les

Tous les lundis stresses that it happens without fail.

Il appelle sa mère tous les dimanches.He calls his mother every Sunday.

5 · Next and last

Prochain and dernier come after the day.

lundi prochainnext Monday
lundi dernierlast Monday
ce lundithis Monday

Jeudi prochain, c'est férié.Next Thursday is a holiday.

Vendredi dernier, j'étais malade.Last Friday, I was ill.

6 · Times of day

Add matin, après-midi, soir directly after the day.

Mardi soir, je travaille.On Tuesday evening, I'm working.

Le samedi matin, on fait le marché.On Saturday mornings we go to the market.

In writing, dates put the day first: lundi 3 mars. In speech, on est quel jour ? asks which day it is, and the answer is simply on est jeudi. En semaine means on weekdays, and le week-end covers Saturday and Sunday.

Watch the spelling of mercredi (no e after the r) and the ending of dimanche. Unlike English, French never capitalises days or months unless they start a sentence.

Question 1No account needed
"On Fridays, I eat fish."

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Le vendredi, je mange du poisson.. A regular habit takes le: le vendredi.

Question 2No account needed
"See you on Monday!" (one specific Monday)

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

À lundi !. À lundi ! is the usual goodbye for a specific coming day.

Question 3No account needed
Which spelling is correct in the middle of a sentence?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

On se voit mercredi.. Days take no capital in French, and mercredi has no e after the r.

Question 4No account needed
"Last Tuesday"

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

mardi dernier. Dernier follows the day: mardi dernier.

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