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French family ages: who turns twenty next month?

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Follow four French family birthdays from March to September. Separate current ages from birthday ages and find who turns twenty next month.

In short

In this timeline, today is le 1er mars 2026. Le mois prochain therefore means April. Hugo is nineteen now and celebrates his twentieth birthday on le 8 avril. He is the person who turns twenty next month.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

A birthday cake, a wrapped gift and a blank calendar.
Separate the age now from the age reached at the next birthday. Illustration: Atelier

A family calendar can show an age now and the age someone will celebrate later. Keep the two columns separate. The starting date controls the meaning of le mois prochain, while each birthday date tells you when the age changes. Here, all four birthdays are still ahead of the reference date, 1 March 2026.

Ages on 1 March 2026 and upcoming birthdays
PersonAge nowBirthdayAge celebrated
Claire, la mère de Hugo4415 mars45
Hugo198 avril20
Denise, la grand-mère de Hugo6912 juin70
Adam, le cousin de Hugo163 septembre17

Birthdays in calendar order

  1. 15 mars 2026
    Claire fête ses quarante-cinq ans.Claire celebrates her forty-fifth birthday.
  2. 8 avril 2026
    Hugo fête ses vingt ans.Hugo celebrates his twentieth birthday.
  3. 12 juin 2026
    Denise fête ses soixante-dix ans.Denise celebrates her seventieth birthday.
  4. 3 septembre 2026
    Adam fête ses dix-sept ans.Adam celebrates his seventeenth birthday.

Next month depends on today

On 1 March, le mois prochain is April. Hugo’s birthday is in April, so it matches the question. Claire’s birthday is later in March: it is this month, ce mois-ci. Denise’s birthday in June and Adam’s in September are later in the year. A later birthday is not automatically next month; compare the month names to the reference date.

Three useful calendar expressions
FrenchMeaning in this timeline
ce mois-ciMarch 2026
le mois prochainApril 2026
cette année2026
Question 1No account needed
Who turns twenty next month, from 1 March 2026?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Hugo. Next month is April, and Hugo celebrates his twentieth birthday on 8 April.

Question 2No account needed
How old is Denise on the reference date, before her June birthday?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

69. The current-age column gives Denise as 69 on 1 March. She celebrates 70 in June.

Question 3No account needed
Which birthday comes first after the reference date?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Claire’s on 15 March. March comes before April and September, and 15 March follows the reference date of 1 March.

Question 4No account needed
If someone reads the same dates on 1 April, what does le mois prochain mean then?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

May. The expression moves with the reference date: the month after April is May.

Use avoir for the current age

Hugo a dix-neuf ans. Son anniversaire est le 8 avril.

Hugo is nineteen. His birthday is on 8 April.

Avoir supplies the age: Hugo a dix-neuf ans. The date uses le before the day number: le 8 avril. To name just the month, use en: Son anniversaire est en avril. The timeline’s fête ses vingt ans describes the birthday celebration and its milestone age; it does not change the current-age column for the earlier reference date.

When answering a question about a family calendar, take the person, month and age from the same row. Then compare the month to today’s date. This prevents a correct number from being attached to the wrong relative or the wrong point in the year.

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