The days of the week in French

1) Days of the week in French

In French, a day is un jour.
It’s a masculine noun. We sometimes say la journée (= the day, at the feminine), when we
want to refer to something that happens during that time.

If it makes it easier to understand, “la journée” can represent a long period of time
when something happens (or might happen), while “le jour” is a more concrete unit Hidden Meaning of the French days of the
that’s rarely broken. week

For example: The days of the week in French take their

Je t’appelle dans la journée = I’ll call you during the day (at some point today) name from the Latin language and gods. “Di”
Je t’appelle dans deux jours = I’ll call you in two days at the end comes from “dies” (=”day,” in
Latin.) That’s why we have:
The days of the week in French themselves are masculine. So, we say le lundi
(=Monday), un mardi (a Tuesday). The French days of the week also also start with a Lundi = Lunae dies = jour de la lune = “moon
day”
lowercase letter, rather than being capitalised (like in English).
Mardi = Marties dies = jour de Mars = “Mars
[→ We also use the masculine for a specific date, such as le 1er Mai (=the First of May) for
day”
instance! Click here to learn more about Le 1er Mai en France ]
Mercredi = Mercurii dies = jour de Mercure =
A week is une semaine. Let’s dive into les jours de la semaine (=the days of the week) ! “Mercury day”

A week in France starts with le lundi (=Monday). In 1972, the massively popular French Jeudi = Jovis dies = jour de Jupiter = “Jupiter
The days of the week in French
singer Claude François released his hit Le lundi au soleil (=”A Monday in the Sun”), a song day”
to complain about having to work on a sunny Monday.
Vendredi = Veneris dies = jour de Vénus =
Then we have mardi (=Tuesday), and mercredi (=Wednesday). Le mercredi is often seen “Venus day”
as le jour des enfants (= children’s day): school often closes early, leaving them the
Samedi = Sabbati dies = jour de Sabbat =
afternoon for sports or extra activities. “Day of Shabbat” (Judeo-Christian origin)

Le jeudi (= Thursday) is the last day before vendredi (=Friday). Then it’s time for le week- Dimanche = Dies Dominica = jour du Seigneur
end (=…you can guess what that means!) = “The Lord’s day” – First day of the week for
the medieval Catholic Church.
On le samedi (=Saturday) French people can see friends, enjoy cultural activities or
leisure, have a night out…

In the beautiful song Samedi soir sur la Terre, French singer/songwriter Francis Cabrel
describes a typical scene of a “Saturday night on Earth” (boy meets girl). Check out the
full album of the same name too, it’s filled with Cabrel’s best songs.

Finally, on le dimanche (=Sunday), French people can slowly wake up from their
Saturday hangover, spend time with their family with a traditional French meal, or
quite simply do nothing at all.

…Or even celebrate weddings! In the spirit of blind Malian singers Amadou & Mariam
and their 2004 hit : le dimanche à Bamako c’est le jour du mariage (=In Bamako, Sunday
is a wedding day)
(I love that song!)
The days of the week in French
Recap:

Lundi: Monday
Mardi: Tuesday
Mercredi: Wednesday
Jeudi: Thursday
Vendredi: Friday
Samedi: Saturday
Dimanche: Sunday
All together = une semaine

2) Times of the day

A French day is divided into several periods.

It starts with le matin (=the morning). Then we have le midi (=midday, noon), and then
l’après-midi (= the afternoon).

The day then turns to le soir (= the evening), and la nuit (=the night, nighttime).
“L’après-midi” est un nom à la fois masculin et
féminin. Les deux sont corrects! On peut
As we’ve seen, sept jours (=seven days) make une semaine (=a week).
dire un bon après-midi ou une bonne après-
midi (=a good afternoon, masculine or
The days of the week in French
Quatre semaines (=four weeks) make un mois (=a month), more or less. There are trois feminine), c’est comme on veut !
mois (=three months) in une saison (= a season).
There are four season, such as l’été (= summer).

→ Click here to learn more about “Les Vacances d’été” (summer holidays) in a fully
French lesson!

Quatre saisons (= four seasons) make une année (=a year.)

Un an and une année both mean “a year”, the same way un jour and une journée mean “a
day.” The masculine version in an “unbreakable” unit, while the feminine noun is a
“long” time.

You can get a better breakdown of the French year in a previous lesson.

→ Click here to learn more about “French months of the year: the 12 months and 4
seasons in French”!

3) Yesterday and tomorrow

You know what? If you don’t remember the name for a day of the week in French,
there’s a simple trick that spans five whole days – without ever once using the syllable
The days of the week in French
“di” !

Here it is:

The “easy” version:

Avant-hier ← Hier ← Aujourd’hui → Demain → Après-demain In a popular 2015 documentary called
“Demain”, French actress Mélanie Laurent
Aujourd’hui means “today”. Hier is “yesterday.” Demain is “tomorrow.” and director Cyril Dion try to find alternate,
These are the three main ones you should know. “green” ways to live.

Once you can use these well, you can add avant-hier (= before yesterday, “the day before
A popular French expression is “C’est pas
yesterday”), and après-demain (=after tomorrow, “the day after tomorrow”).
demain la veille !” (= “Tomorrow is not the day
before it happens!”) It means “It’s not going to
Bonus: The “hard” version:
happen soon.”
L’avant-veille ← La veille ← Le jour-même → Le lendemain → Le surlendemain

This “bonus” timeline comes into play when you want to talk about days that are
relative to a fixed day. Let me explain:

“Le jour-même” means “on that day.” It’s not today, but it’s a reference point, in the
future or in the past. Le lendemain means “the day after,” and la veille means “the day
before.” They’re like the equivalent of “tomorrow” and “yesterday,” but relatively to a
fixed day other than today.

L’avant-veille (=the day before “la veille”) and le surlendemain (=the day after “le
lendemain”) also exist, but they’re used far less. At that point, French people would say
The days of the week in French
“deux jours avant” (=two days before), or “deux jours après” (=two days later.)

French people can also used the adjectives dernier (=last) or prochain (=next) to
describe days, weeks, months or even years!

Je vois Michel mardi prochain. I’ll see Michel next Tuesday.

Je lui ai parlé mardi dernier. I talked to him last Tuesday.

Tu m’as appelé, la semaine dernière ? Did you call me last week?

Allez, on déjeune ensemble la semaine prochaine. Let’s have lunch together next week.
Elle était là l’an dernier ? Was she there last year?
Ils se marient l’an prochain. They’ll get married next year.

4) QUIZ!
Let’s have a quiz about the days of the week in French! You can test your knowledge about the French days of the week and when you should use
them.

— Fill in the blanks —

Beginner : Le premier jour de la semaine est le ________.

The days of the week in French
Intermediate : Je ne suis disponible qu’après 14h, donc on peut se voir l’________ ou le ______.

Advanced : Si tu es à Paris la semaine ________, on pourrait déjeuner ensemble.

(The answers are right below, don’t cheat! Don’t look at them until you’ve written down in French what you think the right answers are.)

-- Answers --
Beginner : Le premier jour de la semaine est le lundi.

Intermediate : Je ne suis disponible qu’après 14h, donc on peut se voir l’après-midi ou le soir.

Advanced : Si tu es à Paris la semaine prochaine, on pourrait déjeuner ensemble.

→ Quel est ton moment préféré pour regarder les leçons de Comme une Française ?

You can answer in French in the comment section, I’d love to hear from you.

For example:
“Je regarde la leçon du jour le mardi soir en buvant un verre de vin.”
(= “I watch the lesson on Tuesday evening, while drinking a glass of wine.”)
The days of the week in French
I’ll give you pointers for your mistakes and read all your replies on the blog!

And now:
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afterwards! You’ll learn much more if you have social support from your friends :)

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Allez, salut :)