Seven words you will write every week, and the small rules that come with them.
The days of the week in French are lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi and dimanche. They are masculine, they take no capital letter, and the French week starts on Monday.
Here is how to spell and say each one, when to put le in front of it, and how French calendars shorten them.
Every day but dimanche ends in -di, from the Latin dies, day. The first part names a Roman god or planet: lundi, the Moon; mardi, Mars; mercredi, Mercury; jeudi, Jupiter; vendredi, Venus. Samedi comes from the Sabbath, and dimanche from the Latin for the Lord's day.
Most days are easy to say once you know where the traps are. The final -di always sounds like dee, and the stress falls lightly on it.
| Day | Watch out for |
|---|---|
| lundi | a nasal un, with no n sound |
| mercredi | two r sounds, the middle e often swallowed |
| jeudi | a soft j, like the s in measure |
| vendredi | a nasal en, close to on |
| samedi | the e is usually silent: sam-di |
| dimanche | a nasal an and a final sh sound |
No. In French, the days of the week are common nouns and take a lowercase letter, wherever they are in the sentence:
A day takes a capital only when it starts a sentence: Mardi, je suis libre. Months follow the same rule, as the guide to capitalization in French explains along with titles and nationalities.
The article changes the meaning. Without it, the day points to one particular week; with le, it describes a habit.
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| lundi | this Monday, the next or the last one |
| le lundi | on Mondays, every Monday |
| tous les lundis | every Monday |
| le lundi 2 novembre | on Monday 2 November |
| lundi dernier, lundi prochain | last Monday, next Monday |
In a story, le lundi can also mean that Monday: il est arrivé le lundi et reparti le mercredi.
All seven days are masculine: un lundi pluvieux, ce mercredi, le vendredi suivant. In the plural they take an s like most nouns, as the page on the plural of French nouns shows: tous les samedis, les mardis de novembre.
One detail trips up even French writers: in tous les lundis matin, matin stays singular, because it means in the morning. The same goes for soir: tous les vendredis soir.
In writing, each day is shortened to its first three letters with a full stop: lun., mar., mer., jeu., ven., sam., dim. Calendars and diaries often use a single letter, L, M, M, J, V, S, D, and rely on the column order to tell mardi from mercredi.
French calendars put Monday in the first column. In a sentence, write the day in full: the abbreviations belong to tables, forms and timetables.
English says on Monday; French uses no preposition at all. Je pars lundi, never je pars sur lundi or en lundi.
Lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche: masculine, lowercase, and no preposition in front. Add le for a habit and an s in the plural, and keep the abbreviations for calendars. Hearing them in a dictation, as Apostrophe· has you do, is a quick way to check the spelling has stuck.
What are the days of the week in French?
Lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi and dimanche, from Monday to Sunday. French calendars start the week on Monday.
Are days of the week capitalized in French?
No. They take a lowercase letter unless they start a sentence: je pars lundi, but Lundi, je pars.
What does le lundi mean?
Le lundi means on Mondays, as a habit: le lundi, je travaille à la maison. Without le, lundi points to one particular Monday.
How are French days abbreviated?
In writing: lun., mar., mer., jeu., ven., sam., dim. Calendars often use a single letter: L, M, M, J, V, S, D.
Are French days of the week masculine or feminine?
Masculine: un lundi, ce mardi, le mercredi suivant. In the plural they take an s: tous les samedis.
Apostrophe· reads you a sentence, corrects it word by word, and explains the exact rule behind each mistake.
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