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Days and months of the year -ER verbs in the present tense and interrogatives



DAYS AND MONTHS, REGULAR -ER VERBS IN THE PRESENT TENSE, AND INTERROGATIVES

Days of the Week, Months, and Seasons
In French, days of the week, months, and seasons are not capitalized. With some exceptions, they are used without the definite article (le/la/l’/les). The week begins on Monday. Some example sentences in this section use verbs you will learn later. Many are cognates; their meaning should be clear from the translations.

Les jours de la semaine (Days of the Week)
lundi Monday                       vendredi Friday
mardi Tuesday                    samedi Saturday
mercredi Wednesday        dimanche Sunday
jeudi Thursday

Quel jour sommes-nous aujourd’hui? What day is it today?
(C’est quel jour aujourd’hui?)
—Nous sommes jeudi.                   —It’s Thursday.
(C’est jeudi.)
Maman arrive samedi, et Sylvie, dimanche.     Mom arrives Saturday, and Sylvie, on Sunday.
Demain, c’est vendredi.                Tomorrow’s Friday.

To say that you do the same activity regularly every Monday, each Saturday, on Sundays, etc., use the masculine singular definite article le before the day. The day also remains in the singular.
Le lundi, je suis au gymnase.       On Mondays, I’m at the gym.
Les amis dînent ensemble              The friends have dinner together
le vendredi.                                                 every Friday.
Le mercredi, il y a un examen.    Each Wednesday, there’s an exam.
Où est-ce que tu es le dimanche? Where are you on Sundays?

Les mois de l’année (Months of the Year)
janvier January         juillet July
février February        août August
mars March               septembre September
avril April                   octobre October
mai May                     novembre November
juin June                    décembre December

The preposition en (in) is used in sentences before the names of the months. The phrase au mois de/d’ can also be used.

Quel mois sommes-nous?              What month is it?
—Nous sommes en janvier.         —It’s January.
(C’est janvier.)
Noël est en décembre.                 Christmas is in December.
On a des vacances en août.         We have vacation in August.
Les cours commencent                   Classes begin in September.
en septembre.
Ils skient encore au mois d’avril.            They’re still skiing in April.

Les saisons (Seasons)
l’été (m.) summer l’hiver (m.) winter
l’automne (m.) autumn, fall le printemps spring

Names of the seasons are used with the definite article, the preposition en, or with au (only with au printemps).
L’hiver, c’est la saison froide.       Winter is the cold season.
Arielle adore l’automne.                Arielle loves autumn.
Moi, je passe l’été à la plage.       Me, I’m spending the summer at the beach.
En été nous ne portons pas          In (the) summer we don’t wear
de manteau. coats.

Il est très occupé en automne.                 He’s very busy in the fall.
Au printemps, je porte toujours               In (the) spring, I always wear a
un chapeau.                                                  hat.
Tu es à Montréal en hiver?                       Are you in Montreal in (the) winter?


Les parties du jour (Parts of the Day)

le matin morning                               le soir evening
l’après-midi (m.) afternoon              la nuit night

Parts of the day are used with the definite article for regular activities or are used with words like demain (tomorrow), hier (yesterday), or with ce/cet/cette (this). Cette nuit means last night.
Le soir, nous regardons la télé.                In the evenings, we watch TV.
Demain matin, je retourne au travail      Tomorrow morning, I return to work.
Cet après-midi, on déjeune                     This afternoon, we’re having
avec les parents.                                          lunch with the folks.
La nuit, les animaux sont dans leur lit.                At night, the animals are in their beds


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