{"id":118567,"date":"2023-06-28T17:17:17","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T21:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/french-days-of-the-week\/"},"modified":"2024-12-20T07:47:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T12:47:15","slug":"french-days-of-the-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-days-of-the-week\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Talk About Days of the Week in French"},"content":{"rendered":"

Knowing the days of the week in French is a basic but super important skill.\u00a0After all, you don\u2019t want to show up to your mardi<\/em> doctor\u2019s appointment on mercredi,<\/em> do you?<\/p>\n

So in this post, you\u2019ll learn not only the days of the week and their origins, but also how to use them correctly as abbreviations, in their plural forms<\/a> and more!.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

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What Are the French Days of the Week?<\/h2>\n

Knowing the days of the week in French will make talking about your day, weekly routines, weekend plans and many more conversational topics easier.<\/p>\n

So we won\u2019t just learn how to say each day; we\u2019ll also look at how to use them as well as vocabulary related to them.<\/p>\n

1. Lundi<\/em> \u2014 Monday<\/h3>\n

Lundi <\/em>is an easy one. The French word for moon is lune. <\/em>Like in English, Monday (moon day) is devoted to the moon.<\/p>\n

2. Mardi<\/em> \u2014 Tuesday<\/h3>\n

Mardi <\/em>is named for the Roman god of war, Mars.<\/p>\n

But since Tuesday is named for the god Tyr in English, chances are this won\u2019t help you too much\u2014unless you\u2019re particularly well-versed in Norse mythology.<\/p>\n

Instead, remember the holiday Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”), which many know given the famed celebration in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

3. Mercredi<\/em> \u2014 Wednesday<\/h3>\n

Mercredi <\/em>is similar to mardi <\/em>in its etymology: It\u2019s the day of Mercury, the Roman god of financial gain, commerce and eloquence.<\/p>\n

You could try to remember that Mercury\u2014as the communicator between the mortals and the divine\u2014is kind of halfway between worlds, just like mercredi <\/em>is halfway through the workweek.<\/p>\n

4. Jeudi<\/em> \u2014 Thursday<\/h3>\n

Jeudi <\/em>is once again named for a Roman god, this time Jupiter. In English, Thursday is named after Thor.<\/p>\n

Another easy way to remember\u00a0jeudi<\/em> is to know the word\u00a0jeux<\/em> (play). Until 1972 in France, primary school students didn\u2019t go to school on Thursdays. It was used as a day for play, or jeux. <\/em>In 1972, this was switched out for Wednesday.<\/p>\n

5. Vendredi<\/em> \u2014 Friday<\/h3>\n

Vendredi <\/em>is named after Venus, a Roman goddess.<\/p>\n

If you know your Roman mythology, you might know that Venus is the goddess of love and beauty\u2014nothing easier than remembering that Friday is all about love and beauty, right?<\/p>\n

6. Samedi<\/em> \u2014 Saturday<\/h3>\n

Samedi <\/em>isn\u2019t associated with a god, unlike in English, where Saturday is named for Saturn.<\/p>\n

In French, samedi <\/em>comes from the Latin sambati dies, <\/em>which means \u201cday of Sabbath.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t know much Latin, you can remember that Sabbath and\u00a0samedi <\/em>start with the sound \u201csa,\u201d and Saturday is the Sabbath day in the Jewish tradition.<\/p>\n

7. Dimanche<\/em> \u2014 Sunday<\/h3>\n

Dimanche <\/em>is also not named for a Roman god, but rather from the Latin dies dominicus<\/em>, meaning \u201cthe day of the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because Sunday is the day of the Sabbath in Christianity, this translation makes a lot of sense.<\/p>\n

\"french<\/p>\n

Useful Vocabulary for Talking About Days of the Week<\/h2>\n

Here are some more useful words and phrases for talking about the days of the week:<\/p>\n