France most commonly records the date using the day-month-year order with an
oblique stroke or slash (”/”) as the separator with numerical values, for example, 31/12/1992. The
24-hour clock
The modern 24-hour clock is the convention of timekeeping in which the day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours. This is indicated by the hours (and minutes) passed since midnight, from to , with as an option to indicate ...
is used to express time, using the lowercase letter "h" as the separator in between hours and minutes, for example, 14 h 05.
Date
In
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, the all-numeric form for dates is in the order "day month year", using an
oblique stroke or slash as the separator. Example: . Years can be written with two or four digits, and numbers may be written with or without leading zero. Since three months have four-letter names, the nomenclature of months in the French language most often uses three- to four-lettered abbreviations as follows: ''jan., fév., mars, avr., mai, juin, juil., août, sept., oct., nov., déc.'' When months are strictly limited to three letters, ' (June) and ' (July) are sometimes abbreviated as ' and ' respectively, in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.
The expanded form is "", optionally with the day of the week: "". The first day of the month is a special case: a suffix is added to the number, "", where ''1
er'' is spoken "premier", meaning ''first''.
[Resources of the Language Portal of Canada (in French) https://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/en/cles-de-la-redaction/date-regles-decriture.html#jour-semaine]
The first day of the week in France is Monday.
Time
The
24-hour notation is used in writing with an ' as a separator (' for ', meaning ''hour''). Example: (1405
4:05hours or 2:05 pm). Though the correct form includes spaces on both sides of the ', it is common to see them omitted: . The minutes are usually written with two digits; the hour numbers can be written with or without leading zero.
Generally speaking, French speakers also use the 24-hour clock when they speak. Sometimes the 12-hour clock is used orally, but only in informal circumstances. Since there is no one-to-one equivalent of "am" and "pm" in French, context must be relied on to figure out which one is meant. To clarify, people may use some sentences like "" (literally "9 o'clock in the morning") or "" (literally "9 o'clock in the evening)... but most French speakers would still find using the 24-hour clock a more convenient way of expressing time clearly.
See also
*
French Republican Calendar
References
Time in France
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
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