Grammar
Dates and frequency adverbs
Days of the week and months are written with a small letter in French: lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche; janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin, juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre. Days are masculine.
With a day on its own (Mardi, je suis libre) you mean one specific, coming day. With le in front (le mardi) you mean every Tuesday. To give a date, use le + number + month: le quatorze mars. Only the first of the month uses an ordinal: le premier mai. To say 'in' a month, use en (en juillet) or au mois de juillet.
Frequency adverbs say how often: toujours (always), souvent (often), parfois (sometimes), rarement (rarely). They normally come right after the verb: Je me couche souvent tard. With jamais ('never') French needs ne as well: Je ne me couche jamais tard. English speakers often capitalise days and months, or say le 14th of March; neither works in French.
| toujours | always |
| souvent | often |
| parfois | sometimes |
| rarement | rarely |
| ne ... jamais | never |
Le lundi, je me lève tôt.
On Mondays, I get up early.
Nous sommes le quinze mai.
It is the fifteenth of May.
Mon anniversaire est le premier juin.
My birthday is the first of June.
Je me couche souvent tard.
I often go to bed late.
Je suis toujours à l'heure.
I am always on time.