décembre
/de.sɑ̃bʁ/masculine
décembre is the French word for December.
décembre refers to the twelfth month of the Gregorian calendar.
Meaning: twelfth month of the Gregorian calendar (name)
How does it change in a sentence?
In French, months are not capitalized unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence. To say "in December," use the preposition en before the month, as in en décembre. When expressing the first day of the month, use the ordinal number 1er (premier) instead of the cardinal number un.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has two syllables: /de.sɑ̃bʁ/.
Did you know?
- When talking about the weather in décembre, French speakers often use the expression faire un froid de canard, meaning 'duck-cold'. This refers to the time when ducks are hunted in the freezing winter air.
- The word décembre shares its roots with the number ten, even though it refers to the twelfth month. This is because the Roman calendar originally began in March, making December the tenth month of the year.
- In French, the word décembre belongs to a group of months that are masculine nouns. This affects the adjectives used to describe it, such as un décembre pluvieux for 'a rainy December'.
Examples in context
- Décembre a 31 jours.December has thirty-one days.This sentence is useful for stating how many days are in décembre.Tatoeba #776613 by sacredceltic, translation #664032 by bluepie88
- Nous sommes en décembre.It's December.This sentence is useful for stating the current month using décembre.Tatoeba #9129565 by Julien_PDC, translation #10191227 by sundown
- Maciek est mort en décembre.Maciek died in December.This sentence is useful for stating that an event occurred in décembre.Tatoeba #7974255 by Micsmithel, translation #552234 by CN
- Les réunions de décembre seront cruciales pour notre entreprise.The December meetings will be crucial for our company.
- On se voit en décembre pour fêter Noël ?Shall we see each other in December to celebrate Christmas?
- 31 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hugo and Manon are discussing their vacation plans.
- HugoTu pars en vacances en décembre ?Are you going on vacation in December?
- ManonOui, je pars au Canada en décembre.Yes, I am going to Canada in December.
- HugoC'est super, il fera froid là-bas.That's great, it will be cold there.
- ManonJ'adore la neige en décembre !I love the snow in December!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “December” translations and entries décembre, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries décembre, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
