Introduction: Naming the Months

Knowing the names of the months is essential for talking about dates, birthdays, holidays, and planning events. This chapter lists the twelve months in Dutch.

The Twelve Months

Many Dutch month names are very similar to their English counterparts:

• januari = January
• februari = February
• maart = March
• april = April
• mei = May
• juni = June
• juli = July
• augustus = August
• september = September
• oktober = October
• november = November
• december = December

Important Notes

1. No Capitalization: Just like the days of the week, months in Dutch are not capitalized unless they begin a sentence.

• Correct: Mijn verjaardag is in juni. (My birthday is in June.)
• Incorrect: Mijn verjaardag is in Juni.
• Correct: December is de laatste maand. (December is the last month.)

1. Gender: All months are de-words (e.g., de januari, de mei). As with days, however, you rarely use the article when naming the month or saying something happens in that month.

1. Saying "In [Month]": To express that something happens in a particular month, use the preposition in.

• In augustus gaan we op vakantie. (In August we are going on holiday.)
• Het jaar begint in januari. (The year begins in January.)
• In welke maand ben je jarig? (In which month is your birthday?)

Related Vocabulary

• de maand = the month (de-word)
• het jaar = the year (het-word)
• de datum = the date (de-word)
• Wat is de datum vandaag? (What is the date today?)

The Dutch months are relatively easy to learn due to their similarity to English. Remember not to capitalize them and use in to talk about events happening within a specific month.