Premier in French: First, Dates, and Premier Étage
Premier means first, but le premier étage is not the ground floor. Learn dates, agreement, and the ordinal French actually uses.
A visitor is told their meeting is au premier étage, walks up one flight, and finds themselves on what they would call the second floor. Nothing was mistranslated. French counts floors from a different starting point, and this is one of several places where the word for “first” behaves in ways an English speaker does not expect.
Quick answer
Premier means first and agrees: première in the feminine. Dates use it only for the first of the month - le premier mai, then le deux mai. And le premier étage is one floor above the ground, not the ground floor.
Quick answer
Three things to fix. The adjective agrees, and the feminine is première, with an audible difference. Dates use the ordinal only once, on the first of the month, and switch to plain numbers afterwards. And floors are counted from the rez-de-chaussée, so the first floor is one flight up. Each of these trips learners independently.
C’est la première fois que je viens. → This is the first time I have come.
Le premier mai est férié. → The first of May is a public holiday.
Meaning and usage: Dates use it exactly once
French says le premier janvier for the first of the month and then abandons ordinals entirely: le deux janvier, le trois janvier. English keeps counting with second, third, fourth; French does not. Saying le deuxième janvier is a mistake that marks the speaker instantly, and it comes from applying English logic consistently.
Nous partons le deux août. → We are leaving on the second of August.
Son anniversaire est le premier mars. → His birthday is the first of March.
Examples in context: Where the word appears
These are the frames that account for most everyday uses, and the floor row is the one worth memorising deliberately.
Common frames
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| le premier mai | The first of May | Only the 1st is ordinal |
| le premier étage | The floor above ground | Not ground floor |
| le rez-de-chaussée | Ground floor | Where you enter |
| la première fois | The first time | Feminine agreement |
| en première année | In the first year | Studies |
Le bureau est au premier étage. → The office is one floor up.
Nuance and register: Counting floors from the ground
The ground floor is the rez-de-chaussée and carries no number at all. Numbering starts above it, so le premier étage is one flight up and le deuxième étage is two. In a lift you will see RDC rather than a zero or a one. This is a genuine cultural difference rather than a language quirk, and it survives translation into English usage in France.
La boulangerie est au rez-de-chaussée. → The bakery is on the ground floor.
Agreement and abbreviation
The feminine is première, and the difference is clearly audible: le premier jour against la première semaine. In writing, the abbreviations are 1er for the masculine and 1re for the feminine. You will see these on signs, in addresses, and in official documents, so recognising them matters as much as producing them.
Elle habite dans le 1er arrondissement. → She lives in the first arrondissement.
C’est notre première rencontre. → This is our first meeting.
Common mistakes to avoid
Do not use an ordinal for dates after the first; le deuxième mai is wrong. Do not assume the first floor is where you walked in, since that is the rez-de-chaussée. Do not skip the feminine agreement, which is audible. And do not confuse premier with primaire, which refers to primary schooling rather than to being first.
Il est en première année de médecine. → He is in his first year of medicine.
Le premier arrivé garde la place. → The first to arrive keeps the seat.
A memory tip for floors and dates
For floors, picture the ground itself as unnumbered - you do not count the earth you stand on, so numbering only begins once you climb. For dates, hear the first of the month as the one that gets announced and the rest as plain numbers being read off a list. One ceremony, then arithmetic. Both images survive the moment of hesitation at a lift door or in the middle of a sentence.
Rendez-vous le premier lundi du mois. → We meet on the first Monday of the month.
Try the dates and the floors
Work each out before checking, and say the whole phrase rather than the number on its own. “The third of June” takes a plain number, not an ordinal. “The first of January” is the one date that keeps it. “My flat is on the second floor” in French counting means two flights above the ground. “The first week” needs the feminine form.
Mon appartement est au deuxième étage. → My flat is two floors up.
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Questions about this note
Why is it le deux mai and not le deuxième mai?
French uses an ordinal only for the first of the month and plain numbers afterwards. English keeps counting with ordinals, which is where the error comes from.
Is le premier étage the ground floor?
No, it is one flight above it. The ground floor is the rez-de-chaussée and carries no number, so numbering begins once you go up.
How do I abbreviate it?
Use 1er for the masculine and 1re for the feminine. These appear on signs and in addresses, such as the 1er arrondissement in Paris.
What is the difference between premier and primaire?
Premier means first in a sequence, while primaire refers to primary education. L'école primaire is primary school, not the first school.