Wednesday in French
Mercredi in English: Wednesday
Updated June 2026
mercredi = mercurial = Mercury. Reference card with native audio, IPA, Latin etymology, and naturalistic sentence examples.
Etymology
Mercury
Latin: dies Mercurii = “Day of Mercury”
Mercredi derives from Latin dies Mercurii, 'day of Mercury'. Mercury was the Roman messenger god, patron of commerce, communication, and travellers. His name lives on in English through 'mercurial' (quick-moving and changeable, like quicksilver), 'commerce', and the element mercury itself.
English cognates: mercury, mercurial, commerce
Pronunciation
Mercredi packs two French r sounds and a schwa into three syllables. The 'er' is open like English 'air', not closed like English 'her'. The middle 'cre' contains a schwa /ə/, a neutral unstressed vowel like the 'a' in English 'about'. Casual French speech often reduces the schwa further, so the word can sound like 'maircreh-dee'.
Common mistake
Anglicising as MERC-ruh-dee with a closed English 'er'
Correct: mair-KRUH-dee with an open 'air' vowel
Sentence Examples
Real-world usage drawn from CNRTL attested corpora and naturalistic everyday French. Tap any sentence to hear it spoken.
Mercredi, les enfants n'ont pas ecole.
On Wednesdays, children have no school.
Historical French custom: Wednesday afternoon was traditionally free for school children.
On se retrouve mercredi soir.
We meet up Wednesday evening.
Soir specifies the time of day after the day name.
Le mercredi, je vais a la piscine.
On Wednesdays, I go to the pool.
Habitual le-mercredi construction.
Related Days
Mercredi - Frequently Asked Questions
What is mercredi in English?
How do you pronounce mercredi in French?
Is mercredi masculine or feminine?
Where does the word mercredi come from?
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