1939 in French
mille neuf cent trente-neuf
Spellings verified June 2026 · page updated 2 October 2026
Outbreak of WWII
NUMERAL
1 939
FRENCH
mille neuf cent trente-neuf
IPA
/mil nœf sɑ̃ tʁɑ̃t nœf/
Breakdown
Ordinal form
Ranking things rather than counting them: 1,939 becomes mille neuf cent trente-neuvième, written 1 939e in figures.
MASCULINE
mille neuf cent trente-neuvième
1 939e
FEMININE
mille neuf cent trente-neuvième
1 939e (same word as the masculine)
French writes the abbreviation with a plain e, never ème: 1 939e. The Académie française allows two irregular pairs: premier and première abbreviate 1er and 1re, and second and seconde abbreviate 2d and 2de. Full rules on the ordinal numbers reference.
Counting around 1939
1 938
mille neuf cent trente-huit
1 939
mille neuf cent trente-neuf
1 940
mille neuf cent quarante
Real sentence examples
“La Seconde Guerre mondiale a débuté en mille neuf cent trente-neuf.”
“Septembre mille neuf cent trente-neuf, l'invasion de la Pologne.”
Year context
Outbreak of the Second World War (1 September 1939, German invasion of Poland; France and UK declare war on 3 September). Drôle de guerre period 1939-1940 before the May 1940 German offensive.
Pronunciation and morphology notes
Mille neuf cent trente-neuf: standard year compound. Cent without s because trente-neuf follows. La guerre de trente-neuf (the war of 1939) is a common French historical shorthand.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 1939 in French?
1,939 in French is "mille neuf cent trente-neuf". It is built as 1000 + 900 + 39 = 1939.
How is mille neuf cent trente-neuf (1939) pronounced in French?
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, "mille neuf cent trente-neuf" is transcribed /mil nœf sɑ̃ tʁɑ̃t nœf/. Use the audio button on this page to hear the standard French pronunciation.
What is the ordinal form of 1939 in French?
The ordinal for 1939 is "mille neuf cent trente-neuvième", abbreviated 1 939e. The form is the same in the masculine and the feminine.
How is 1939 used in a French sentence?
A natural example is: "La Seconde Guerre mondiale a débuté en mille neuf cent trente-neuf."
Related numbers
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