How do you say Merry Christmas in French?
Joyeux Noël. Joyeux means merry or joyful, and Noël is Christmas. The pronunciation is roughly zhwah-YUH no-EL: the J is soft, like the s in “measure”, the x is silent, and the two dots on the ë tell you to say the o and the e separately.
You say it on the 24th and the 25th, to anyone, and it is the right thing to write in a message. To wish someone a merry Christmas in a full sentence, it is Je te souhaite un joyeux Noël to a friend, or Je vous souhaite un joyeux Noël to someone you would not call by their first name.
How do you say happy holidays in French?
Bonnes fêtes. This is the one you will hear most in shops and offices through December, because it covers both Christmas and the New Year. The longer version is Bonnes fêtes de fin d’année, happy end-of-year holidays. Joyeuses fêtes means the same thing and is a little warmer.
On the 24th itself, people leaving work say Bon réveillon, which wishes you a good Christmas Eve dinner. That dinner is the heart of the whole thing, as I have explained in how the French celebrate Christmas.
How do you say Happy New Year in French?
Bonne année. Say bun ah-NAY. It is nearly always followed by a second wish, most often et bonne santé, and good health. At midnight on the 31st there is a round of bonne année and a kiss on each cheek for everyone in the room, which takes a while.
There is a rule here: you do not say it early. Many French people consider it bad luck to wish someone a happy new year before midnight on the 31st. Before then, the phrase is Bon réveillon or Bonne fin d’année, a good end of the year.
What do you write in a French Christmas card?
Strictly speaking, you write a New Year card. The French do not have much of a Christmas card tradition. They send cartes de vœux, cards of good wishes, and the etiquette gives you until 31 January. A greeting that arrives on the 20th of January is on time.
The standard line is Meilleurs vœux pour la nouvelle année, best wishes for the new year. A fuller version: Je vous souhaite une très bonne année, pleine de bonheur et de santé, I wish you a very happy new year, full of happiness and health. If you want to mention Christmas as well, Joyeux Noël et bonne année does both at once.
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Take the quizWhat are the Christmas words in French?
The useful ones are in the table below. Two are worth knowing in advance. Le réveillon is the long dinner on Christmas Eve and again on New Year’s Eve, and has no English equivalent. And la bûche, the log, is the cake, which you can read about in bûche de Noël.
Christmas words in French
| English | French | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Merry Christmas | Joyeux Noël | zhwah-YUH no-EL |
| Happy holidays | Bonnes fêtes | bun FET |
| Happy New Year | Bonne année | bun ah-NAY |
| Best wishes | Meilleurs vœux | may-YUR VUH |
| Christmas Eve dinner | le réveillon | luh ray-vay-YOHN |
| Father Christmas | le Père Noël | luh PAIR no-EL |
| Christmas tree | le sapin de Noël | luh sa-PAN duh no-EL |
| Present | un cadeau | uhn ka-DOH |
| Yule log cake | la bûche de Noël | la BEWSH duh no-EL |
| Nativity scene | la crèche | la KRESH |
| Snow | la neige | la NEZH |
| Cheers | Santé | sahn-TAY |
Questions, answered
How do you say Merry Christmas in French?
Joyeux Noël, pronounced zhwah-YUH no-EL.
How do you say happy holidays in French?
Bonnes fêtes or Joyeuses fêtes. The longer form is Bonnes fêtes de fin d’année.
How do you say Happy New Year in French?
Bonne année, often followed by “et bonne santé”, and good health. In writing, the formal greeting is Meilleurs vœux.
How do you pronounce Joyeux Noël?
Roughly zhwah-YUH no-EL. The J is soft, the x is silent, and the o and e of Noël are pronounced separately.
When do the French send holiday cards?
In January. The French send New Year cards, cartes de vœux, and may do so until 31 January.
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