How to talk about Christmas in French – 100 useful Christmas words in French – Christmas celebrations in France

Oh oh oh ! Here is the joyous and festive season of Christmas coming soon. Learn all about the vocabulary of Christmas in French as well as about Christmas traditions in France and other countries

How to say ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy New Year’ in French?

First of all we say,

1. Joyeux Nöel – Merry Christmas
2. Bonne année – Happy New Year

At Christmas we can,

3. souhaiter un joyeux Noël – wish a merry Christmas
4. souhaiter une bonne année – wish a happy New Year

You can also,

5. envoyer une carte de Noël – send a Christmas card
6. acheter ses cadeaux de Noël – buy your Christmas present

But the most important thing is to 

7. passer Noël en famille – spend Christmas as a family
8. ouvrir ou déballer les cadeaux de Noël – open or unwrap Christmas present

But when shall we open our Christmas presents ? on the 24th or on the 25th ?

9. le 24 décembre – the 24th of December
10. la veille de Noël – Christmas’ eve
11. le réveillon de Noël – Christmas eve ‘s celebration
12. le 25 décembre – the 35th of December
13. le jour de Noël – Christmas day
14. la fête de Noël – Christmas party

Well, since Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Birth and he was born on Christmas day, and the presents are a reminiscence of the presents brought from the wise men, it should be on Christmas day

15. les trois rois mages – the three wise men
16. les 3 cadeaux des rois mages; or, encens et myrrhe : the three wise men presents : gold, frankincense, and myrrh

Christmas decorations in French

Before we get to  the celebrations comes the important part of decorating your house for Christmas, and of course the king of the decorations is very famous …

17. le sapin de Noël – Christmas tree
18. les guirlandes – garlands
19. les boules de Noël – Christmas bauble
20. le sucre d’orge – candy cane
21. la guirlande lumineuse – Christmas-tree lights
22. une pomme de pin – pine cone
23. une étoile – star
24. un ange – an angel
25. un bonhomme en pain d’épice – gingerbread man
26. le calendrier de l’avent – Advent Calendar
27. le pull de Noël – Christmas jumper
28. le miracle de Noël – Christmas miracle
29. la magie de Noël – Christmas magic
30. les marchés de Noël – Christmas markets

Did you know that in the old days, Christmas trees were only decorated with apples ! However, in the middle of the 19th century, a severe drought deprived the Vosges region (in eastern France) of apples. A glassblower then had the idea of ​​reproducing the shape of apples, but in red glass. Very quickly, the tradition spread in France and went beyond its borders. 

31. une pomme – an apple

To decorate your door, you could have

32. une couronne – wreath

Outside your house you could have, if lucky

33. de la neige – snow
34. un Noêl blanc – a white Christmas
35. des illuminations de Noël – Christmas lights

Hanging from your fireplace, you could have

36. un bas de Noël – Christmas stocking
37. la cheminée – the fireplace
38. la collation du père Noël – Father Christmas tea
39. la hotte du père Noël – Father Christmas’ bag

To decorate your table, you could have 

40. des bougies – candle
41. des décorations de Noël – Christmas ornaments

‘La collation du père Noël’ is the snack offered to Father Christmas and his deer or donkey to thank him for coming all the way to bring us our Christmas present.

42. le père Noël – Father christmas
43. le renne du père Noël – Father Christmas’ reindeer

The Christmas crib in French ❅ The nativity scene

The all important Christmas crib or Christmas crèche needs to be ideally seated under the Christmas tree and it contains …

44. la crèche de Noël – Christmas crib or crèche
45. Joseph – Joseph
46. le petit Jésus – Baby Jesus
47. la vierge Marie – Virgin Mary
48. le berceau de Jésus – Jésus crib
49. l’âne – the donkey
50. le boeuf – the ox
51. la paille – the hay
52. les bergers – the shepherds
53. les moutons – sheep

Where do the Santons ‘little saints’ come from ?

The Santons or little Saints are these characters made out of clay coming from Provence. Their story is, in Provence, small colorful clay figurines called santoun (“little saints” in Provençal) appeared to recreate a crib in the private space of the homes. Inspired by an Italian tradition, this custom spread quickly in France. Today, the santon tradition is still very present in Provence and many santon fairs are organized there, the most famous being in Marseille.

54. les santons –  Christmas characters

In my native village, it was the tradition to build the best crèche for Christmas outside our house and every Christmas villagers toured the village to have a look at the different crèches and would give a prize to the most beautiful. On their tour, they could rely on the hospitality of the villagers to offer them …

55. du vin chaud – mulled wine
56. pain d’épice – gingerbread
57. du boudin de Noël -Christmas white sausage

Christmas traditions in French

Before you celebrate Christmas, it is a common tradition to attend the Christmas mass in your local church :

58. l’église – the church
59. la messe de minuit – midnight mass
60. la chorale – the choir
61. les chants de Noël – Christmas songs

In Belgium, on the 6th of December, we have the tradition of receiving the visit of Santa Claus who distributes presents to the well-behaved children and Père Fouettard to reprimand the bad ones.

62. Saint Nicolas – Santa Claus
63. le traineau de Saint Nicolas – Santa Claus’ sleigh
64. des friandises – sweets
65. des gâteaux – cakes
66. le père fouettard – bogey man

It is also a tradition to eat a Yule log on Christmas day as well as drink a bit of bubbly

67. la bûche de Noël – Yule log
68. une bûche glacée – ice cream yule log
69. des marrons glacés – candied chestnut
70. des marrons chauds – roasted chestnut

In France, people do not usually eat turkey but a vast range of Christmas food, some include

71. du saumon fumé – smoked salmon
72. des huîtres – oysters
73. des fruits de mer – seafood
74. le homard – lobster
75. le chapon – capon
76. le faisan – pheasant
77. la dinde – turkey
78. du champagne – champagne
79. des truffes au chocolat – chocolate truffles

The 13 Christmas desserts from Provence

In Provence, the tradition is to have 13 desserts for Christmas, there are …

80. des noix – nuts
81. des figues séchées – dried figs
82. des raisins secs – sultanas
83. des dattes – dates
84. de la pâte de coing – quince paste
85. divers fruits confits – candied fruits
86. une fougasse​ – the French equivalent of Italian focaccia bread
87. du nougat blanc – white nougat
88. du nougat noir (avec des amandes grillées et du miel caramélisé) – black nougat (with toasted almonds and caramelized honey)
89. du nougat rouge (aux pistaches et à la rose) – red nougat (with pistachios and rose)
90. des calissons d’Aix-en-Provence (confiserie de Provence composée de melon confit, pâte d’amande nappée de glace royale) – confectionery from Provence made from candied melon, almond paste topped with royal icing
91. des oranges, clémentines ou mandarines – oranges, tangerines
92. un melon d’eau – a watermelon

After Christmas, come of the course the New Year and its traditions 

93. la nouvelle année – the New Year
94. le gui – mistletoe
95. s’embrasser sous le gui – kiss under the mistletoe
96. la fête des rois – Epiphany
97. la galette des rois – the Epiphany’s cake
98. la Saint-Sylvestre – le Jour de l’An
99. le jour de l’an – New Year’s day

Christmas expression in French

100. Noël au balcon, Pâques au tison – if Christmas is mild, Easter will be cold

It means that if Christmas is mild enough that you can go outside and celebrate on your balcony (balcon), you will spend Easter by the fireplace.

What will you do for Chritsmas? Write in the comments what you will do in your country and what you will eat ! And I wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy New Year !

Jingle bells in French

Here is Jingle bells in French, ‘vive le vent’

‘Vive le vent’ fill in the gap exercise in French

Listen to the song and then fill in the gap with the words in French seen in this article 👍

Watch the video of this lesson : Christmas in French

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