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New French Vocabulary
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are holidays in much of the world – here’s the French vocabulary you need to celebrate on December 31 and January 1st.
| December 31 | le 31 décembre | |
| New Year’s Eve | la Saint-Sylvestre* | |
| New Year’s Eve party/feast | le Réveillon de Saint-Sylvestre | |
| midnight | minuit | |
| January 1st | le premier janvier | |
| New Year’s Day | le jour de l’An, le Nouvel An | |
| New Year’s resolution | une bonne résolution | |
| New Year’s gifts | des étrennes | |
| countdown | le compte à rebours | |
| fireworks | les feux d’artifice | |
| mistletoe | le gui | |
| champagne | le champagne | |
| hangover | la gueule de bois | |
| truffles | les truffes | |
| Happy New Year! | Bonne Année ! Bonne année et bonne santé |
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| Happy holidays! | Joyeuses fêtes ! | |
| Season’s greetings! | Meilleurs vœux ! | |
| to celebrate | fêter, célébrer | |
| to drink | boire | |
| to eat | manger | |
| to get drunk | se soûler | |
| to kiss | faire la bise | |
| to propose a toast | porter un toast |
* Though there’s no association between New Year’s Eve and Saint Sylvestre, who was Pope from 314 to 335 A.D., his name is given to the celebration because December 31 is his feast day.
And it’s called la Saint-Sylvestre because it’s short for la fête de Saint-Sylvestre.
New Year Quizzes
Test yourself on some vocab and grammar with these themed fill-in-the-blanks exercises:
- Fête du Nouvel An (vocabulary)
- Des résolutions pour la nouvelle année (future)
- Mon rêve pour cette année (conditional)
Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take these tests. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!
French listening practice
Related features
More from LKL
French vocabulary for other holidays
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Is your French as rusty as an old can? Did you live in France years ago or study it in high school—and promptly forget everything upon leaving? The fact is that language ability fades with lack of practice. If you used to know French but haven’t spoken it in years or decades, the bad news is that it probably won’t come rushing back all at once. But the good news is that you can relearn it much more quickly than if you were starting out without that previous knowledge.
N’importe literally means “no matter” or “(it) doesn’t matter.” This indefinite expression can precede an interrogative adjective, adverb, or pronoun when talking about something indefinite or non-specific.
