Merry Christmas in French: Joyeux Noël! In French, this is Joyeux Noël. Joyeux translates to “joyous,” while Noël is simply the word used for “Christmas.”
Joyeux Noël – Merry Christmas!
If you're looking for some Christmas greetings in French then you will of course want to know how to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in French. The most common way to say Merry Christmas in French is “joyeux Noël”.
Christmas Day le jour de Noël. Christmas Eve la veille de Noël. a Christmas tree un arbre de Noël. a Christmas card une carte de NoëlThe French more often send greetings cards (une carte de vœux) with best wishes for the New Year rather than for Christmas.
The most common phrase in French is to say 'joyeux Noël', literally meaning 'merry Christmas'. You could also say 'meilleurs voeux' to say season's greetings, or 'joyeuses fêtes' to say happy holidays.
To wish someone a Merry Christmas, you can say “3īd mīlād majīd / عيد ميلاد مَجيد“. Literally, this means “Glorious Holiday of Birth”.
In England and Australia, you'll often hear Happy Christmas, but in the US and Canada, Merry is the star of the show.
Here are some of the most common French greetings to use over the holiday season: Joyeux Noël – Merry Christmas (the most common and easy sentence to use) Bonnes fêtes – Happy holidays.
The night of December 24th is called the Réveillon de Noël (or veille de Noël), and it is actually this night when the big celebration is held in France. The big Christmas dinner with family and friends is usually on Dec 24th, after which is the traditional opening of gifts.
In many countries, families gather and give gifts on Christmas Day. But French people tend to exchange gifts on the night of Christmas Eve (le réveillon (de Noël)), rather than on Christmas Day (Noël/le jour de Noël), although kids do often get their presents from le Pere Noël on Christmas morning.
Santa Claus is called Père Noël in French or Father Christmas. Small children may also call him Papa Noël or Daddy Christmas. He looks more or less like the Santa Claus from the American Coca-Cola ads, but there are a few subtle differences in his costume and practices that make him French.
Christmas customs, originating in the Middle East, were introduced to France by the Romans. Reims was the site of the first French Christmas celebration when, in 496, Clovis and his 3,000 warriors were baptized. Bishop Rémi had purposely chosen the day of the Nativity for this ceremony.
The first records of the word Noel in English come from the early 1800s. It comes from French Nöel—the French way of saying “Merry Christmas” is Joyeux Noël. The word derives from Latin word nātālis (diēs), meaning “birthday.” Another name for Christmas is Nativity.
Across the pond, you might hear French people wish each other “Joyeux Noël,” which means “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Christmas.”
Make sure you say Bonjour, or else you'll be considered very rude. And when you leave, you should say “goodbye”, as well. You'd typically say “Bonne journée” (“Have a nice day”). “Merci, au revoir” (“Thank you, goodbye”) could also work.
You can either reply saying "Bonjour" back or you could say "salut" which also means hello but in an informal way.
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année!
– Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
The marchés de Noel, or Christmas markets, are an important part of the French Christmas tradition. Beginning usually the last weekend of November and continuing until Christmas Day or into the New Year, little wooden stalls pop up in the center of villages and cities all over the country.
Q: Why do our British cousins say “happy Christmas” while we say “merry Christmas”? A: You can find “merry Christmas” and “happy Christmas” in both the US and the UK, though Christmas is more often “merry” in American English and “happy” in British English.
Brits say "Happy Christmas" instead of "Merry Christmas."
Does anyone say "Happy Christmas"? Yes! For starters, it's important to note that "Happy Christmas" hasn't faded completely—it's still widely used in England. This is believed to be because "happy" took on a higher class connotation than "merry," which was associated with the rowdiness of the lower classes.