Discover the French phrase "Bonne année"

Get ready to find out all the things you want to know about the basic sentence “Bonne année”.

Are included a full guide of what it is and how you can use it in a dialogue with an audio example. And because we care about you, we also added some useful things like slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example and more!

Oh and… you will find more sentences pages like this one on this page plus all our tutorials about French words on this page. Wishing you a happy learning!

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English translation

Audio pronunciation

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does bonne année ! mean?

Definition

The literal meaning is:

  • Bonne → Good
  • année → year

“Bonne année” is the simplest and most common way to say “Happy New Year” in French. It’s interesting to note that in French, there is no mention of “New” contrary to English because it’s implied in the context.

How to use it

Simply use “Bonne année” the same way you would use “Happy New Year“. But if you want something nicer, you can say instead “Bonne année et bonne santé” (Happy New Year and good health to you). Or you can use “Meilleurs voeux” (Best wishes).

You can also add “Très” to strengthen it: “Très bonne année” (Very Happy New Year) or even replace “bonne” with “excellente” like following “Excellente année” (Excellent New Year).

Since there are countless possibilities and variations, you can check the “Synonyms” section below for more inspiration.

Fun facts

You should absolutely wait for the New Year to be there before using it, or French people are going to be pissed! (True story)

Synonyms and similarities

  • Bonne année et bonne santé → Happy New Year and good health to you
  • Meilleurs voeux → Best wishes
  • Bonnes fêtes de fin d’année → Happy festive season
  • Bonnes fêtes de fin d’année et meilleurs voeux → Happy festive season and best wishes
  • Je te souhaite une (très) bonne année → I wish you a (very) happy New Year
  • Je vous souhaite une (très) bonne année → I wish you a (very) happy New Year (formal)
  • (Très) Bonne année à toi → (Very) Happy New Year to you
  • (Très) Bonne année à vous → (Very) Happy New Year to you (formal)
  • Je te souhaite une excellente année → I wish you an excellent New Year
  • Je vous souhaite une excellente année → I wish you an excellent New Year (formal)
  • Excellente année à toi → Excellent New Year to you
  • Excellente année à vous → Excellent New Year to you (formal)

Example in a story with translation

Now, let’s see a complete example of this idiom in a story with slow French audio and the English translation below.
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Le Nouvel An
The New Year
___
Le Nouvel An est l’une des vacances nationales en France.
The New Year is one of the national holidays in France.
En général, c’est la fête qui met fin aux vacances d’hiver.
Usually, it’s the celebration that puts an end to the winter holidays.
Contrairement à Noël, le Nouvel An est généralement fêté avec des amis.
Unlike Christmas, the New Year is usually celebrated with friends.
Mais à bien des égards, ces deux fêtes sont similaires.
But in many ways, these two celebrations are similar.
Par exemple : le Nouvel An aussi inclut un délicieux repas et du champagne…
For example: the New Year also includes a delicious meal and champagne…
Et les plats sont souvent similaires à ceux servis à Noël.
And the dishes are often similar to those served at Christmas.
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