The French phrase "Joyeux Noël" explained

Ready to find out everything you have to know about the basic French sentence “Joyeux Noël”?

It includes a detailed definition of what it is and how you can use it in a normal conversation with an audio example. But, we also sprinkled super useful stuff like dialogue example, synonym, slow pronunciation audio and more!

Oh and… you will also find more of these sentences pages on this page and the ultimate list of all our French words tutorials on this page. Ready to learn? Let’s go!

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English translation

How to pronounce?

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does joyeux noël ! mean?

Definition

“Joyeux Noël” is the most common way to wish “Merry Christmas” in French.

How to use

For a simple and casual way to wish “Merry Christmas” in French, use “Joyeux Noël“.

For a more complete sentence, you can use “Je te souhaite un joyeux Noël” the same way you would use “I wish you a merry Christmas“.

And for something formal, you can use instead: “Je vous souhaite un joyeux Noël“. (It can also be plural)

Synonyms and similarities

  • Je te souhaite un joyeux Noël → I wish you a merry Christmas
  • Je vous souhaite un joyeux Noël → I wish you a merry Christmas (Formal or/and Plural)

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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Noël en France
Christmas in France
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Si vous voulez passer Noël en France, il y a quelques choses que vous devez savoir…
If you want to spend Christmas in France, there are a few things you should know…
Pour commencer : Noël est célébré le 25 décembre…
To start: Christmas is celebrated on December 25…
Traditionnellement, toute la famille se rassemble pour Noël.
Traditionally, the whole family gathers for Christmas.
Le symbole principal de cet événement est, bien sûr, l’arbre de Noël.
The main symbol of this event is, of course, the Christmas tree.
Il est décoré de guirlandes et d’autres accessoires.
It is decorated with garlands and other accessories.
Mais souvent, on trouve des décorations de Noël partout dans la maison…
But often, Christmas decorations are found all over the house…
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