The standard way to say Merry Christmas in French is Joyeux Noël ! Both the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française and Larousse give it, and neither dictionary tags it as formal or casual, so it is the safe default. The harder part comes when we write a card. Do we add the new year? Do we say tu or vous? Does Noël take a capital letter?
This guide covers each greeting we could confirm in two real sources, what it means, and when we would use it. Where we could only find one source, we left the phrase out.
Joyeux Noël : Merry Christmas
This is the greeting for Christmas itself. The Académie française lists the wish in its entry for Noël: “Souhaiter un bon, un joyeux Noël” (Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, entry Noël). Larousse gives the same wording in its notes on the word: “passer un heureux Noël ; joyeux Noël !” (Larousse, entry Noël).
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Noël is a masculine noun in both dictionaries, so the adjective is joyeux, never joyeuse. We would use Joyeux Noël ! for family, friends, neighbours and colleagues alike. The wish does not change whether we say tu or vous to the person.
For a fuller sentence, the Académie’s pattern is souhaiter plus the wish. We build two versions from it. To someone we address as vous: Je vous souhaite un joyeux Noël. To someone we address as tu: Je te souhaite un joyeux Noël. The dictionary example is the pattern, so treat these two sentences as our own plain adaptation of it.
Bonnes fêtes : season’s greetings
When we want to cover Christmas and the new year in two words, the French wish is Bonnes fêtes ! The Académie defines les fêtes de fin d’année, or simply les fêtes, as “la période comprenant Noël et le nouvel an”, and gives the example “Souhaiter de bonnes fêtes à quelqu’un” (Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, entry fête). Larousse agrees on the meaning: les Fêtes are the run of days around Noël and the jour de l’an, as in “Passer les Fêtes en famille” (Larousse, entry fête).
The two dictionaries differ on one small point. The Académie writes les fêtes with a small f, while Larousse writes les Fêtes with a capital. Either appears in print, and we use the small f on a card. We would pick Bonnes fêtes ! for a card going to a mixed group, a workplace, or anyone whose plans we do not know.
Bonne année : Happy New Year
Most Christmas cards also wish a good year ahead, so this one earns its place. The Académie defines it directly: “Bonne année ! souhait que l’on exprime au nouvel an” (Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, entry année). Larousse lists the phrase “Souhaiter la bonne année à quelqu’un”, which it explains as sending someone your wishes for the new year (Larousse, entry année).
The word is année, with two n’s and an accent on the first e. A card that says Bonne année ! reaches everyone.
Meilleurs vœux : best wishes
This is the card formula. Larousse defines vœux as the word that “entre dans des formules de souhait de bonheur, de réussite, pour les occasions importantes, et en particulier pour la nouvelle année”, with the example “Envoyer ses vœux” (Larousse, entry vœu). The Académie gives “Je vous présente mes vœux, mes meilleurs vœux pour la nouvelle année”, and it defines a carte de vœux as one “qu’on envoie au moment de Noël, du jour de l’an ou à l’occasion d’un anniversaire, d’une fête” (Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, entry vœu).
Larousse also notes a difference in polish. The full form Mes meilleurs vœux is the more careful one. The shortened Meilleurs vœux is more familiar and “moins soignée”. Both are correct. For a boss, an older relative or a formal contact, we would write Mes meilleurs vœux. For a friend, the short version is fine. Note the spelling: vœux uses the joined letters œ, not “oe”.
Tu or vous: which one goes on your card
The fixed greetings above, Joyeux Noël !, Bonnes fêtes !, Bonne année ! and Meilleurs vœux !, never change. Tu and vous only matter once we write a full sentence with je te souhaite or je vous souhaite.
The Académie defines vouvoyer as speaking to someone with vous “pour marquer une distance, en signe de respect, par politesse”. It adds that “il est d’usage de vouvoyer ses supérieurs, ainsi que toutes les personnes que l’on ne connaît pas suffisamment ou qui sont plus âgées que soi”, and that in some families children say vous to their parents. For tutoyer, it gives “Les adultes tutoient habituellement les enfants” (Académie, entry vouvoyer and entry tutoyer). Larousse defines the two verbs the same way: tutoyer means using the second person singular, and vouvoyer means using the second person plural (Larousse, tutoyer and vouvoyer).
Our simple rule: if we already say tu to the person, we write te. If we say vous, or we are not sure, we write vous. That follows the Académie’s note that vous is the usual choice for people we do not know well enough.
Writing Noël correctly
- Capital N and the two dots on the e. Both dictionaries print Noël with a capital and a tréma on the e. Larousse says Noël, meaning the feast, “s’écrit toujours avec une majuscule” (passer Noël à la montagne, le Père Noël). The Académie opens its entry with “Avec une majuscule”. Do not write “Nöel” or “Noel”.
- Small n for a carol. A noël in the lowercase sense is a Christmas song. Larousse gives chanter un vieux noël alsacien, and the Académie gives un recueil de noëls.
- Père Noël. Larousse writes it with a capital P, and the Académie writes père Noël with a small p and describes him as a legendary figure with a long white beard who brings gifts to children down the chimney on Christmas night. Both print it, and we use the capital on a card.
Which one to put on the card
- A family card or a friend: Joyeux Noël ! If we want more warmth, Je te souhaite un joyeux Noël.
- A card to a boss, a neighbour we do not know well or an older person: Je vous souhaite un joyeux Noël. Add Mes meilleurs vœux for the new year.
- A card to a group, a workplace or someone whose plans we do not know: Bonnes fêtes !
- A card that carries both Christmas and the new year: Joyeux Noël et bonne année ! Each wish is in the dictionaries, and we simply join them with et. We do not claim it as a fixed set phrase.
- Keep it short. One correct line beats three half-remembered ones, and an English line underneath keeps the card friendly for relatives who do not read French.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say Merry Christmas in French?
Say “Joyeux Noël !” It appears in Larousse and fits the Académie française’s own example “Souhaiter un bon, un joyeux Noël”.
Is it joyeux Noël or joyeuse Noël?
It is joyeux Noël. Noël is a masculine noun in the Académie and Larousse, so the adjective takes the masculine form. Larousse also lists a feminine la Noël meaning the Christmas period, but the usual greeting stays Joyeux Noël.
How do you say Happy New Year in French?
Say “Bonne année !” The Académie defines it as the wish we express at the new year. For a card, “Meilleurs vœux” and the fuller “Mes meilleurs vœux” are the standard formulas.
What does bonnes fêtes mean?
It wishes someone a good festive season. The Académie defines les fêtes as the period that includes Noël and the new year, so “Bonnes fêtes !” covers both.
What is the réveillon?
Larousse defines the réveillon as the festive meal held on the night of Noël or on 31 December, and the party itself. The Académie gives le réveillon de Noël and le réveillon du nouvel an ou de la Saint-Sylvestre, and it says the word can also mean the celebration, particularly the one on 31 December.
Should we use tu or vous when we write Joyeux Noël?
The greeting itself stays the same. We choose tu or vous only in a longer sentence such as “Je te souhaite” or “Je vous souhaite”.
Free French Christmas lines for your cards
Greetings are a start, but a card needs a few real lines of its own. We have collected verified French Christmas lines on one free page, ready to copy into a card or message. Browse the free French Christmas lines and pick the one that sounds like the person you are writing to. We also send free French Christmas cards at message.inlovewithfrance.com/cards, so the French on the front is already correct.
Joyeux Noël, from all of us at Love France.
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