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Last updated:
January 28, 2022
Love Pumpkin Spice? Then You’ve Gotta Know These 8 Zesty French Words for the Holidays
It’s that time of year again.
After a brisk walk over fallen leaves crunching beneath our feet, we curl up by the fire, put on some streaming, feel-good films and grab that hot chocolate, spiced chai or cider.
And of course, we get to witness the advent of pumpkin being poured and baked into everything. I mean, everything. I understand that they even make pumpkin-flavored Jell-O and gum now.
Add some holiday spice to your speech by infusing these French vocabulary words into your everyday language. Or, you know, impress all of your francophone friends.
Just think of how awesome they’ll think you are once you drop these bad boys on your tongue as the leaves change and the snow falls this year. At the very least, you’ll gain cool points as you lean against the serving table at that holiday party, holding a piping hot beverage in your hand with a cinnamon stick poking out of it, as you effortlessly recite your favorite, sophisticated flavors and spices in front of other francophone guests.
As if you’ve been speaking French for years. Or as if you were a cultured world traveler engaging in important food things—ahem, I mean, la gastronomie.
It’s a win-win, really. So let’s get right to it:
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1. Cannelle
Cannelle (f.) is the French name for “cinnamon.” The word itself is a tricky one, as it looks a lot like “caramel” in English, so try not to mistake these near-faux amis (false friends)–a pair of words that may appear similar, but actually have different meanings.
Cannelle is indeed the spicy, brown powder used to wake up cakes, breads, cookies and some savory dishes, too. You’ll want to add emphasis on -nelle, at the end of the word. Cannelle can be used on its own, as in, Ajouter un peu de cannelle à la poêle (Add a bit of cinnamon to the pan), or after the preposition à to describe something that is cinnamon flavored: J’aime manger du gâteau à la cannelle pendant les fêtes (I like eating cinnamon cake during the holiday season).
A pretty crucial ingredient this time of year, this is a good word to know when you’re in the kitchen with your new French-speaking sweetie as you throw down your baking skills.
2. Menthe
Menthe (f.) is French for “mint.” Just remember that the h in menthe is silent. You’ve probably seen this word inscribed on lots of fancy, English-language packaging, typically used to lend a certain culinary sophistication for plain-old mint-flavored foods.
But beware the difference between “fresh mint” and “peppermint”—the latter usually notes poivrée (literally meaning “peppered”) following menthe. All alone, menthe is that fresh sprig of mint was used to top say, a fresh fruit salad tossed with rosewater.
However, à la menthe points to, generally, a food being “mint-flavored” or “peppermint-flavored”—think candy canes, flavored coffee creamers and the like. Basically, the red and white-striped, sugary fare that’ll draw most kids out of the woodwork with a quickness.
3. Caramel
Caramel (m.) is an easy one. Lucky for you, caramel both looks and means the same thing in both English and French. And probably some other romance languages out there, too. The only note here is that you’ll want to place emphasis on the -mel.
Also, you’ll want to add an au in front of the word if you’re talking about serving a dish with caramel sauce, such as:
Je viens d’acheter des pommes confites au caramel.
(I just bought some caramelized apples.)
I didn’t, actually–I recently bought some kettle corn lightly glazed in caramel instead, but I digress.
4. Patate Douce
Patate douce (f.) is the French vocabulary word for the root vegetable, “sweet potato.” Patate douce literally means “mild/sweet potato” (not to be confused with pomme de terre, which simply means “potato”).
For example, to talk about your delightful plans to eat a pie made with this often-used type of potato around this time of year, you could say, “Je mangerai de la tarte aux patates douces ce soir” (I will eat some sweet potato pie tonight). Just remember to add the preposition aux to allow patates douces, in its noun form, to describe what kind of pie you’re eating: tarte aux patates douces.
5. Pain d’épices
Pain d’épices (m.) is French for “gingerbread.” Notice that the actual word for “ginger”—which we’ll get to down in #6—is nowhere to be found in pain d’épices. The word literally means “bread of spices.” You can use the word on its own as a noun, or as a flavor.
Here’s an example:
Les enfants vont construire une maison en pain d’épices.
(The children are going to build a gingerbread house.)
Again, its descriptive form can be accomplished by adding a preposition—in this case, with en preceding the whole word. Notice the lack of the accent aigu (acute accent) on the second “e” in épices, which points to the word meaning “spices” as opposed to “spiced.”
6. Gingembre
Gingembre (m.) means “ginger” in French. As with most of the words already noted above, it can act on its own as a noun, or can describe a ginger flavor by adding the preposition au in front. The pronunciation is interesting—and kinda fun, in my opinion.
Oh, and please don’t use this word to refer to red-haired, fair-skinned individuals. It simply doesn’t translate, and you’ll probably get funny looks from lots of French-speaking folks.
7. Confire
Confit (m. singular), confits (m. plural), confite (f. singular) and confites (f. plural) act as the past participle of confire, which technically means “to preserve.” While not exactly a vocabulary word on its own, the past participle form is often used as an adjective to describe candied food items. Which is really convenient, because most fruit and root vegetables pair well with this word, translating into “fried,” “sautéed” or “caramelized.”
Just make sure that the past participle of confire reflects the noun quantity and gender. For example:
Je prépare des poires confites.
(I am making candied pears.)
Here, by ending in -es, confites reflects the fact that les poires is feminine and plural. I know, I know—always cooking fruit in most of these examples. But you know, the holidays are nigh and all…
8. Citrouille
Citrouille (f.), of course, means “pumpkin” in French. Potiron (m.) could also be used as a stand-in for the big, round orange squash. To remember the latter, I try to think of, literally, a “pot iron” that I would cook a pumpkin in.
France doesn’t typically celebrate federal holidays around harvest time, but in French-speaking Canada and in some West African countries, les citrouilles and les potirons, yams and other squash are celebrated during Halloween (Canada), Thanksgiving (Canada), Homowo (Ghana) and the New Yam Festival (Ghana, Nigeria).
Instead of shelling out almost 10 bucks for yet another pumpkin spice latte, you’ll probably find me researching traditional ways to make Ghanaian-style pumpkin-seed walnut soup. I’m just sayin’.
So there you have it. Eight fun ingredients to try out in the kitchen this year, pepper your holiday conversation with… or both. I know I wanna look good flexing my French skills and experimenting with fun foods this year. How about you?
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Learn the French vacation vocabulary + French to describe your holidays in France + Vacation dates and zones in France + tips form a French native.
Vacation, in French “les vacances” (always plural), is at the heart of the French culture.
With 5 weeks paid vacation for French employees, and a total of 16 weeks of vacation for French school students, France sure values her holidays.
1 – French Holiday Vocabulary
- bonnes vacances! = have a good holiday!
- bon voyage! = have a good trip!
- bonne route! = have a safe journey!
- les grandes vacances = school summer break
- partir en vacances = to go on holiday/vacation
- aller au soleil = to go under the sun
- aller à la mer = to go by the beach
- aller à la montagne = to go to the mountains (usually to ski, but maybe to hike)
- Faire ses valises = to pack
- Défaire ses valises = to unpack
- On est allés… We went…
à l’hôtel – in a hotel
dans un club de vacances – in a resort
dans un camping – in a camping
dans une auberge de jeunesse – in a youth hostel
dans un gîte / une chambre d’hôte – in a B&B
chez des amis – at some friend’s house. - le départ – departure
- l’arrivée – arrival
- le trajet – the trip
- le voyage – the trip
- la douane – customs
- l’immigration – immigration
- la frontière – the border
- un passeport – passport
- un billet d’avion – plane ticket
- un ticket de train – train ticket
- une réservation – booking
2 – Expressing What Went Well or Poorly During Your Vacation in French
- On a vu… = we saw
- Le voyage/tout… s’est bien / mal passé = the trip/everything… went well / poorly
- La circulation était fluide / dense = traffic was fluid / dense
- L’avion/ le train était à l’heure / en retard = the plane / the train was on time / late
- La chambre (n’) était (pas) très confortable = the room was very comfortable (or not)
- La vue était superbe / moche (slang) = the view was great / ugly
- La nourriture était délicieuse / dégueulasse (slang) = the food was delicious / awful
- Il a fait beau / mauvais = the weather was nice / bad
- Il a fait (trop) chaud / froid = the temperature was (too) hot / cold
- Le musée était ouvert / fermé = the museum was open / close
- On a perdu nos valises = we (or someone else) lost our suitcases
- On a été volé = we were robbed
- J’ai été malade = I was sick
- Il y avait des grèves = there were strikes
- Le vol a été annulé = the flight was canceled
3 – Paid Vacation in France
The French are known to take a lot of vacations, especially if you compare them to the Americans! But is this “five weeks of paid vacation” myth really true?
Yes it is. According to Le Journal du Net, French employees take even more vacation time than that, with an average of 37 days per year, or 5.2 weeks (in 2012). There is quite a difference between French workers: a public office manager takes an average 7.4 weeks of paid vacation, versus a farm worker/ artisan who takes 4.6 weeks.
So who doesn’t take this much vacation in France? Self employed people… Shop owners, small businesses and startups – believe me, not everybody takes 5 weeks vacation in France!
However, it’s true that in general, the French really enjoy a lot of vacation time: don’t go to France in August and expect to do a lot of shopping! A lot of stores close in August – and actually in January as well, especially in smaller countryside towns.
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4 – School Vacation and School Breaks Dates in France
French kids enjoy 16 weeks of vacation (+ all the long weekends and official holidays…)
The French school vacation is divided as follows:
- France’s Summer break: “les grandes vacances”, July and August, so 8 weeks total.
- France’s Fall vacation: “les vacances de la Toussaint”, mid October, 2 weeks.
- France’s Christmas break: “les vacances de Noël”, mid December, 2 weeks.
- France’s Winter vacation: “les vacances d’hiver”, zone dependant*, February, 2 weeks.
- France’s Spring break: “les vacances de printemps”, zone dependant*, April, 2 weeks.
5 – What is the French Vacation “Zone” System?
Since 1964, France is divided into “zones” to facilitate the departure of students for vacation : France is cut into three zones (A, B, C) and the vacation time spread over one month so that there is enough room for everybody in the ski stations! I am NOT kidding…
So now, every single French household with kids has to check out this map to know which zone they now belong to, and when the vacation for their kid is going to be. And forget about meeting your Parisians cousins for the vacation if you live in Brittany… you are not in the same zone, which means you won’t have the same vacation date.
So practical!
For more info and exact French vacation dates, go to the French School Vacation Government Site.
6 – Watch Out For Ticket Prices and Driving in France During School Vacation
Of course, as soon as you hit the vacation starting / ending dates, France is in a gridlock. We call them: “les journées noires” (black days) and you should not plan on driving during these days if you don’t want to be stuck in endless traffic-jams (“les embouteillages”, “les bouchons”).
Train and plane tickets, room prices, all goes up as well.
So it’s a good thing to know about the French school vacation dates before you plan your next trip to France!
7 – French Speaking Vacation Tip – Think Club Med!
Lots of French students want to practice their French during their vacation. It’s a good idea, however:
- you have to pick your location carefully (read my article about vacationing in France)
- you need to make sure you get people to talk to – it’s not always easy to strike up a French conversation with perfect strangers… This is why I recommend you check out my immersion at French Teacher’s house programs.
However, your family may not speak French, or share your enthusiasm to visit France over and over again… Or going to France maybe too far, too complicated… So why not try “Club Med”?
As a French organization, many people speak French there, and you’ll be surrounded by a lot of French guests. Even in Florida, or the Caribbeans…
Club med now has “family” clubs, which are kid friendly – although not everybody may agree on what is PC around kids! The evening shows may be viewed as “too risqué” for very conservative families, so be aware that with French speaking people, you’ll also get a bit of French culture, humor, attitude…
8 – How do You Say “How Was Your Vacation” in French?
This is more tricky than it sounds. First, you have to memorize that the French word for vacation is always plural: les vacances, mes vacances, des vacances… The verb and adjectives will also have to be plural to match “les vacances”.
Then, to ask “how was your vacation” (or rather how were your vacations in French…) we don’t use the same construction.
- In formal French, we say: “comment se sont passées tes/vos vacances”?
Or you can use a statement and turn it into an informal question:
- “Vos/tes vacances se sont bien passées?”
- Another way is to switch it around: “vous avez / tu as passé de bonnes vacances ?”
I suggest you pick one and learn it by heart to use it yourself, but you need to know the three formulas because they are very, very common in French.
Of course, one can get creative and say: “tes/vos vacances, c’était bien ?”. It’s much simpler, but less used in French!
9 – How do You Answer “My Vacation was…” in French?
Here again, you have to watch out to keep your answer in the plural.
Your answer usually “matches” the formality of the question, but it’s not set in stones.
- Mes vacances se sont (très) bien/mal passées – My vacation was (very) good/bad.
- J’ai passé de (très) bonnes / mauvaises vacances – I had a (very) good / bad vacation.
or, much easier:
- C’était super / nul – It was great / really bad.
10 – How to say Where You Went / Are Going on Vacation in French?
[ftimmersion_ad]
You’ll start by using “aller” or “partir”.
In the past, both form their passé-composé with “être”:
- Je suis allé(e), je suis parti(e) – I went, I left
- Nous sommes allé(e)s, nous sommes parti(e)s – we went, we left
In the future, we tend to use the near future construction:
- Je vais aller, je vais partir – I’m going to go, I’m going to leave
- Nous allons aller, nous allons partir – we’re going to go, we’re going to leave
Then, what follows get complicated… I’ll sum it up here, but read my articles to know more about the French prepositions of place and how to say the date in French.
- Use à + city, en + feminine country, au + masculine country, aux + plural country.
Je suis allée à Paris, en France, au Japon, aux Bahamas. - Use en + month
Je vais aller en France en juillet.
Voilà, I hope this is helpful. To learn more about French vacation vocabulary, the best is to learn in context: I suggest you check out my “Une Semaine à Paris” and “Une Semaine à Paimpol” downloadable French audiobooks, featuring:
- A fun and reachable French story, full of useful everyday vocabulary and situations, and its English translation.
- A story recorded at 2 speeds: a bit slower than normal and street French (normal for the French and featuring modern pronunciation and glidings).
- A Q&A section to practice your French out loud and check your understanding of the story.
I post new articles every week, so make sure you subscribe to the French Today newsletter – or follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Holiday words in French: Conversations for Beginners
Welcome to Everyday French Conversations for Beginners Week 3 Episode 5. In this episode, we’ll learn about words and phrases for holiday in French. We will also talk about Labor Day in France on the 1st of May.
(0:34) – Labor Day in France is on the 1st of May
(0:47) – Everything’s closed on the first of May.
(01:41)- Weather tends to be really nice on the first of May. So people have a picnic or a barbecue
(02:04)- On the first of May, the unions are doing demonstrations or rallies
Conversation about the Traffic Jam on the 1st of May
(04:51) What’s happening? Look at that. We can’t even pass.
(05:02) What a traffic jam. But it’s incredible, it’s not even the 1st of May.
(05:35) There’s lot of demonstrations on the first of May.
(05:45) I meant to say the manifestation meaning rallies.
(06:01) Oh yeah it’s the labor day.
(06:02) The Labor Day in the United States is on September
(06:13) do you have a lot of rallies and demonstrations.
(06:23) No, we in general, have a picnic.
(06:31) Oh, look. We’re moving ahead. And it’s not too early.
(09:09) There are three big weekends in France on the month of May. 1st of May is Labor Day, 8th of May, Victory of Europe which celebrates the end of World War Two, and 13th of May is Ascension Day.
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Christmas is here!
Before you head off to do Christmas-y activities, here is a list of the most useful vocabulary and expressions related to the holidays. Learn the French holiday words and phrases for common Christmas topics, and spruce up your conversations with French Christmas words this season.
If you need more details about how Christmas is celebrated by the French, you can also visit this article about the ABCs of French Christmas and new Year or you can listen to this podcast episode about French Christmas traditions.
But now, here’s the list of French Christmas words. You can also download the PDF copy of this list.
| Noël | Christmas |
| à Noël | at Christmas |
| la veille de Noël | Christmas eve |
| le jour de Noël | Christmas day |
| la Fête de Noël | Christmas holiday |
| le vingt-cinq décembre | December 25 |
| un cadeau de Noël | Christmas present |
| une carte de Noël | Christmas card |
| une carte de vœux | greeting card |
| une bûche de Noël | Yule Log |
| le sapin de Noël | Christmas tree |
| le repas de Noël | Christmas lunch, Christmas dinner |
| les décorations de Noël | Christmas decorations |
| offrir | to give (as a present) |
| le jour de Noël | Christmas Day |
| la veille de Noël | Christmas Eve |
| un chant de Noël | Christmas carol |
| la Fête des Rois | Epiphany, Twelfth Night |
| chanter des chants de noël | to sing Christmas carols |
| chanter des cantiques de noël | to sing Christmas hymns |
| un ange | angel |
| l’avent | advent |
| un calendrier de l’Avent | advent calendar |
| une cheminée (conduit de) | chimney |
| l’ église | church |
| les illuminations | Christmas lights |
| les fêtes (de fin d’année) | Holiday season |
| le gui | mistletoe |
| la crèche | Nativity scene |
| le père Noël | Santa Claus |
| la musique de Noël | Christmas music |
| une chanson de Noël | Christmas song |
| un renne | reindeer |
| le marché de Noël | Christmas market |
| réveillonner | to celebrate Christmas |
| décorer le sapin | decorate the tree |
| un jouet, un joujou | toy |
| un ruban | ribbon |
| un berger | shepherd |
| un traîneau | sleigh |
| la neige | snow |
| une boule de neige | snow ball |
| un bonhomme de neige | snowman |
| Noël sous la neige | white Christmas |
| l’hiver | winter |
| un bonhomme de pain d’épice | gingerbread man |
| Meilleurs vœux | Seasons greetings! Best wishes! |
| la Saint-Sylvestre | New Year’s Eve |
| le jour de l’an | New Year’s Day |
| La messe de minuit | midnight mass |
| qu’est-ce que tu veux pour Noël? | what do you want for Christmas? |
| qu’est-ce que tu as reçu comme cadeaux de Noël? | what did you get for Christmas? |
| mettre des cadeaux sous l’arbre | to put presents under the tree |
| organiser une fête de Noël | to have a Christmas party |
But wait— that’s not all. Here is also a list of best wishes and greetings you can use this joyous season:
- Joyeux Noël ! Merry Christmas!
- Bonnes Fêtes ! Happy Holidays
- Joyeuses Fêtes ! Happy Holidays
- Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année ! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
- Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année de la part de… Season’s greetings from…
- Bonne Année ! Happy New Year!
- Bonnes fêtes de fin d’année ! Happy Holidays!
And there you go, your French holiday words. For more useful French words and expressions sent to your inbox, subscribe to the Talk in French newsletter. You’ll also get loads of free resources when you do.
Have a happy holiday season! Bonnes fêtes de fin d’année !
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‘holiday’ a une référence dans l’entrée ‘hols’. Il se trouve dans une ou plusieurs des lignes ci-dessous.‘holiday’ is cross-referenced with ‘hols’. It is in one or more of the lines below.
WordReference English-French Dictionary © 2023:
| Principales traductions | ||
| Anglais | Français | |
| holiday n | UK (vacation) | vacances nfpl |
| (plus soutenu) | congés nmpl | |
| I am going on holiday next week. | ||
| Je pars en vacances la semaine prochaine. | ||
| holidays npl | UK (vacation) | vacances nfpl |
| (plus soutenu) | congés nmpl | |
| This time tomorrow I’ll be on my holidays! | ||
| Demain à la même heure, je serai en vacances ! | ||
| the holidays npl | US (festivities, time off) | fêtes de fin d’année, fêtes nfpl |
| Are you going home for the holidays this year? | ||
| Tu rentres chez toi pour les fêtes de fin d’année (or: pour les fêtes) ? | ||
| holiday n | (official days off work) | jour férié nm |
| Nobody will be in the office over the Presidents’ Day holiday. | ||
| Personne ne sera au bureau pendant le jour férié pour la journée du président. | ||
| holiday n | (religious celebration) | fête nf |
| Good Friday is a religious holiday, but we still have to go to work. | ||
| Le vendredi saint est une fête religieuse, mais nous devons quand même aller au travail. | ||
| holiday n | (period of exceptional freedom) | trêve nf |
| The city declared a holiday from sales tax. | ||
| Les autorités municipales ont décidé d’une trêve de la taxe de vente à recevoir. | ||
| holiday⇒ vi | UK (go on vacation) | passer ses vacances [quelque part] loc v |
| We holiday in Spain every year. | ||
| Nous passons nos vacances en Espagne chaque année. |
WordReference English-French Dictionary © 2023:
| Principales traductions | ||
| Anglais | Français | |
| hols npl | UK, informal, abbreviation (holidays: vacation) | vacances nfpl |
| What are you doing for the hols this year? |
WordReference English-French Dictionary © 2023:
| Formes composées holiday | hols |
||
| Anglais | Français | |
| activity holiday n | (vacation with planned activities) | vacances actives nfpl |
| bank holiday n | UK (national non-work day) | jour férié nm |
| I always work bank holidays – I get paid double-time! | ||
| Je travaille toujours les jours fériés parce que je suis payé deux fois plus ! | ||
| bank holiday weekend n | UK (national three-day holiday) (congés de trois jours) | week-end prolongé nm |
| Note: En Grande-Bretagne, les jours fériés sont souvent fixés un lundi, donnant ainsi un week-end de 3 jours. En France, ils sont souvent fixes et s’ils tombent un jeudi ou un mardi, il est possible de « faire le pont », créant ainsi un week-end de 4 jours. | ||
| boating holiday n | (vacation on canal boat) | vacances en bateau, vacances en péniche nfpl |
| busman’s holiday n | UK, figurative, informal (vacation: like at work) | vacances qui ressemblent au travail nfpl |
| camping holiday n | UK (vacation: sleeping in a tent) | camping nm |
| Camping holidays are more enjoyable in good weather. | ||
| vacances sous la tente nf | ||
| Christmas holiday n | UK (vacation period: December) | vacances de Noël nfpl |
| I have lots of homework to do this Christmas holiday. | ||
| J’ai plein de devoirs pour les vacances de Noël. | ||
| go on vacation (US), go on holiday (UK) v expr |
(take a break away from home) | partir en vacances loc v |
| half-holiday n | UK, obsolete (law: lunchtime break on Saturday) (Grande-Bretagne, vieux) | demi-journée de congé (le samedi matin) nf |
| holiday camp n | UK (vacation accommodation) | colonie de vacances nf |
| camp de vacances nm | ||
| holiday closing n | UK (business closure during vacation) | fermeture nf |
| Summer holiday closing: we will be closed for business from 18 to 31 August inclusive. | ||
| holiday complex n | UK (vacation apartment block) | complexe touristique nm |
| holiday destination n | UK (popular place for vacations) | destination préférée des vacanciers nf |
| holiday job n | (temporary job during vacation) (familier) | petit boulot de vacances nm |
| holiday photos npl | UK (snapshots from a vacation) | photos de vacances nfpl |
| He took some wonderful holiday photos with his new camera. | ||
| Il a pris de magnifiques photos de vacances avec son nouvel appareil photo. | ||
| holiday representative n | UK ([sb] who assists holidaymakers) | représentant de vacances nm |
| holiday resort n | (self-contained vacation spot) (centre) | village vacances, complexe touristique nm |
| (commune) | station touristique nf | |
| holiday season n | (period: November to January) | fêtes de fin d’année nfpl |
| Most people feel more generous during the holiday season. | ||
| Beaucoup de gens se sentent plus généreux pendant les fêtes de fin d’année. | ||
| période des fêtes nf | ||
| Beaucoup de gens se sentent plus généreux pendant la période des fêtes. | ||
| holidaymaker, holiday-maker n |
UK (tourist, person on vacation) | vacancier, vacancière nm, nf |
| (en été) | estivant, estivante nm, nf | |
| (en hiver, plus rare) | hivernant, hivernante nm, nf | |
| The beach was crowded with holidaymakers. | ||
| legal holiday, civic holiday n |
(national non-working day) | jour férié nm |
| national holiday n | (country-wide day off work) | jour férié nm |
| Christmas Day is a national holiday in many countries. | ||
| Dans beaucoup de pays, Noël est un jour férié. | ||
| on vacation (US), on holiday (UK) adv |
(taking time away from work) | en vacances loc adv |
| en congé loc adv | ||
| My boss is on vacation for the next two weeks. She disappeared while on vacation in Aruba. | ||
| Mon chef est en vacances pour les deux prochaines semaines. Elle a disparu pendant qu’elle était en vacances à Aruba. | ||
| package holiday n | UK (all-inclusive or tourist vacation) (destination unique) | séjour organisé, séjour tout compris nm |
| (circuit) | voyage organisé nm | |
| (tourisme) | forfait-vacances tout inclus nm | |
| A package holiday can offer good value for money. | ||
| paid vacation (US), paid holiday (UK) n |
uncountable (time off work with full pay) | congés payés nm |
| Since I have two weeks of paid vacation, I can take that time off while still receiving an income. This year I’m entitled to three weeks’ paid holiday. | ||
| Comme j’ai deux semaines de congés payés, je peux prendre des vacances tout en étant payé. Cette année, j’ai droit à trois semaines de congés payés. | ||
| public holiday n | (national day off work) | jour férié nm |
| July 4th is a public holiday in the United States. 5th October is a public holiday in some, but not all, states of Australia. | ||
| Le 4 juillet est un jour férié aux États-Unis. Le 5 octobre est un jour férié dans certains états d’Australie. | ||
| religious holiday n | (feast day, holy day) | fête religieuse nf |
| Christmas is a religious holiday that has become secularized. | ||
| school vacation (US), school holiday (UK) n |
(spring break, etc.) | vacances scolaires nfpl |
| Note: British English also uses «school holidays» in the plural. | ||
| Most kids love school vacation because they get to stay up late and watch TV. | ||
| La plupart des enfants aiment les vacances scolaires parce qu’ils peuvent se coucher tard et regarder la télé. | ||
| skiing holiday n | (vacation with skiing) | vacances au ski, vacances à la montagne nfpl |
| summer vacation (US), summer holiday (UK) n |
(long holiday period over the summer) | vacances d’été nfpl |
| (surtout scolaire) | grandes vacances nfpl | |
| Note: British English also uses «summer holidays» in the plural. | ||
| summer vacation (US), summer holiday (UK) n |
(tourist trip taken in the summer) | vacances d’été nfpl |
| take a holiday v expr | UK (go away on vacation) | prendre des vacances loc v |
| partir en vacances loc v | ||
| After five long months of work I was ready to take a holiday. | ||
| prendre des congés loc v | ||
| take a vacation (US), take some holiday, take time off (UK) v expr |
(take time away from work) | prendre des vacances loc v |
| holiday package n | (inclusive holiday deal) | voyage organisé nm |
| formule de vacances tout compris nf | ||
| circuit organisé nm | ||
| vacation pay (US), holiday pay (UK) n |
(salary paid during holidays) | congés payés nmpl |
| En France, les congés sont payés comme des jours ouvrés. | ||
| vacation spot (US), holiday spot (UK) n |
(place popular with holidaymakers) | destination touristique nf |
| lieu de villégiature nm | ||
| wine vacation (US), wine holiday, wine-tasting holiday (UK) n |
(holiday involving wine-tasting) | tourisme viticole nm |
| œnotourisme nm | ||
| winter vacation (US), winter holiday (UK) n |
(holiday taken in winter) | vacances d’hiver nfpl |
| Note: British English also uses «winter holidays» in the plural. | ||
| vacances de Noël nfpl | ||
| congés d’hiver nmpl | ||
| working vacation (US), working holiday (UK) n |
(work while on vacation) | programme vacances-travail nm |
| PVT abr, nm inv | ||
| emploi-vacances nm |