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Happy New Years in French | Rosetta Stone®

Learn the French expression for “Happy New Years” plus other words and phrases using Rosetta Stone’s award-winning app.

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How to Say Happy New Years in French

If you want to say “Happy New Years!” in French, you would say “Bonne année!” However, the pronunciation is a little different than you might expect. Even though it looks like it might sound like ‘bon annie,’ the pronunciation runs much closer to ‘bun an-nay.’ A quick note, “Bonne année!" translates to Happy New Year, which is grammatically correct, although many people say “Happy New Years.” You can also say “Happy New Year’s Eve.”

The expression for “Happy New Years!” is also very similar to the general one used to wish someone a good day when you’re leaving them—“bonne journée” (during the day) or “bonne soirée” (if you’re parting company with them in the evening). Both are important elements of the French notion of “la politesse,” their informal code of politeness and general social etiquette.

To build towards fluency in French, you should start your French lessons with the basics of common words and pronunciations. Then you can scale naturally towards a much more complex understanding of the French language. That’s why Rosetta Stone’s French language program has an immersive approach that introduces words alongside visual and audio cues. This will help you learn vocabulary in the context of true-to-life conversations. These bite-sized lessons are grouped into units that highlight common French conversational phrases you’ll need for everyday interactions. The lessons include practical review that helps learners solidify their French language skills.

Learning French Phrases

Your approach to learning the French language will most likely depend on your goals. Many learners are at the very beginning of learning French and want to pick up common words like au revoir, baguette and amour to learn how to replicate the famous French accent. Other learners have had considerable exposure to French words and pronunciations in their academic careers, and now want to advance the language abilities they already have. Whatever your goals are in learning the French language, you should carefully consider using a language program built with your objectives in mind.

One of the most notable aspects of the French language is its je ne sais quoi, which is a somewhat elusive quality that makes the accent so alluring. However, what may seem to be a mysterious aspect of the French language’s appeal is actually just a nuance of pronunciation. Some French pronunciations can be especially challenging for new learners because the sounds are decidedly more nasal than those of other languages. That’s why it’s so important to first focus on correct French pronunciation, starting with the sounds in the alphabet.

You can build your language skills and confidence by starting with some basic and common French words and phrases:

Bonjour / Hello, Good morning

Au revoir / Goodbye

Oui / Yes

Non / No

Merci / Thank you

Merci beaucoup / Thank you very much

Fille / Girl

Garçon / Boy

Femme / Woman

Homme / Man

Amour / Love

Français / French

S’il vous plaît / Please

Bonsoir / Good evening

Bonne Nuit / Good night

Excusez-moi / Excuse me

De Rien / You’re welcome (casual, informal way)

Je vous en prie / You’re welcome (formal)

Temps / Time

Jour / Day

And here are a few more common phrases you say in French:

Je suis désolé(e) / I’m sorry

Comment vous appelez-vous ? / What is your name?

Parlez-vous anglais ? / Do you speak English?

Je m’appelle … / My name is …

Comment allez-vous ? / How are you doing?

Quelle heure est-il ? / What time is it?

Pouvez-vous m’aider ? / Can you help me?

Combien ça coûte ? / How much is this?

Je t’aime / I love you

Rosetta Stone has unparalleled experience in developing language learning programs that help build skills and confidence in understanding and speaking French. Regardless of whether you’re a new learner or an intermediate speaker, Rosetta Stone language lessons can be of great help to you. Rosetta’s Stone’s immersive approach focuses on contextualised learning and features an award-winning mobile app (for smartphone and tablet) to deliver bite-sized lessons that help you learn French anytime and anywhere.

Try Our Award-Winning App

Surround yourself with French whenever, wherever with the Rosetta Stone app.

Download a unit and knock it out on the train or a flight. Select a 5-10 minute lesson and sneak it in while you wait in line or for your ride to show up. And explore dynamic features, like Seek and Speak, where you can point at an object in the real world and get a translation.

The best part? You don’t have to choose between app or desktop. Both come with your subscription and sync, so you can switch between devices seamlessly.

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