26 French Easter Words

Author: Camille Chevalier-Karfis

How do you say Easter in French? Is-it Le, La, Les or just Pâque(s)? Learn the French Easter vocabulary. Joyeuses Pâques !

How do you Say Easter in French?

Easter in French is Pâques. It is a plural word, it’s spelled with an S and a circumflex accent.

French Easter Vocabulary

First, let’s learn the French Easter vocabulary:

  1. Pâques : Easter.
  2. La Pâque (Juive) : Passover
  3. Le Carême : Lent
  4. Le Jeudi Saint : Maundy Thursday
  5. Le Vendredi Saint : Good Friday
  6. Le Dimanche des Rameaux : Palm Sunday
  7. La Semaine Sainte : Holy Week
  8. Un Défilé Pascal :  Easter Procession
  9. Pascal(e) : adjective “of Easter”.
  10. Un oeuf : an egg, pronounce it “un neuf”, F pronounced.
  11. Des oeufs : eggs, pronounce it “dé zeu”, F and S silent.
  12. Un gigot d’agneau : lamb roast
  13. Les cloches de Pâques : Flying Easter Bells (see my blog post about Easter Traditions in France)
  14. Des oeufs en chocolat : chocolate eggs
  15. Le chocolat blanc / noir / au lait – white / dark / milk chocolate
  16. Un lapin :  a rabbit
  17. Un agneau : a lamb
  18. L’agneau pascal : Easter lamb
  19. Un poussin : a chick
  20. Une poule : a hen
  21. Un coq : (say the q, sorry, it sounds bad in English but that’s how we say it in French!) a rooster
  22. Un poisson : a fish
  23. Une asperge : asparagus
  24. Une fraise : a strawberry
  25. Une jonquille : a daffodil
  26. Une tulipe : a tulip
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Is-it Le, La, Les or just Pâque(s) ?

  1. La Pâque = Passover = feminine singular, used with a “La” before.
  2. Pâques = Easter (no le, no la, no les = never used with an article)

Easy enough you’ll tell me. But it’s French, it’s never easy… If we don’t use any article to refer to Easter, we may use adjectives…

The word for Easter is Pâques, masculine singular (even though its written with an S).

  1. À Pâques prochain = next Easter
  2. Pâques était venu = Easter came
  3. Pâques est précédé de la Semaine Sainte = Easter is preceded by the Holy Week

When you talk about events around Easter, so use Easter more like a time than the religious celebration, it’s feminine plural… Go figure!

  1. Joyeuses Pâques = Happy Easter
  2. Pâques pluvieuses = Rainy Easter

You can also say “le jour de Pâques”, “la fête de Pâques”…

Dictionaries disagree whether the P of Pâques should always be upper case or not, but the common usage points to an upper case.

Le Lundi de Pâques (Easter Monday) is a public holiday (un jour férié) in France. Schools, banks and many other things are closed.

Follow this link to know about the French Traditions for Easter: there are many and my article is full of pictures and fun to read.

What about making a leg of lamb for Easter this year – it’s very easy and Olivier has written a very detailed recipe!

Joyeuses Pâques ! 🐣

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Author: Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Born and raised in Paris, I have been teaching today's French to adults for 25+ years in the US and France. Based on my students' goals and needs, I've created unique downloadable French audiobooks focussing on French like it's spoken today, for all levels. Come to Paimpol and enjoy an exclusive French immersion homestay with me in Brittany.

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