What does bonne année literally mean?

Good year. French wishes a good year where English wishes a happy new one.

How do you reply to bonne année?

By returning it, to you too, in the tu or the vous form. Both exchanges on this page show the reply.

French · phrasebook

How to say happy new year in French

Happy new year in French is bonne année. Word for word it says good year, and it works with anyone because it contains neither tu nor vous.

Aurélien CuvelierSep 19, 2026

bonne année

happy new year

anyone

The ways to say it

bonne année

happy new year

anyone

How to use it

The wish rarely travels alone. In the second exchange below, a speaker adds a wish for excellent health, and the reply returns the greeting to the person and to their family. Returning the wish is the expected move.

With a friend, the phrase comes with tu and a question about the evening before. With a client or a neighbour you call vous, it comes with a title. The two exchanges show both.

In a real conversation

Each exchange is a line and its reply. Greyed letters are written and not pronounced. A tie marks a liaison, with the sound you hear under it. A label under a verb names its tense when it is not the present.

Bonne année, Léa ! Tu as passé une bonne soirée ?Happy new year, Léa! Did you have a good evening?Oui, c'était très bien ! Bonne année à toi aussi.Yes, it was very good! Happy new year to you too.

Bonne année, monsieur ! Je vous souhaite une excellente santé.Happy new year, sir! I wish you excellent health.Merci, bonne année à vous et à votre famille.Thank you, happy new year to you and your family.

Questions people ask

What does bonne année literally mean?: Good year. French wishes a good year where English wishes a happy new one.
How do you reply to bonne année?: By returning it, to you too, in the tu or the vous form. Both exchanges on this page show the reply.

More French phrases

Each one with its tu and vous forms, its register and real exchanges.

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Written by

Aurélien Cuvelier Founder, NuanceDeck

Aurélien Cuvelier builds NuanceDeck: the app, and the verification pipeline behind its dictionary. Every entry is grounded in the official TORFL lexical minimum and a 20,000-word frequency corpus, and every example sentence passes a certification review before it ships.

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