Les Pâques
French Easter traditions, terminology, and themed practice
Easter is the second biggest holiday in France, after Christmas. It's a time for gourmet feasts, including lots of chocolate 🤎 and eggs brought by — no, not the Easter bunny, but rather by church bells.
Everywhere in France, les cloches are silenced 🔕 on the Thursday before Easter (Jeudi saint) so that, legend has it, they can fly to Rome and get blessed by the Pope. Then on the way home, les cloches volantes pick up all the decorated eggs and hide them for kids to find.
Today's issue of Lawless French à fond takes an in-depth look at French Easter terms and traditions.
Table of Contents
Terminology 📚
"Easter" in French is most often feminine plural: les Pâques, but it can also be masculine singular: le Pâques.
The feminine singular word la Pâque refers to Passover. ✡️
Children born on or near Easter are often named Pascal or Pascale, which essentially mean "Easter boy" and "Easter girl," respectively. 👶 Pascal is also an adjective meaning "Easter" - e.g., un dîner pascal = Easter dinner.
Seasonal expression: Noël au balcon, Pâques au tison
📅 Lundi de Pâques is one of France's 11 jours fériés.
Listening
Practice your intermediate (B1) listening skills with these Easter-themed audio exercises.
Hunt for Easter eggs with this excited brother and sister.
Cute cartoon about about finding Easter eggs with Milo.
Œuf avec message surprise à l'intérieur
DIY Easter activity: decorated eggs with a surprise message inside.
Dictées
Combined listening and writing practice.
Les décorations de Pâques (A1)
Le matin de Pâques (A2)
Pâques en France (A2)
La fabrication des œufs en chocolat (A2)
La chasse aux œufs (B1)
L'omelette géante de Bessières (B2)
Pâques-atastrophe ! (C1)
Repas Pascal (C1)
🙋 A1 - A2 - B1 - B2 - C1 ?
These are 5 of the 6 CEFR proficiency levels.
Quiz Time
Test yourself on French Easter vocabulary with these fill-in-the-blanks quizzes:
And why not practice your future conjugations with a themed exercise? Pâques chez Lise
Writing
Practice your translation skills with these fun writing challenges.
Easter decorations (A1)
Easter loot (A1)
Easter preparations (A1)
Easter egg hunt (A2)
Easter baking class (B1)
Easter Monday (B1)
Easter, a family celebration (B2)
French Easter specialties (B2)
My first Easter (B2)
Juste pour rigoler
An oldie but a goodie!
If you don't get it, try saying it out loud! 😊
💗 Remerciements
Thanks for reading Lawless French à fond - see you soon!
Want to support my work? Buy me a coffee:
📧 Partagez !
If you enjoyed this issue, please