célébrer
/se.le.bʁe/
To celebrate in French is célébrer.
Célébrer is used to engage in joyful activity in appreciation of an event. You can use it in several contexts, such as célébrer un anniversaire (to celebrate a birthday), célébrer un mariage (to celebrate a wedding) or célébrer une fête religieuse (to celebrate a religious festival). It is also used in descriptive phrases like célébrer en grande pompe (to celebrate in grand style), célébrer avec enthousiasme (to celebrate with enthusiasm) and célébrer dans la joie et la bonne humeur (to celebrate in joy and good spirits).
Meaning: to engage in joyful activity in appreciation of an event (verb)
Which one should you use?
While both words mean to celebrate, célébrer often carries a more formal, solemn or grand connotation than the alternative fêter. Célébrer is typically used for celebrating a victory, a saint or a national holiday.
How do you pronounce it?
/se.le.bʁe/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often use célébrer for birthdays or personal milestones, but fêter is much more common for these everyday events.
Did you know?
- The word célébrer comes from the Latin word celebrāre, which originally meant to frequent a place or make it crowded.
- In a religious context, a priest does not just 'celebrate' a party, but uses célébrer to mean performing the specific ritual of a Mass.
- While you might use célébrer for a victory, if you use it to talk about a birthday, you might sound slightly overly dramatic or even sarcastic to a native speaker.
Examples in context
- Nous sortons pour célébrer.We're going out to celebrate.This sentence is useful for expressing the intent to go out to celebrate using célébrer.Tatoeba #7811315 by Aiji, translation #3311134 by CK
- Nous avions beaucoup à célébrer.We had a lot to celebrate.This sentence shows how to express having many things to celebrate with célébrer.Tatoeba #7773443 by Aiji, translation #3313132 by CK
- C'est une coutume de célébrer Noël.It's a custom to celebrate Christmas.This sentence demonstrates the use of célébrer when discussing customs like celebrating Christmas.Tatoeba #9520217 by Micsmithel, translation #680619 by Source_VOA
- Nous allons célébrer notre anniversaire de mariageWe are going to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
- Nous allons fêter Noël en familleWe are going to celebrate Christmas with the family.
- On va faire la fête ce week-end !We are going to party this weekend!
- Ils sont allés arroser leur victoire au match de footballThey went to celebrate their victory in the soccer match.
- 12 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Emma and Nathan are talking about a promotion at work.
- EmmaJ'ai eu la promotion !I got the promotion!
- NathanC'est génial, on doit célébrer ça !That's great, we have to celebrate that!
- EmmaOn peut aller au restaurant ce soir.We can go to a restaurant tonight.
- NathanParfait, je réserve une table.Perfect, I'll book a table.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry célébrer, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries célébrer, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
