top of page

French summer essential vocabulary + Reading test

Updated: Jun 27, 2022

Summer or l'été in French language is one the favorite seasons of French people. It's the ideal time to forget about work, to travel, go on vacation, go to the beach or sea and enjoy holidays with family.

These recent years, summer has been impacted by the the COVID -19 pandemic situation, but there are still ways to enjoy your vacations.

Today we will see some keywords and expressions about summer (l'été) such as clothing names and activities you can do during summer and verbs to use in French.


After reading this lesson, if you want to take your French to the next level and learn with native speakers, in a structured way (CEFR), we recommend Lingoda, an online language school with affordable and effective group classes and private classes. You can access the free trial here. And if you like challenges, try the Lingoda sprint. You will get 50% or 100% cash back if you attend all the classes you subscribed for.

How to talk about summer in french and impress everyone



Essential Words for talking about summer (l'été)


Let's start with the must-know French word: l'été which means summer. The word été can also be used in compound tenses like passé composé, as the past participle of the verb être (to be). So, do not make the confusion!


For example :

  • L'été dernier, je suis allée au Canada. => Last summer, I went to Canada.

  • Hier, j'ai été malade .=> yesterday I have been sick.


When talking about summer, we think automatically of the words sun, beach and months like June, July, August. Here is how the essential words related to l'été are called in French.

  • le Soleil : sun

  • la chaleur : heat

  • la canicule : heat wave

  • la plage : the beach

  • la Mer : the sea

  • la Montagne : the mountain

  • les vacances d'été : summer holidays

  • juin : June

  • juillet : July

  • août : August


You will certainly need to know these verbs to be able to make a small talk about vacations and holidays.

  • Voyager : to travel

  • Partir en vacances : to go on vacation

  • Aller quelque part: to go somewhere

  • Visiter : to visit (talking about visiting places)

  • Nager : to swim

  • Se baigner : to swim

  • prendre son congé annuel : to take one's annual leave



Disclosure : this post contains affiliate links. That means that if you come to click and make a purchase I will earn a commission at no extra cost for you. And as an amazon associate, I will earn a commission for qualifying purchases.







12 Favorite Summer activities in French


In general to talk about activities that we do, we use the essential French verb faire. During vacations, people's favorite activities can be :

  • faire du surf or surfer : to surf

  • faire de la plongée : to dive

  • faire de la natation : to swim

  • faire de la randonnée : to hike

  • faire du ski nautique : water skiing

  • aller dans les montagnes : to go in the mountains

  • aller à la plage : to go to the beach

  • la pêche : fishing (do not mix it up with the peach (fruit) which is written exactly the same way)

  • faire un pique-nique : to picnic

  • faire un barbecue : to have a barbeque

  • bronzer : to tan

  • se bronzer : to sunbathe

<