{"id":308,"date":"2015-12-24T12:00:09","date_gmt":"2015-12-24T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/french.kwiziq.com\/blog\/?p=308"},"modified":"2017-05-20T21:51:25","modified_gmt":"2017-05-20T20:51:25","slug":"the-twelve-days-of-christmas-in-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/french.kwiziq.com\/blog\/the-twelve-days-of-christmas-in-french\/","title":{"rendered":"The Twelve Days of Christmas in French"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TheI know you’re desperate to sing The 12 Days of Christmas in French, so I have gone through enormous pain and suffering (and four French native speakers<\/strong>) not only to translate the song correctly into French<\/strong>, but to share more than 30 valuable French lessons<\/strong> prompted by this translator’s nightmare of a song.<\/p>\n

There are so many gems of knowledge<\/strong> in this all-time Christmas favourite that if you learn it you will become instantly popular and will probably be able to fly on Christmas Day like that snowman. And because I have no shame, I have even sung each line for you<\/strong> so you can hear the correct (*cough*) pronunciation. That’s right, I’m looking at you, Simon Cowell.<\/p>\n

Here’s the whole lot for you in a nice printable form, but be sure to click the links for detailed translation and grammar notes.<\/p>\n

Les douze jours de No\u00ebl<\/h2>\n
- traduction faite par Gruff Davies<\/em><\/pre>\n
The Twelve Days of Christmas – translated by Gruff Davies<\/p>\n
Le premier jour de No\u00ebl<\/a>, mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : une perdrix dans un poirier.<\/strong>
\n(a partridge in a pear tree)<\/p>\n
Le deuxi\u00e8me jour de No\u00ebl<\/a>, mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : deux tourterelles…<\/strong>
\n(two turtle doves)<\/p>\n
Le troisi\u00e8me jour de No\u00ebl,<\/a> mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : trois Faverolles…<\/strong>
\n(three French hens – a breed of hen)<\/p>\n
Le quatri\u00e8me jour de No\u00ebl<\/a>, mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : quatres merles…<\/strong>
\n(four blackbirds, “colly birds”)<\/p>\n
Le cinqui\u00e8me jour de No\u00ebl<\/a>, mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : cinq anneaux d’or…<\/strong>
\n(five gold rings)<\/p>\n
Le sixi\u00e8me jour de No\u00ebl<\/a>, mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : six oies pondeuses…<\/strong>
\n(six geese a-laying)<\/p>\n
Le septi\u00e8me jour de No\u00ebl<\/a>, mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : sept cygnes sur l’eau…<\/strong>
\n(seven swans a-swimming)<\/p>\n
Le huiti\u00e8me jour de No\u00ebl<\/a>, mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : huit femmes en train de traire…<\/strong>
\n(eight maids a-milking)<\/p>\n
Le neuvi\u00e8me jour de No\u00ebl<\/a>, mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : neuf jolies danseuses…<\/strong>
\n(nine ladies dancing)<\/p>\n
Le dixi\u00e8me jour de No\u00ebl<\/a>, mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : dix seigneurs sauteurs…<\/strong>
\n(ten lords a-leaping)<\/p>\n
Le onzi\u00e8me jour de No\u00ebl<\/a>, mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : onze joueurs de fl\u00fbte…<\/strong>
\n(eleven pipers piping… kinda)<\/p>\n
Le douzi\u00e8me jour de No\u00ebl<\/a>, mon amour m’a donn\u00e9 : douze joueurs de tambour…<\/strong>
\n(twelve drummers… one assumes drumming)<\/p>\n
(Note: all the lessons, and 400 more, in much greater depth, are available on your site, where you can learn French grammar by taking kwizzes<\/a>).<\/b><\/p>\n
Here’s the audio for the twelve days counting all the way back: Les douze jours de No\u00ebl<\/a><\/p>\n
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