72 Fun French Vocabulary Words and Phrases for Summer

Are you ready to learn some French vocabulary words for summer favorites? This post has all the basic French vocabulary you need to beat the heat and communicate well.

Summer is coming, and France is a wonderful haven during this time of year (if you can avoid the heat)! The weather is warm, and delicious, fresh food abounds. Children are on vacation from school, and many families take advantage of that to travel. For many, the allure of nature and the great outdoors is difficult to resist.

What will you be doing with your summer? Beef up your vocabulary so you can tell your friends about it – in French!

What is the Best Way to Learn French Vocabulary for Summer?

There are so many ways you can master French vocabulary words for summertime activities, weather, food, clothing, and more. However, one of the best ways to do so is to take French lessons online. 

You can also learn French vocabulary by:

• Surround yourself with the language by engaging with apps, software, books, movies, and social media 
• Talk with native speakers
• Take a trip to France!
• Have a French word of the day
• Use flashcards
• Use French vocabulary words in a sentence 
• Come up with associations that make sense to you

Even something as simple as watching a video of someone speaking French can help you learn! Here’s one to get you started:

Summer Vocabulary for Beginners

Are you ready to master some basic French vocabulary for summertime favorites? Here are some helpful words to know. 

French List for Travel

One of the first things summer brings to mind is the excitement of vacation and travel.

1) l’été – summer
2) les vacances – vacation
Note: les vacances d’été – summer vacation
3) voyager – to travel
4) un voyage – a journey
5) juin – June
6) juillet – July
7) août – August

Now, let’s use these words in a sentence! For example…

• Pendant mes vacances d’été, j’aime bien voyager! (During my summer vacation, I like to travel!)
• Je peux choisir le mois de juin, le mois de juillet, ou le mois d’août pour mon voyage. (I can choose the month of June, the month of July, or the month of August for my trip.)

Basic French Vocabulary for Outdoor Activities

Many people enjoy the extra time and warmer weather to enjoy the outdoors.

8) le parc – the park
9) la pelouse – the lawn / grass
10) un pique-nique – a picnic
11) jouer – to play
12) la plage – the beach
13) le sable – sand
14) la piscine – the swimming pool
15) la mer – the sea
16) l’océan – the ocean
17) un maillot de bain – a swim suit
18) un lac – a lake
19) un bateau – a boat
20) nager – to swim
21) le Jardin – the garden
22) jardiner – to garden
23) une fleur / des fleurs – a / some flower(s)
24) une plante – a plant
25) un arbre – a tree
26) la nature – nature
27) les montagnes – the mountains
28) dehors – outside
29) marcher – to walk
30) courir – to run

French Weather Words

With the outdoors, of course, you’ll need to be able to talk about the beautiful weather, as well.

31) la pluie – the rain

32) le soleil – the sun
33) la chaleur – the heat
34) le vent – the wind
35) les nuages – the clouds
36) le ciel – the sky
37) le sud – the south

Example sentences:

• Quand on va à la plage, il faut se souvenir de son maillot de bain! (When you go to the beach, you must remember your bathing suit!)
• Comme ça, on peut courir dans l’eau et dans le sable. On peut se bronzer sous le soleil, sentir le vent sur la peau, et apprécier la beauté de l’eau et du ciel. (That way, you/we/one can run in the water and in the sand. You/we/one can tan yourself/ourselves/oneself in the sun, feel the wind on your/our/one’s skin, and appreciate the beauty of the water and the sky.)

In addition to the words above, below are some common phrases and expressions related to summer.

1) Je vais dehors – I’m going outside
2) Il fait chaud – It’s hot
3) Il fait du soleil – It’s sunny
4) Il fait beau – It’s / the weather is beautiful
5) Il fait du vent – It’s windy
6) donner de l’ombre – give / provide shade
7) se limoger – to distance oneself
8) faire du camping – to go camping
9) faire du bateau à voile – to go sailboating
10) aller à la (f.) / aller au (m.) / aller aux (pl.) – to go to
11) prendre l’autoroute – take the highway
12) tomber en panne – break down
13) un coup de soleil – sunburn
14) prendre un coup de soleil – get a sunburn
15) se bronzer – to sunbathe / to get a tan

Check the same regular verb list linked above for help conjugating the regular -er verbs on this list. Several more expressions use the verbs faire and aller. (Learn more about irregular conjugations here.)

Example sentences:

• Aujourd’hui, on a voulu se bronzer à la plage. (Today, we wanted to tan ourselves at the beach.)
• Mais on est tombé en panne quand on a pris l’autoroute. (But our car broke down when we were getting onto the freeway.)
• On a perdu toute une journée d’été! (We lost a whole day of summer!)

French Food Vocabulary List for Summer 

Summer has some of the best foods imaginable! Here are some French vocabulary words so you can be able to say what you want to eat.

1) de la glace – some ice cream

2) pastèque – watermelon 

3) épi de maïs – corn on the cob

4) palourdes – clams

5) les tomates – tomatoes 

6) marshmallows grillés – s’mores

7) rouleau de homard – lobster roll 

8) les hot-dogs – hot dogs

9) glace italienne – Italian ice

10) hamburger – hamburger

11) salade verte – salad 

12) sucette glacée – Popsicle 

French Clothing Vocabulary List for Summer

Of course, no French vocabulary list would be complete without including basic words for summertime clothing.

1) une robe – dress

2) un short – shorts 

3) bikini – bikini 

4) maillot de bain – bathing suit 

5) des sandales – sandals 

6) visère – visor 

7) casquette de baseball – baseball cap 

8) des lunettes de soleil – sunglasses

So, what are your favorite French words and phrases for summer? Here are ours:

As school lets out and the summer begins, don’t be the first to lose your French – instead, continue practicing with your friends while you’re out having fun and consider taking lessons in French to enhance your skills.

Photo by Tommie Hansen