💰🏖️

How to Say ‘Paid leave’ in French

Congés payés

kohn-ZHAY pay-YAY

[kohn-ZHAY pay-YAY]

💬 Usage Tip: Congés means time off from work, and it's almost always plural when talking about vacation. Holidays you take yourself are congés, not vacances "holidays", in a work contract.

Phrase Breakdown

Congés

[kohn-ZHAY]

leave / days off

Time off from work.

Example

Elle est en congés cette semaine.

She is on leave this week.

payés

[pay-YAY]

paid

Past participle of 'payer'; with 'congés' it means paid vacation.

Example

Les heures supplémentaires sont payées.

Overtime hours are paid.

Guides for French learners

The Most Common French Verbs: the 20 You'll Actually UseThe 20 most common French verbs, with the present-tense forms you need, real example sentences with native audio, and two shortcuts for past and future.Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.

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