Learn Hardcore French: En vacances, j'adore la liberté de me lever tard. - On vacation, I love the freedom of getting up late.

You do not add an article: not en les vacances, just en vacances.
Vacances is plural in French, but in this expression the article is dropped.

Compare:

Je suis en vacances. = I’m on vacation.
Pendant les vacances, je voyage. = During the holidays, I travel.

So:

En vacances = on vacation (general state)
Pendant les vacances = during the holiday period (more literal time expression)

Why is it written j'adore instead of je adore?

Because of elision, a very common rule in French spelling and pronunciation.

Je becomes j' before a verb that starts with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u, or silent h).
Adore starts with the vowel sound a, so je adore becomes j'adore in both writing and speech.

Other examples:

j'aime (not je aime)
j'écoute (not je écoute)
j'habite (not je habite)

What’s the difference between j’adore and j’aime here?

Both mean that you like something, but the intensity is different.

J’aime la liberté de me lever tard. = I like the freedom to get up late.
J’adore la liberté de me lever tard. = I love the freedom to get up late.

In everyday speech:

adorer is stronger and more enthusiastic than aimer.
Using j’adore here sounds natural and emphasizes how much the speaker enjoys this freedom.

Why do we say la liberté with la, when in English we just say “freedom” without “the”?

French often uses the definite article (le / la / les) with abstract nouns in a general sense, where English omits “the”.

La liberté, c’est important. = Freedom is important.
L’amour est compliqué. = Love is complicated.

In this sentence, la liberté means freedom in general, not a specific freedom at one particular moment. French prefers la liberté rather than just liberté in this type of expression.

So:

English: I love freedom…
French: J’adore la liberté…

Why is it la liberté de me lever tard and not la liberté à me lever tard?

This is a pattern:
liberté de + infinitive = the freedom to + verb.

After the noun liberté, French uses de (not à) before an infinitive that explains what you are free to do.

la liberté de choisir = the freedom to choose
la liberté de parler = the freedom to speak
la liberté de voyager = the freedom to travel

So we say:

la liberté de me lever tard, not la liberté à me lever tard.

Why is it me lever and not me lève after de?

After de, we need an infinitive form of the verb, not a conjugated form.

lever = to raise / to lift
se lever = to get up (reflexive verb)

In se lever, the reflexive pronoun se changes with the subject:

je me lève
tu te lèves
il / elle se lève

When the verb is in the infinitive (after de, pour, etc.), the reflexive pronoun also changes to match the subject, but the verb itself stays in the infinitive:

je veux me lever tôt = I want to get up early
tu veux te lever tôt = you want to get up early

So:

la liberté de me lever tard = the freedom (for me) to get up late
la liberté de me lève tard is incorrect because lève is a conjugated form, not an infinitive.

Why is it tard and not something like tardement?

In French, tard is already an adverb meaning late (in time). There is no tardement in standard French.

Je me couche tard. = I go to bed late.
Je suis rentré tard. = I got home late.

So me lever tard literally means to get up late. You simply use tard after the verb; you don’t need to form another adverb.

What’s the difference between tard and en retard?

Both relate to “late”, but they’re used differently:

tard = late in the day / at a late hour (neutral; about time of day).
- Je me lève tard. = I get up late.
- Il dîne tard. = He eats dinner late.
en retard = late in the sense of “not on time”, “running late”, “behind schedule”.
- Je suis en retard. = I’m late.
- Le train est en retard. = The train is late.

In the sentence, we’re talking about getting up at a late hour, not about being late for something, so tard is correct.

Could we put en vacances at the end of the sentence instead of the beginning?

Yes, that’s possible, and it’s still correct, but the nuance changes slightly.

En vacances, j’adore la liberté de me lever tard.
→ Emphasis on “when I’m on vacation” as the setting.
J’adore la liberté de me lever tard en vacances.
→ Emphasis on the freedom itself, and the fact that this freedom exists during vacations.

Both are grammatical. Starting with En vacances sounds very natural and is a common way to set the scene.

How would you say something like “I love the freedom of being able to sleep late” in French?

You can make the idea more explicit with pouvoir or with a common idiom:

With pouvoir (to be able to):
- En vacances, j’adore la liberté de pouvoir me lever tard.
  = On vacation, I love the freedom of being able to get up late.
Using the idiom faire la grasse matinée (to sleep in / have a lie‑in):
- En vacances, j’adore la liberté de faire la grasse matinée.
  = On vacation, I love the freedom of sleeping in.

The original sentence is simpler and perfectly natural, but these are good alternatives to know.

How would you make this sentence negative?

To negate j’adore, you use ne … pas around the verb:

En vacances, je n’adore pas la liberté de me lever tard.
= On vacation, I don’t love the freedom to get up late.

In spoken French, people often drop ne, especially in casual speech:

En vacances, j’adore pas la liberté de me lever tard. (very informal)

Grammatically “correct” written French keeps ne:
je n’adore pas.