Language/French/Grammar/Namesake

Les homonymes (namesakes)

Dear French learners 😊

In this lesson, we will learn some useful homonymes in French.

Homonymes or namesakes are words that are pronounced in the same way but have a different meaning.

Happy learning!

Namesakes with "VER"

• Je suis allé me promener vers la boulangerie. (I went for a walk to the bakery.) = Direction

• J'ai peint la grille en vert. (I painted the grid in green) = Colour

• J'ai trouvé un ver de terre. (I found an earthworm.) = Animal

• Maman m'a servi un verre de jus d'orange. (Mom served me a glass of orange juice.) = Objet

Namesakes with "SAL"

• Nous dînons dans la salle à manger. (We’re having dinner in the dining room.) = Room

• Lave tes mains, elles sont sales. (Wash your hands, they’re dirty.) = Dirty

• Toute la salle applaudit. (The whole room applauds.) = the public

• Je sale les tomates. (I'm salting tomatoes) = Verb "saler", to salt

Namesakes with "COUR"

• Les enfants jouent dans la cour de récréation. (Children play in the playground.) = a place

• Les élèves ont eu un cours d'histoire. (The students had a history class.) = lesson

• Mon pantalon est trop court. (My pants are too short.) = lenght

• Après la pluie, le court de tennis est impraticable. (After the rain, the tennis court is impassable.)

• À la chasse à courre, on utlise une meute. (When hunting, we use a pack)

• Louis XIV installe sa cour à Versailles. (Louis XIV sets up his court at Versailles.) = Here, the main people who make up the entourage of Louis XIV.

Other example

• Une pâte à crêpe/La patte du chien. (A pancake batter/The dog’s paw.)

• Une chaine de vélo/Une porte en chêne. (A bike chain/ An oak door.)

• Un bon maître d'école/Un mètre de tissu. (A good teacher/One meter of fabric.)

• La mère de famille/Le maire du village/le bord de mer. (The mother of the family/the mayor of the village/the seaside.)

• Un espoir vain/Vingt mille lieues/Soutirer du vin. (A vain hope/Twenty thousand leagues/Drinking wine.)

• Une tente/ma tante. (A tent/my aunt.)

• la faim/la fin. (hunger/the end.)

• le port/le porc. (the port/the pig.)

• un seau/être sot/un saut. (a bucket/be sit/jump.)

Other Lessons

• Directly transitive verbs without objects
• Direct object quantifiers and « en »
• Typical use of the definite article
• Position of subject pronouns
• on as an equivalent for English 'you'
• Choice of some time adverbs relative to the moment of speaking
• Subject verb agreement — Agreement with more than one subject
• Stressed pronouns used as the object of a preposition
• Subject verb agreement — Agreement with more than one subject linked by “et”
• Polite Form