Language/French/Vocabulary/False-Friends

What are the most embarrassing ENGLISH/FRENCH false friends?

Here is a list of words that sound the same in English and French but have very different meanings. Those words are called "false friends".

Let's start with the most embarrassing ones (with the Warning sign), you must absolutely not confuse.

We'll then continue with some more gentle ones.

The most embarrassing

"Bras" and "Bras"

"Le bras" refers to "an arm" while "bras" in English is translated by "soutien-gorge".

"Excité" and "Excited"

If you are very excited to do something, don't say: "Je suis très excité de faire ça", because "excité" in French means "aroused".

You would rather say "Je suis très content de faire ça".

Comment: Il faut pas exagérer. Oui excité peut avoir le sens d'aroused, mais c'est pas le seul. Un parent qui dit que sa fille de cinq ans est excitée par l'approche de Noël n'a aucune implication sexuelle. Oui, il faut faire attention aux contextes ambigus ou en présence d'adolescents qui sortent de leur premier cours d'éducation sexuelle (il faut alors utiliser énervé), mais en présence d'adultes n'ayant pas l'esprit trop taquin (c'est vrai que certains ont toujours l'air de n'être pas sorti de l'adolescence), il n'y a pas de problèmes. On ne dira cependant pas "Je suis très excité de faire ça", mais parce que c'est mal formé. "Je suis très excité à l'idée de faire ça" passera beaucoup mieux mais le sens me semble être plus fort qu'en anglais, utiliser une formulation à base d'impatient peut être plus proche du sens recherché. "J'ai pas dormi de la nuit, j'étais trop excité par mon examen" est quelque chose que même un adolescent peut dire sans impliquer une nuit de folie.

"Chatte" and "to chat"

The verb "to chat" means in English "have a light conversation" and is translated "Bavarder" in French. "Chat" pronounced with a hard T at the end is the slang for a woman’s private parts (chatte in French). So be careful with that word!

Comment: Chatte c'est d'abord la femelle du chat. Ça désigne aussi le sexe de la femme, mais à nouveau le contexte fait tout.

"Slip" and "Slip"

"slip" in French translates into "men’s briefs". "have a slip" is translated "glisser" in French.

"Traînée" and "Trainee"

The word "trainee" sounds very similar to the French word "traînée". Trainee is translated "Stagiaire" in French while "traînée" means "a woman of an promiscuous nature".

• "Je suis une trainée" means "I am a bitch" and not "I am a trainee".

"l’air con" and "Air Con"

"avoir l’air con" means in French "to look stupid" while "Air Con" is the abbreviation for "Air Conditioning".

• "Il a l'air con" means "he looks stupid" (and not he has Air Con).

"Introduire" and "Introduce"

Naturally, English speakers would think it means "to introduce" which actually means "to penetrate" or "to insert".

So next time you meet French people and want to tell them to "introduce each other”, the verb you’re looking for is “se présenter”.

Do not say "permettez-moi de vous introduire"!, but "Permettez-moi de vous présenter".

Any native french speaker would just interpret it in the usual sense, especially if you finished it with a person, e.g. "permettez-moi de vous introduire mon frère" but people might start to laugh when they hear that.

"Luxuriouse" and "luxurieux"

Even though “luxe” means luxury, if you want to say “luxurious” don’t try to say “luxurieux” because it means “lustful”. If you want to say “you lived in a luxurious hotel” your French guests might start thinking you spent the last days at a swingers club.

Comment: Luxure est un mot recherché pour lust (c'est celui qui est utilisé pour nommer le péché capital par exemple)

"Preservative" and "Préservatif "

In French if you’re asking for "a préservatif" you are asking for a condom and not a preservative!

Do not ask: "je voudrais mon repas sans préservatifs s'il vous plaît", say "Je voudrais un repas sans CONSERVATEURS" instead.

"I am hot" / "Je suis chaud"

Do not translate "I am hot" by "Je suis chaud" ou "Je suis chaude" mais par "j'ai chaud". "Je suis chaud(e)" has a sexual connotation, it means "I want to have sex".

"I feel bad" / "Je sens mauvais"

Do not say "Je sens mauvais" for "I feel bad".

"Je sens mauvais" means "I smell bad".

Say "Je me sens mal" instead.

Others

After having explained the most annoying false friends, let's continue with some more gentle ones:

"Apologie" and "Apology"

"Une apologie" in French is "a speech to convince someone of the correctness of something". It's not translated by "An apology" (say you are sorry). Il a fait l'aplologie du capitalisme = He made the defense of capitalism.

Actually "apologie" and "apology" have opposite meanings.

"Blesser" and "Bless"

"Blesser" and "Bless" also have quite opposite meaning. “blessez-vous” does not mean "Bless you" but "hurt yourself".

"Chair" and "Chair"

"chair" in French means "flesh" while "chair" is translated by "chaise" in French. Don't say at a party "Je cherche une chair" but "Je cherche une chaise".

"Actuellement" and "Actually"

"Actuellement, je travaille à Paris" is not translated by "Actually I work in Paris" but by "Currently, I work in Paris".

• Actuellement means "Currently"
• Actually means "in fact" and should be translated as "en fait".

"Éventuellement" and "eventually"

"Éventuellement" means "possibly".

"Eventually" can be translated as "finalement" (finally).

"Compréhensif" and "comprehensive"

"Compréhensif" means "understanding" while "comprehensive" can be translated as "complet" (detailed).

"Assister" and "to assist"

"J'ai assité à un concert" is not translated by "I assisted a concert" but by "I attended a concert".

• "Assister" means "to attend something".
• "To assist" means "to help".

"Attendre" and "Attend"

"Je dois attendre mon ami" is not translated by "I must attend my friend" but by "I must wait for my friend".

• "Attendre" means "to wait for".
• "To attend" is translated by "to assist"

"Caractère" and "Character"

"Caractère" in French refers only to the temperament of a person:

• Cette maison a du caractère - This house has character.

Character in English means both nature/temperament as well as a person in a play.

• Avoir un bon caractère: To be of a good nature

"In this movie the main character is..." is not translated by "Dans ce film, le caractères principal est...” but by "Dans ce film, le personnage principal est...".

"Cent" and "Cent"

"Cent" in French means "a hundred", while "cen" in English can be translated by "un centime".

"Chance" and "Chance"

"La chance" in French means "luck", while "chance" in English is translated by "un hasard" in French.

• "I didn't have a chance to..." is translated by "Je n'ai pas eu l'occasion de.."
• "Je n'ai pas eu la chance de..." is translated by "I did not have the luck to..."

"Coin" and "Coin"

In French, "Le coin" refers to "a corner". It can also mean "around here". from the area:

• Etes-vous du coin ? : Are you from around here?

In English "A coin" is a a small, round piece of metal that is used as money. In French it's translated by : "une pièce de monnaie".

"Collège" and "College"

Those ones are really easy to confuse. "Collège" means Middle School or High School, while College is translated by "Université".

Examples:

• Combien y-a-t il d'élèves dans ton collège ? : How many students are there in your high school?

• Je voudrais continuer mes études jusqu'à l'université : I would like to continue my studies up to university

"piles" and "Pill"

After a brutal headache, you decide to go to the nearest pharmacy to buy pills. French people will think you are asking for “piles”, or batteries. To avoid this confusion (and to make sure you find a cure for your headache), you would better ask for Aspirine.

"Sensible" and "Sensible"

It's not identical words. "Sensible" means "sensitive" in French and you should not use that word when describing your qualities during a job interview. You would rather use the word "raisonnable".

"Blanquette" and "Blanket"

Don't ask your neighbour to lend you a “blanquette” but “une couverture”. Else your neighbour might turn up with a cooked meal made of veal stew (Blanquette de veau) which will not keep you warm at night.

"prejudice" and "préjudice"

• prejudice = préjugé
• préjudice = loss, damage, wrong

"to have money" and "Avoir de la monnaie"

"Avoir de la monnaie" means "to have change" (as in loose coins). It doesn't mean--as the word monnaie might suggest--to have money. That would be avoir de l'argent.

"Change" and "Change"

"Change", in the context of money, refers to currency exchange, not change (as in loose coins).

Example: Le taux de change euro/dollar continue à fluctuer considérablement. On the other hand, the equivalent of "a change" (in a generic sense), would be un changement.

"concourse" and "concours"

"Un concour"s means a contest, not "a concourse".