Faux Amis

1)      Blessé

The French verb “blessé” looks a lot like “blessed”, but its meaning is radically different.

“Blessé” means “wounded”.

2)      Pain

“Pain” looks like an English word you know, but it actually means “bread”. The French word for “pain” is “douleur”.

3)      Point

In French “un point” is a “spot”. If you want to say “goal” say “but”.

4)      Habit

In English a habit is something you regularly do, but in French “un habit” is simply an item of clothing.

5)      Librairie

In French “une librairie” is a book shop and not a library. A library is “une bibliothèque”.

By the way, if you go to Paris make sure you visit the wonderful Shakespeare & Company book shop near Notre Dame

6)      Coin

“Un coin” means a corner and not a “coin”. If you want to talk about coins, use the word “monnaie” or “pièce” instead.

7)      Pièce

“Pièce” can either mean “coin” or “room”, but it never means “a piece of something”.

8)      Monnaie

Talking about “monnaie”… In French “monnaie” means “change” or “coins”. The word for “money” is “argent”.

9)      Car

 “Car” is a formal way to say “because” in French. If you want to translate the English word “car”, say “voiture” instead.

10)  Location

If you get lost and want to ask where a building is located, don’t use the word “location”, because it means “rental”. You can however use the word “emplacement”.

11)  Actuellement

Most French words ending in “ellement” have their English equivalent ending in “ally”.

Naturellement naturally Accidentellement accidentally Exceptionnellement exceptionally

Etc. But “actuellement” doesn’t mean “actually”, it means “currently”.

12)  Eventuellement

In France “éventuellement” means “possibly” and not “eventually”.

13)  Déception

“Une déception” means a disappointment and not “a deception”. If you want to say “deception”, use the word “tromperie” instead.

14)  Rester

“Rester” looks like the English verb “to rest”, but it actually means “to stay”. “To rest” is “se reposer”.

15)  Attendre

In French when a person “attend”, it means she is waiting for something or someone. If you want to say “to attend”, use “assister” instead.

16)  Douche

No “douche” isn’t a way to insult someone in French. It simply means “shower”.

17)  Grand

While it can mean “great” like in English, “grand” mostly means “tall” in French. Grand can mean great (un grand écrivain is a great writer), but it can also simply mean big. When used to describe a person’s physical appearance, it means tall.

18)  Joli

In French “joli” means “pretty” and not “jolly”. If you want to say “jolly”, use the word “joyeux” instead.

19)  Bouton

“Bouton” does means “button”, but it also means “pimple”, so make sure the meaning is as clear as your skin when you use it.

20)  Sale

If you see that something is “sale”, it doesn’t mean it’s on sale, but rather that it’s dirty. If you want to talk about “sales”, say “les soldes” instead.

21)  Envie

“Avoir envie de” is a common French expression meaning “to want something”, but it doesn’t mean you’re jealous. The French word for “jealous” is “jaloux”.

22)  Grappe/Grape

Une grappe de raisins does indeed mean a bunch of grapes, but don’t get confused; grappe means bunch. You can also have une grappe de bananes without a grape in sight.

23)  Passer/Pass

Passer un examen does not mean to pass an exam. Rather, it means to take an exam. So if a French friend who’s been learning to drive says “J’ai passé le code ce matin,” do not immediately start congratulating him or her on passing their driving test. You need to wait until they get their email or letter telling them the result before you start celebrating! To pass, in the English sense you’re probably more familiar with, is réussir.

24)  Prune/Prune

You can’t trust words that describe fruits and their dried equivalents. Une prune is a plum. When you dry une prune to turn it into a prune, it becomes un pruneau.

25)  Raisin/Raisin

Another tricky fruit to watch: un raisin is a grape. Raisins and sultanas are both called raisins secs, or dried grapes – which is logical because it’s what they are, but it does make for linguistic confusion.

26)  Attendre/Attend

Attendre means to wait for. Je t’attends is one of the little phrases that boyfriends and girlfriends often text to each other when they’re spending time apart. They’re really aying “I’m waiting for you,” and not “I’m attending to you.”