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.”
