Faux amis, or false friends, can trick you into making mistakes because they look like certain English words, but have an entirely different meaning in French. In many instances, despite having the same or similar spellings, the words in English and French can even be different parts of speech. Beware of the tricky
faux amis in Table
1 .
TABLE 1
Advanced False Friends
English
French
Meaning
bless (v)
blesser (v)
to wound
bra (n)
le bras(n)
arm
bride (n)
la bride (n)
bridle
car (n)
car (conj)
because
chair (n)
la chair(n)
skin
chose (v)
la chose(n)
thing
cry (v)
crier(v)
to shout
fond (a)
le fond (n)
back, bottom
four (a)
le four(n)
oven
laid (v)
laid(a)
ugly
large (a)
large (a)
wide
lime (n)
la lime (n)
file
lit (v)
le lit(n)
bed
liver (n)
le livre(n)
book
main (a)
la main (n)
hand
manger (n)
manger (v)
to eat
ours (a)
l'ours (n)
bear
pour (v)
pour(prep)
for, in order to
prune (n)
la prune (n)
plum
raisin (n)
le raisin(n)
grape
ranger (n)
ranger(v)
to tidy
Roman (a)
le roman (n)
novel
sang (v)
le sang(n)
blood
sensible (a)
sensible (a)
sensitive
sent (v)
sentir(v)
to smell, to feel
sold (v)
le solde (n)
sale
son (n)
son (pron) OR (n)
his, her OR sound
stage (n)
le stage(n)
training course
store (n)
le store(n)
shade
ton (n)
ton (pron)
your
tot (n)
tôt(adv)
early
(The part of speech is indicated by “n” [noun], “pron” [pronoun], “v” [verb], “adv” [adverb], “a” [adjective], “conj” [conjunction], or “prep” [preposition].)
French II: Synonyms and Antonyms
French II: Everyday Words and Phrases
