french-cognates

160+ French Cognates and How to Recognize Even More of Them

You already use French words every day—and not just obvious ones like cliché and à la carte.

There are plenty of essential English vocab words that you can basically pick up and plop right down in your French language studies.

It’s all thanks to cognates.

Cognates are words that have the same linguistic origin. Generally speaking, they look similar and have the same or similar meanings.

It’s no secret that languages often exchange words, but French and English take this to a new level with the sheer number of words they share.

So here are 160+ French cognates, tips for recognizing dozens more and some common false cognates to watch out for.

Contents


French Cognates: Nouns

Many cognates are nouns, because names don’t depend on grammar, meaning languages can exchange these words easily. Take a look:

FrenchEnglishFrenchEnglish
Absence Absence Liberté Liberty
Accident Accident Matériel Material
Banane Banana Musique Music
Ballet Ballet Nation Nation
Calculatrice Calculator Objectif Objective
Capital Capital Opéra Opera
Débat Debate Opération Operation
Décision Decision Pardon Pardon
Différence Difference Passion Passion
Édition Edition Peintre Painter
Émotion Emotion Qualification Qualification
Énergie Energy Qualité Quality
Famille Family Question Question
Festival Festival Raisin Raisin
Génération Generation Révolution Revolution
Grâce Grace Satisfaction Satisfaction
Guitare Guitar Service Service
Histoire History Transaction Transaction
Horreur Horror Télévision Television
Hôpital Hospital Uniforme Uniform
Impression Impression Univers Universe
Information Information Vacances Vacation
Invitation Invitation Visiteur Visitor
Journal Journal Vocabulaire Vocabulary
Juin June Wagon Wagon
Kilogramme KilogramXylophoneXylophone
Kilomètre Kilometer Yaourt Yogurt
Langue Language Zéro Zero

French Cognates: Adjectives

French and English also share many adjective cognates. Below is a list of some examples in their masculine forms:

FrenchEnglishFrenchEnglish
Absolu Absolute Légal Legal
Acceptable Acceptable Logique Logical
Basique Basic Magnifique Magnificent
Britannique British Mental Mental
Catholique Catholic Nerveux Nervous
Clair Clear Naturel Natural
Dangereux Dangerous Ordinaire Ordinary
Dramatique Dramatic Original Original
Électrique Electric Parlementaire Parliamentary
Entier Entire Particulier Particular
Fabuleux Fabulous Romantique Romantic
Fréquent Frequent Régulier Regular
Graduel Gradual Sensible Sensible
Généreux Generous Sincère Sincere
Horrible Horrible Traditionnel Traditional
Illégal Illegal Transparent Transparent
Immense Immense Urgent Urgent
Important Important Vulnérable Vulnerable
Kaki KhakiXénophobeXenophobic

French Cognates: Verbs

And here are some French verbs shared with English:

FrenchEnglishFrenchEnglish
Abandonner To abandon Limiter To limit
Accepter To accept Mentionner To mention
Bloquer To block Modifier To modify
Capturer To capture Naviguer To navigate
Célébrer To celebrate Noter To note
Changer To change Observer To observe
Communiquer To communicate Obtenir To obtain
Détruire To destroy Posséder To possess
Décider To decide Présenter To present
Éditer To edit Qualifier To qualify
Encourager To encourage Répondre To respond
Établir To establish Réserver To reserve
Étudier To study Résister To resist
Fasciner To fascinate Toucher To touch
Finir To finish Transformer To transform
Gouverner To govern Unir To unite
Harceler To harass Utiliser To use
Identifier To identify Valider To validate
Ignorer To ignore Varier To vary
Justifier To justify Zoomer To zoom in

How to Recognize More French Cognates

Words in English that have certain endings are likely to have similar forms in French.

Here’s a list of common English word endings and a small sample of cognates for each. You can play the audio for the French and see the English word in parentheses.

English Word EndingCognate Examples
-able adorable (adorable), recyclable (recyclable)
-al animal (animal), international (international)
-ance ambulance (ambulance), importance (importance)
-ant éléphant (elephant), restaurant (restaurant)
-ary dictionnaire (dictionary), salaire (salary)
-ct insecte (insect), respect (respect)
-ence indépendance (independence), science (science)
-ent adolescent (adolescent), paiement (payment)
-ible visible (visible), possible (possible)
-ical critique (critical), éthique (ethical)
-ion prononciation (pronunciation), région (region)
-ist artiste (artist), sexiste (sexist)
-ly immédiatement (immediately), normalement (normally)

Common False Cognates in French

Be careful—not all familiar words are cognates!

Faux amis (false cognates or literally “false friends”) look the same as words in another language, but aren’t.

While I’ve given you some good tips for recognizing other French-English cognates above, you’ll want to be aware of faux amis and get into the habit of checking a dictionary when you see a familiar-looking word that you don’t know.

Not doing this and accidentally using a false friend will lead to a slight chuckle in most cases, but sometimes it can lead to very embarrassing situations!

I recommend memorizing the most common false cognates to get started:

FrenchEnglish
Actuellement Presently (not actually)
Aimer To like (not to aim)
Attendre To wait (not to attend)
Blesser To hurt (not to bless)
Bras Arm (not bra)
Chair Flesh (not chair)
Coin Corner (not coin)
Déception Disappointment (not deception)
Douche Shower (not the medical device or an obnoxious person)
Éventuellement Possibly (not eventually)
Habit Article of clothing (not habit)
Journée Day (not journey)
Librairie Bookstore (not library)
Location Rent (not location)
Pain Bread (not pain)
Préservatif Condom (not preserves or preservatives)

The best way to get comfortable with these “unfriendly” words is to incorporate authentic French materials into your language studies.

Why Do French and English Share So Many Cognates?

French and English share an amazing number of words. But why is this?

Here are the main reasons:

  • Both are Indo-European languages. To get even more technical, French and English both trace their origins to an extinct proto-language spoken from roughly 4,500 to 2,500 BCE. And that’s exactly what cognates are—words in different languages with the same linguistic origin.
  • French speakers invaded and dominated England for centuries. After the Norman invasion of 1066, French invaders replaced the English nobility and a plethora of words. For centuries, English-speaking servants served French-speaking masters. This is why many English words that predate 1066 have a French-derived synonym.
  • England and France are neighbors. France is the closest mainland European country to England, separated only by a narrow channel. It’s no surprise that, even after the English nobility stopped speaking French, the two languages have continued influencing each other to the present day.

Today, English is the world’s lingua franca, and so many English words have been added to the French lexicon, including week-end, shopping, jogging, marketing and fast-food.

Although these words are considered franglais (a combination of French and English), they also meet the definition of cognates!

 

Cognates are tools that can help you learn French. But like any tool, you have to know how to use it properly.

Fortunately, thanks to cognates, the similarity of English and French vocabulary is one of the reasons why French is very accessible to English speakers

So be wary of those faux amis and learn on!

And one more thing...

If you like learning French on your own time and from the comfort of your smart device, then I'd be remiss to not tell you about FluentU.

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

learn-french-with-videos

FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.

learn-french-with-movies

For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

practice-french-with-subtitled-videos

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

practice-french-with-adaptive-quizzes

All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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