{"id":116882,"date":"2023-07-15T00:40:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-15T04:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/faux-amis-french-false-friends-cognates\/"},"modified":"2025-06-16T12:49:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T16:49:53","slug":"faux-amis-french-false-friends-cognates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/faux-amis-french-false-friends-cognates\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Common French False Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

French and English share a complicated linguistic history, leaving us to juggle loads of faux amis<\/em> (false friends): words that look alike but don’t always mean the same thing. And these false cognates can cause confusion and even embarrassment if you’re not careful.<\/p>\n

By learning these false cognates now, you’ll save yourself from future confusion and embarrassment.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Ancien<\/i>\/Ancient<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ancien<\/i> can mean “ancient,” but more often it means “former.” It\u2019s important to know that un ancien combattant\u00a0<\/em>means “an old soldier” in the sense of “a former soldier.” It doesn’t mean that he\u2019s as old as Methuselah. Similarly, the ancien maire<\/em> of a commune is the “former mayor,” who might still be a young man; your ancienne voiture<\/em> is the car you used to own; and l\u2019ancienne gare<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>describes the former station building, probably converted to another use such as a house, a shop, or a caf\u00e9.\u00a0A good rule of thumb is that if ancien<\/i> comes before the noun, it usually means “former” rather than “ancient”\/\u201cold.”<\/p>\n

2. Attendre<\/em>\/Attend<\/h2>\n

\"attendattendre\"<\/p>\n

Attendre\u00a0<\/i>means “to wait for.” Je t\u2019attends<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>is one of the little phrases that boyfriends and girlfriends often text to each other when they\u2019re spending time apart. They’re really saying “I\u2019m waiting for you,” and not “I\u2019m attending to you.” If you\u2019re planning on romancing someone in French<\/a> you\u2019ll need to know this distinction (and learning these French romance words<\/a> too wouldn’t hurt!).<\/p>\n

3. Bras<\/i>\/Bras<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Votre bras<\/em> means “your arm,” the limb between your shoulder and your wrist. It has no connection whatsoever with female undergarments. The French word for “a bra” is un soutien-gorge<\/em>.<\/p>\n

4. Brasserie<\/i>\/Brassiere<\/h2>\n

\"brassierebrasserie\"<\/p>\n

Again, no connection with lingerie. Une brasserie\u00a0<\/em>is either “a brewery,” or “a bar” that serves meals.<\/p>\n

5. Bless\u00e9<\/i><\/b>\/Blessed<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"blessedblesse\u0301\"<\/p>\n

Blesser<\/em> means “to wound,” either emotionally or physically. So un enfant bless\u00e9<\/em>\u00a0is not a child that you are expected to kneel down and worship, but more likely a child that needs patching up<\/a> with an antiseptic wipe and a bandage.<\/p>\n

6. Bouton<\/i>\/Button<\/h2>\n

\"buttonbouton\"<\/p>\n

Bouton\u00a0<\/i>does indeed mean “button,” but you might be mystified to hear French teenagers complaining about their boutons<\/em>. They’re actually worrying about their complexions, since un bouton<\/em>\u00a0also means “a pimple.” Teenspeak can often be baffling to the uninitiated, but these French slang words<\/a> will help you keep up with le langage des ados\u00a0<\/em>(teenspeak).<\/p>\n

7. Monnaie<\/i>\/Money<\/h2>\n

\"moneymonnaie\"<\/p>\n

Monnaie<\/i> means “loose change.” A person who gets to the checkout and says they have no monnaie<\/i>\u00a0is apologizing for not having the right change. You could easily have no\u00a0monnaie,<\/i>\u00a0but plenty of money.<\/p>\n

8. D\u00e9ception<\/i>\/Deception<\/h2>\n

\"deceptionde\u0301ception\"<\/p>\n

This is a sneaky\u00a0faux ami<\/i>. The verb decevoir<\/em>,<\/i> the noun d\u00e9ception<\/em>,<\/i> and the adjective d\u00e9\u00e7u<\/em> all have to do with being disappointed or disillusioned<\/a>, and not actually deceived. This could lead to a fundamental misunderstanding if you think that somebody is accusing another person of deceiving them, rather than simply disappointing them.<\/p>\n

9. Envie<\/i>\/Envy<\/h2>\n

\"envyenvie\"<\/p>\n

You need to be careful with this one. The verb envier<\/em>\u00a0can be used in the sense of \u201cto envy,\u201d but the noun envie<\/em> means “wish” or “desire.” You could say \u201cJ\u2019ai envie d\u2019une glace,\u201d<\/em> meaning \u201cI want ice cream.\u201d What you shouldn’t say is \u201cJ\u2019ai envie de toi\u201d<\/em>\u00a0if you mean \u201cI envy you,\u201d because what you would actually be saying is, \u201cI want you.\u201d Of course, if you listen to French pop music<\/a>\u00a0and watch French movies<\/a>\u00a0as part of your language learning strategy, you won\u2019t fall into this trap because that particular phrase crops up very regularly whenever love and passion come into song lyrics or movie scripts.<\/p>\n

10. Grand<\/i>\/Grand<\/h2>\n

\"ungrande\u0301crivainungrandehomme\"<\/p>\n

Grand\u00a0<\/i>can mean “great” (un grand \u00e9crivain<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>is a great writer), but it can also simply mean “big.” When used to describe a person\u2019s physical appearance, it means “tall.”<\/p>\n

11. Grappe<\/i>\/Grape<\/h2>\n

\"grapegrappe\"<\/p>\n

Une grappe de raisins<\/em> does indeed mean “a bunch of grapes,” but don\u2019t get confused; grappe<\/i> means “bunch.” You can also have une grappe de bananes<\/em>\u00a0without a grape in sight.<\/p>\n

12. Joli<\/em>\/Jolly<\/h2>\n

\"jollyjolie\"<\/p>\n

Joli\/Jolie<\/i>\u00a0means “pretty,” and is used to describe objects as well as people.<\/p>\n

13. Journ\u00e9e<\/em>\/Journey<\/h2>\n

\"journeyjourne\u0301e\"<\/p>\n

This is a very common false friend. Une journ\u00e9e<\/em> is “a day,” so if somebody wishes you \u201cbonne journ\u00e9e,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0they are saying \u201chave a nice day.\u201d It doesn’t mean they think you\u2019re going off on a journey.<\/p>\n

14. Librairie<\/em>\/Library<\/h2>\n

\"librarylibrairie\"<\/p>\n

This is another\u2014often confused\u2014faux amis<\/i>. There is a book connection, but une librairie<\/em> is where you go to buy a book, not to borrow one. It means a “bookshop” or “newsstand.” If you want “a library,” it is une biblioth\u00e8que<\/em>,<\/i> or these days, it\u2019s often part of la m\u00e9diath\u00e8que<\/em>.\u00a0<\/i>Keep these differences in mind while hunting down your next French book<\/a>\u00a0for your language learning routine!<\/p>\n

15. Location<\/em>\/Location\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"locationlocation\"<\/p>\n

Location<\/i> means “rental.” This can cause confusion because you often see advertisements describing \u201cLes meilleures locations\u00a0de vacances,”<\/em>\u00a0which looks as if it is saying \u201cthe best\u00a0vacation\u00a0locations.\u201d It actually specifically means \u201cthe best holiday rentals,\u201d so it\u2019s all about accommodation\u00a0for rent as opposed to places to visit.<\/p>\n

16. Coin<\/em>\/Coin\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"coincoin\"<\/p>\n

Coin<\/i> is the French word for “corner.” It has nothing whatsoever to do with the jingling money in your purse\u2014those are pi\u00e8ces de monnaie<\/em>. Dans le coin<\/em> means “in the immediate neighborhood,” and \u201ccoin-coin\u201d<\/em>\u00a0is what French ducks say<\/a> instead of \u201cquack quack\u201d.<\/p>\n

17. Passer<\/em>\/Pass<\/h2>\n

\"passanexampasserunexamen\"<\/p>\n

Passer un examen<\/em> does not mean to pass an exam. Rather, it means “to take an exam.” So if a French friend who\u2019s been learning to drive says \u201cJ\u2019ai pass\u00e9 le code ce matin,\u201d<\/em> 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 r\u00e9ussir<\/em>.<\/p>\n

18. Pr\u00e9servatif<\/em>\/Preservative<\/h2>\n

\"preservativepre\u0301servatif\"<\/p>\n

This one is possibly the most treacherous\u00a0faux ami\u00a0<\/i>of all. Un pr\u00e9servatif<\/em> is “a condom.” If you want a food preservative or wood preservative, do not ask for un pr\u00e9servatif!<\/i><\/p>\n

19. Prune<\/i>\/Prune<\/h2>\n

\"pruneprune\"<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t trust words that describe fruits<\/a> and their dried equivalents. Une prune<\/em> is “a plum.” When you dry une prune<\/i> to turn it into a prune, it becomes un pruneau<\/em>.<\/p>\n

20. Raisin<\/em>\/Raisin<\/h2>\n

\"raisinraisin\"<\/p>\n

Another tricky fruit to watch: un raisin<\/em> is “a grape.” “Raisins” and “sultanas” are both called raisins secs<\/em>, or dried grapes\u2014which is logical because it\u2019s what they are, but it does make for linguistic confusion.<\/p>\n

What Are French False Friends (aka Faux Amis<\/em>)?<\/h2>\n

When French words look like English words, they really ought to mean the same thing, oughtn’t they? Often they do, fortunately, but some words don\u2019t play fair. And those are the\u00a0faux amis,<\/i>\u00a0<\/i>which literally translates to “false friends.” These words can easily trick you into getting the wrong end of the stick, or to say something senseless or embarrassing that you hadn’t intended at all.<\/p>\n

The Challenge of French False Cognates<\/h2>\n

False cognates\u00a0are words that look identical in both languages but whose meanings differ.<\/strong> For the purposes of this blog, we\u2019re also including “semi-false cognates” in our list of\u00a0faux amis<\/i>. Semi-false cognates are words that don\u2019t look exactly the same, but they’re similar enough to invite confusion. An example of a French false cognate is the word grand.<\/em>\u00a0If you visit a grand\u00a0<\/em>city, you would expect to see impressive buildings since the English “grand” means it has a wow factor. But if you go to une grande ville<\/em> expecting to be wowed, you’ll probably end up being disappointed instead. That’s because in French, the adjective grand\/grande<\/em> often simply means “big.” The town could be a dump, but if it\u2019s big it could correctly be described as grande<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"faux<\/a><\/p>\n

Semi-false cognates can set you up for disappointments too.<\/strong> For instance, you might fix up a blind date with une jolie fille<\/em>, confidently looking forward to a fun evening with plenty of laughs. A jolly girl is sure to have a good sense of humor and be great company, even if she leaves something to be desired in the looks department. But since the French adjective<\/a> joli<\/em> does not mean jolly, but rather means “pretty,” you could be wrong on both counts. She\u2019ll be drop-dead gorgeous, but she might turn out to be as miserable as sin and not crack a smile all evening. The consequences of being led astray by a false friend can range from being left feeling slightly puzzled, to suffering acute embarrassment when you see, from the other person\u2019s reaction, that you’ve said something rather shocking.<\/p>\n

How to Learn French Faux Amis<\/em><\/h2>\n

French false friends can be a bit intimidating at first. However, making funny mistakes is just\u00a0part of the learning process. Many of these silly slips ups tend to get a big laugh from native conversation partners<\/a>.\u00a0As you probably noticed, some mixed up words could cause a real scandal! The further you progress in your French language learning, the better you will come to know these common French false friends. Beware, though: there are plenty more out there!<\/p>\n

The more you expose yourself to the French language, the more these faux amis<\/em> will make themselves apparent\u2014however, they\u2019re not always immediately obvious unless you\u2019re also able to see the English translation.<\/p>\n

Resources which allow you to see both French and English are ideal for detecting them, such as books, audio transcripts and video subtitles that contain parallel text.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The best advice when learning French vocabulary is to not fret over possible mistakes\u2014simply learn all you can, lighten up, and learn to laugh at yourself whenever this tricky language happens to trip you up!<\/p>\n

Bonne chance !<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And One More Thing...<\/h2>\r\n

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\r\nFluentU makes it easier (and way more fun) to learn French by making real content like movies and series accessible to learners. You can check out FluentU's curated video library, or bring our learning tools directly to Netflix or YouTube<\/strong> with the FluentU Chrome extension. \r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\"learn-french-with-videos\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\r\nOne of the features I find most helpful is the interactive captions<\/strong>\u2014you can tap on any word to see its meaning, an image, pronunciation, and other examples from different contexts. It\u2019s a great way to pick up French vocab without having to pause and look things up separately.\r\n<\/p>

\r\n\"learn-french-with-movies\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\r\nFluentU also helps reinforce what you\u2019ve learned<\/strong> with personalized quizzes. You can swipe through extra examples and complete engaging exercises that adapt to your progress. You'll get extra practice with the words you find more challenging and even be reminded you when it\u2019s time to review!\r\n<\/p>

\r\n\"practice-french-with-adaptive-quizzes\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\r\nYou can use FluentU on your computer, tablet, or phone with our app for Apple or Android devices. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

French and English share a complicated linguistic history, leaving us to juggle loads of (false friends): words that look alike but don’t always mean the same thing. And these false…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":116883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"20 Common French False Friends | FluentU French Blog","description":"Learning French faux amis will help save you from any potential misunderstandings! There are so many frequently used French words that appear to be cognates but actually have different meanings. From \"grappe\" to \"joli,\" check out this post to find 20 of the most common French false friends to watch out for!"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[570,571],"tags":[],"coauthors":[27],"class_list":["post-116882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-french","category-french-vocabulary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116882"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254501,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116882\/revisions\/254501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116882"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=116882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}