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Added by admin June 17, 2015

FRENCH FAUX AMIS

Learn French vocabulary that can be confusing

COMMENT ÇA VA? VOICI VOTRE VIDÉO DU MERCREDI, SUR LES FAUX AMIS… Literally, fake friends. I hope you only have linguistic ones in your life because real life ones suck!

Let’s stick to words here. What are linguistic faux amis? They are French words that look like English words, but actually mean something totally different! The list of faux amis is long, but I’ve made a short selection of a few common ones for you.

First of all guys, don’t ask anyone in a grocery store or a supermarket if such or such product contains preservatives because they may look at you strangely or just burst into laughter. UN PRÉSERVATIF is a condom in French! Food preservatives are DES CONSERVATEURS.

Then UN LUNATIQUE is not a lunatic. It is a moody or whimsical person.

UN JOUR IL DIT BONJOUR, UN AUTRE JOUR IL TIRE LA GUEULE. IL EST LUNATIQUE AU POSSIBLE!

INTOXIQUÉ does not mean intoxicated, it means poisoned. Mind you, you may think it’s close, but it’s not quite the same. IL EST MALADE COMME UN CHIEN, IL S’EST INTOXIQUÉ AVEC DES HUÎTRES.

UNE LIBRAIRIE is a… I’m sure you know that one! A BOOKSTORE. The right word for library is UNE BIBLIOTHÈQUE.

UNE BELLE ÂME SENSIBLE is not a sensible soul, it is a sensitive one. Take care of sensitive souls, they’re precious! UNE PERSONNE SENSÉE is a sensible person.

RESTEZ S’IL VOUS PLAÎT! What am I saying? I’m saying “stay please”! If you wanna say “rest please” you’ll say REPOSEZ-VOUS S’IL VOUS PLAÎT.

Then we’ve got adverbs like EFFECTIVEMENT that means “actually” and not “effectively”. “Effective” translates into “EFFICACE” in French.

Ok, I think that’s enough for today. Those words can get pretty confusing, it’s better not to learn too many at once. Just take time to digest them for now and I’ll talk to you guys on Monday.

BONNE FIN DE SEMAINE!