73- 5 False Friends in French (Part I)

 
 

Listen to this episode to learn 5 false-friends in French.

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Links & Cheat Sheet

Transcript

Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!

Hello everyone! Bonjour à tous! Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast! This is episode number 73, numéro 73! 

After doing the last two episodes on grammar, I feel like we need to do something a bit more fun this week. So, in today's episode, we'll learn 5 false friends between French and English that can often create confusion or misunderstanding. And I'll explain what false friends are in just a minute.

Before we start, if you're new to the podcast, don't forget to download your lesson's cheat sheet, so you can have a look at the words while hearing them. 

For this episode, there are no exercises, but you can still go to the French Made Easy library to access all of the other exercises from previous episodes. The link is in the episode notes.

Alright, so between 2 languages, there are many words or expressions that are the same or look similar, and they mean the same thing, which is great! Easier for us to learn these words or expressions.

But, there are also tons of words that are the same or look similar and don't mean the same thing at all! And those words or expressions are called false friends (or a bit fancier, false cognates.) In French: faux-amis.

So that's what we're going to learn in this episode. And I called this episode part I because we'll definitely do a few more episodes with other false friends. 

Ok, vous êtes prêts? Are you ready? C'est parti.

  • Coin vs. Coin

Both are spelled the same way, but "le coin" in French doesn't mean "coin" in English; it means "corner."

Par exemple: La boulangerie est au coin de la rue. (The bakery is at the corner of the street.)

  • Car vs. Car

Again, both are spelled the same way, but "le car" in French doesn't mean "car" in English; it means "because." It also means "bus." And between the two meanings, it will just depend on the context.

Par exemple: Je ne travaille pas aujourd'hui car je suis malade. (I'm not working today because I'm sick.)

Or if we use the other meaning: "Je voyage en car." (I travel by bus.)

  • Librairie vs. Library

We've talked briefly about it a few lessons ago, but "la librairie" en français doesn't mean "library" in English. It means "bookstore."

Par exemple: J'achète un livre à la librairie. (I'm buying a book at the bookstore.)

  • Location vs. Location

Both spelled the same way, but "la location" en français, doesn't mean "location" in English; it means "rental"

Par exemple: Nous cherchons une location. (We're looking for a rental.)

  • Actuellement vs. Actually

That one is a big one! "Actuellement" en français doesn't mean "actually" in English. It means "currently", or "now."

Par exemple: Je suis actuellement en congé. (I'm currently on leave.)

So, quick recap: 

  • le coin (corner)

  • car (because) or le car (bus)

  • la librairie (bookstore)

  • la location (rental)

  • actuellement (currently, or now)

Alright, that's now the end of today's episode! Thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please let me know! I'll chat with you next week! 

Merci beaucoup, et à bientôt.

 
Mathilde KienComment