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Faux Amis

The following is a list I've made of French words that resemble English ones but in reality are different. I'm not interested in words (such as "poison" and "six" and "fiancé") that are the same in both languages. Would you care to add to this list?

assist

attend

bless

bras

but

cave

chair

chat

choir

chose

comment

figure

fin

four

irons

laid

lit

main

met

ours

pain

pays

pour

sale

sang

seize

smoking

son

sort

store

tape

tire

ton

tour

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ed la mouette on May 25, 2011 at 4:52pm

True. In French, we can say "je supporte Manchester United mais je ne supporte pas leurs supporters (I support M.U. but i can't stand their supporters).

That makes me think of another faux-ami : stand.

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Permalink Reply by Dwayne Roberts on May 25, 2011 at 10:09pm

Very interesting !

So, as I understand you, one would not say, C'est un plaisir pour moi supporter cet hôpital d'enfants.

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Permalink Reply by Ed la mouette on May 26, 2011 at 6:23am

Right. It would be : C'est un plaisir pour moi d'aider cet hôpital pour enfants.

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Permalink Reply by Dwayne Roberts on May 25, 2011 at 9:58pm

rue

Ce verbe anglais est un peu rare - du moins aux États-Unis. Je crois que les Britanniques utilisent ce mot plus facilement. Sa signification est similaire à regreter. On pourrait dire, par exemple, "I rue the day (that) I met you" - un sentiment malheureux.

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Permalink Reply by Dwayne Roberts on May 25, 2011 at 10:56pm

I was very tempted to add the word

pendant

to this list, but I will refrain for now.

En anglais, je crois qu'on se serve ce mot exclusivement pour une type de collier.

In French, it usually means during or while, but I think it may also mean a kind of necklace, as it does in English. Ai-je raison ?

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Permalink Reply by Ed la mouette on May 26, 2011 at 6:22am

I don't think you're right. We say pendentif, for a necklace with a little suspended thing to it.

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Permalink Reply by Dwayne Roberts on May 26, 2011 at 6:38pm

Excellent !

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Permalink Reply by lauris on May 26, 2011 at 9:58am

I think we can add the verb to assume :

in french, you can't use it to express the idea of supposition. "Assumer" only means to take upon yourself as in "J'assume les conséquences de mes actes".