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Ten french faux pas12/5/2023 ![]() ![]() Il faut que je fasse la vaisselle, mais j’ai la flemme. Les étudiants ont la flemme de faire leurs devoirs.The students are too lazy to do their homework. Avoir la flemme de… is a common idiom which means “ to not be bothered to do…”, or “to be too lazy to do”. If you hear someone say >, they’re not talking about hacking a loogie. If you wanted to use the English meaning of sort, use un type or une sorte. ![]() She believes that a witch put a spell on her. Fate decided otherwise.Įlle croit qu’une sorcière l’a jetée un sort. It has nothing to do with a type, or kind. In French, le sort refers to fate or destiny. White meat is lower in fat than red meat.Ĭhair can also be used as an adjective meaning skin-coloured. La chair blanche est moins riche en matière grasse que la chair rouge. La chair can also mean meat, often in the context of distinguishing between red and white meat: He is my brother, my own flesh and blood. The flesh of a plum is yellowish or reddish. La chair d’une prune est jaunâtre ou rougeâtre. The surgeons cut into the flesh during the operation. Les chirurgiens ont taillé dans la chair pendant l’opération. To say an advertisement in French, you can use une publicité, often shortened to une pub. You have to pay attention to the warnings. Il faut que l’on fasse attention aux avertissements. Les adolescents ont reçu un avertissement de la police.The teenagers received a warning from the police. It comes from the verb avertir, which means “to warn”. Un avertissement is a warning, not an advertisement. Je t’en supplie ! / Je vous en supplie !I’m begging you.įor the English meaning of to supply, you can use fournir. Its meaning has nothing to do with that of “to supply”. Supplier translates as to beg, to implore, to beseech. Rosenthal, whose books have been a great resources for me over the years. If you’re interested in trying to learn a lot more, I’d personally recommend French Faux Amis, The Combined Book by Saul H. ![]() There’s a countless number of French/English false friends, and this article is just a handful of them. Instead, I’ve included the meanings that are most often used so that this list is as useful possible. It’s important to remember that some of these words have lots of minor meanings in both French and English, and it would be futile for me to try and list them all. Here’s our list of 15 faux amis that you are likely to encounter. When learning French, you’re also likely to come across “semi-false cognates”: cognates that can mean the English word that they resemble, but have at least one other meaning that differs. However, if you do accidentally use one in conversation – most likely through putting an English word in a French accent and thinking the meaning is the same – the results can be embarrassing! You may also see “false friends” called “false cognates” or “deceptive cognates”.įrench and English share plenty of true cognates (words that appear the same and have the same meanings), so you’d be forgiven for getting caught out by a “false friend”. These faux amis can cause confusion if you read or hear them in context, because you naturally assume that they translate into the English word that they resemble. For those learning French, “false friends” are word pairs that seem the same when spelt or said out loud in French and English, but have different meanings. ![]()
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