French false friends: a 15-word quiz
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What is the concept of true friends and false friends in French?
Salut, c'est Max de Coffee Break French and today we are playing a game. Oui, un jeu. I'm going to tell you some French words that look or sound exactly the same as English words and your job will be to guess are they true friends or false friends. Un vrai ami ou un faux ami. Some words would mean exactly what you think they mean, some absolutely not. And it's very possible that one or several of these have probably betrayed you in the past without you realizing. The same way they betrayed me in the past many, many times. So keep score while you're playing and tell us your final score. On y va!
On y va! Here's the first one.
Assister à. Vrai ami ou faux ami? Faux ami.
You might think it means to assist or to help. But assister à actually means to attend. Par exemple, j'ai assisté au concert hier soir. I attended the concert yesterday. If you want to say to help, you'd say aider.
Super. On continue. Intelligent. Vrai ami, faux ami. Ouais, intelligent est un vrai ami.
Par exemple, elle est très intelligente. She's very intelligent. That's an easy one. Super. On continue. Éventuellement.
Vrai ami ou faux ami.
As a false friend, it does not mean eventually. It means perhaps or possibly. Par exemple, on peut éventuellement sortir ce soir. We could perhaps go out tonight. Eventually would usually be finalement or au final.
On continue avec le quatrième. Important.
Important est un vrai ami. Super. C'est très important. It's very important. No tricks here. Numéro cinq. Demander. Demander. Vrai ami, faux ami? C'est un faux ami. It looks like to demand, but it simply means to ask. J'ai demandé de l'aide. I asked for help. To demand would be, in French, exiger, which is much stronger than asking. Numéro 6. Restaurant. True or false? Restaurant, I'm sure you've seen this word if you've traveled to a French-speaking country. C'est un vrai ami, a true friend. Ce restaurant est excellent. This restaurant is excellent. Once again, it is what it looks like. On continue numéro 7.
What does 'assister à' mean in French?
Sensible.
Sensible est un faux ami. En français, sensible veut dire sensitive. Par exemple, il est très sensible. He's very sensitive. If you want to say sensible, which is like practical or reasonable, you'd say raisonnable. Numéro 8.
Coin. Coin.
Coin est un faux, Zemi. It's not about money. Un coin means a corner. Par exemple, il y a un café au coin de la rue. There's a cafe on the corner of the street. If you want to say a coin, the money, it's une pièce. Une pièce. On continue avec le numéro 9. Numéro 9. Actuellement. Actuellement. Encore un faux ami. Actuellement est un faux ami. And it gets many, many learners. Actuellement means currently. Par exemple, moi, j'habite actuellement en Écosse. I currently live in Scotland. And to translate actually, you should say en fait. En fait. Super. Numéro dix. Différent. Différent. Différent, c'est la même chose. It's a true friend. Ton accent est différent. Your accent is different. I've heard this before.
Quite simple. Numéro onze. Location. Location. Vrai ami, faux ami. Faux ami. Faux ami. In French, location means a rental or renting. Par exemple, la location de voiture coûte cher. Car rental is expensive. So, location is not a place. Continue avec le numéro douze.
Minute. Minute.
How is 'éventuellement' misunderstood by learners?
Et minute est un vrai ami. Ça veut dire la même chose en français et en anglais. Par exemple, attends une minute. Wait a minute. That's a trustworthy word. Numéro treize. Collège. Vrai ami ou faux ami? Faux. Faux amis. Collège means middle school. Par exemple, ma fille est au collège. My daughter is in middle school. It is not university. On continue. Two more. Numéro quatorze. Déception. Vraie amie. Faux amis. Faux amis. It does not mean deception. It means disappointment. La déception. Disappointment. Un exemple très court. Quelle déception. What a disappointment. Deception, on the other hand, would be une tromperie. Tromperie. Et on termine avec un classique. Librairie. Librairie. Et oui, librairie est un faux ami.
Une librairie is a bookshop. Par exemple, j'ai acheté ce roman dans une librairie. I bought this novel in a bookshop.
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Chapters
4 chaptersSpeakers
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