How well do you speak French ? How fluent are you really ?
How good is your French ? From Catherine Broughton, author living in France
Le French call them “les faux amis”. We just call them misunderstandings! Here are a few off the top of my head:-
The English word ABUSIVE, in French would be INJURIEUX. The French word ABUSIF means excessive or improper
The English word ACTUAL, in French would be REEL or EXACT. The French word ACTUEL means NOW
The English word ACTUALLY would in French be EN FAIT. The French word ACTUELLEMENT means NOW
The English word ADVERTISEMENT, in French would be PUBLICITE. The French word AVERTISSEMENT mean WARNING.
The English word ALLURE would in French be ATTRAIT or CHARME. The French word ALLURE mean SPEED/PACE or APPEARANCE
The English word BALANCE would in French be EQUILIBRE. The French word BALANCE means SCALES
The English word BLESS would be BENIR in French, whereas their word BLESSER is to INJURE.
The English word CAVE would in French be GROTTE, whereas the French word CAVE is a cellar
The English word COMPREHENSIVE would in French be COMPLET or EXHAUSTIF, whereas their word COMPREHENSIF means understanding or SYMPATHETIC
The English word CHANCE in French would be le HASARD, whereas the French word CHANCE is (good) LUCK
More tomorrow !
Catherine Broughton is a novelist, a poet and an artist. She is widely travelled and writes regularly for magazines and blog sites. Her sketches are on her web site http://turquoisemoon.co.uk . Her books are available from Amazon and on Kindle, or can be ordered from several leading book stores.
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Catherine Broughton is a novelist, a poet and an artist. Her books are available as e-books on this site:-
https://payhip.com/b/tEva “A Call from France”
https://payhip.com/b/OTiQ “French Sand”
https://payhip.com/b/BLkF ”The Man with Green Fingers”
https://payhip.com/b/1Ghq “Saying Nothing”
They are also available on Amazon & Kindle, or can be ordered as paperbacks from most leading book stores and libraries.
