When you read in another language and try to understand it, you hold on to every familiar looking word you possibly can and hope for the best! This week, I actually encouraged students to do just that and luckily, it worked. But then, there are exceptions. They are called les faux-amis, the false friends. Words which look similar in both languages but don't mean the same thing. You read them , sometimes hear them and you jump to the conclusion that you know what they mean. But you don't. Sometimes they can really create misunderstandings!
The classics and some of my favorites are:
un agenda: not something that you might discuss at a meeting but a diary. Something worth explaining to WHSmith's salespeople who look at you blankly when you look for a 1996 agenda!!
sympathique: not about someone who is understanding but someone who is friendly and good company.
la monnaie: not money but coins! "I need "coins" to go on holidays" (cheap holiday then!)
passer un examen: you haven't passed it yet but you are taking it! "I come here to pass my examen!" (That's positive thinking!)
du tissu: actually cloth, material not something to blow your nose with.
demander: to ask for not to demand "I am here to demand the bus timetables" (please!)
une librairie: a place where you have to pay for the books you take come!
Try to imagine...
The list is non-exhaustive and when reading it, you almost dread to make any kind of association between the two languages anymore and wonder how can words so similar mean something different. If it happens to French people speaking English (and me!!), it happens the other way round too. Don't be too quick to think that you can get away with an English word disguised under a subtle French accent!
An A to Z of false friends.
Some "popular" false friends.
