False Friends: French Words in Disguise

Faux amis, or false friends, can trick you into making mistakes because they look like certain English words, but have an entirely different meaning in French. In many instances, despite having the same or similar spellings, the words in English and French can even be different parts of speech. Beware of the tricky faux amis in Table 1.


(The part of speech is indicated by “n” [noun], “pron” [pronoun], “v” [verb], “adv” [adverb], “a” [adjective], “conj” [conjunction], or “prep” [preposition].)

Back to Top