An Overview of Anglicisms to Avoid

It is perfectly natural for learners of French to rely sometimes on their first language when mastering the new grammatical system. As a student progresses, however, French rules and forms should be used at all times. Some of the most common anglicisms to avoid are presented below.

Verbs

Avoir NOT être

Some expressions that use the verb "be" in English require the verb "have" (avoir) in French. For example, English uses expressions like:

• I am hungry, I am thirsty and I am afraid (all with the verb be),

However, these use the verb avoir in French, e.g.:

• J'ai faim, j'ai soif and j'ai peur (NOT je suis faim, je suis soif or je suis peur).

We find this same pattern when indicating a person's age. For example, in English you would write:

• I am 14 years old.

However, in French this would be expressed as:

• J'ai 14 ans (and NOT je suis 14 ans).

Passive Structures

Another important verbal difference concerns passive sentences (where the agent of the action is not explicit), e.g.:

• I was given a book.

French uses a different structure than English:

• On m'a donné un livre (and NOT J'étais donné un livre.)

Here we see that on is the subject and the person receiving is represented with an object pronoun.

Let's Play!

The verb jouer is not followed by a preposition in English, but one is required in French. If the following word is a sport or a game, use au or à la, e.g.:

• J'aime jouer au baseball (and NOT J'aime jouer le baseball).

If the following word is a musical instrument, use du or de la, e.g.:

• Ma soeur joue de la guitare (and NOT Ma soeur joue la guitare).

• To mean "look like", use the expression avoir l'air or ressembler (do not write regarder comme).
• To mean "it's working", write cela marche or cela fonctionne (do not write ça travaille).
• To mean "take a course", write suivre un cours (do NOT write prendre un cours).
• To mean "make a decision", write prendre une décision (do NOT write faire une décision).

Pronouns

One important difference between pronouns in English and French is that object pronouns precede the verb in French, but follow it in English, e.g.:

• French: Il m'a donné le livre.

• English: He gave me the book.

Be careful not to use the English order in French, i.e.: do not write:

• Il a donné moi le livre.

Adjectives

English places all adjectives before nouns, e.g.:

• I bought some blue shoes.

However, the vast majority of French adjectives must follow the noun, e.g.:

• J'ai acheté des chaussures bleues (and NOT j'ai acheté des bleues chaussures).

Prepositions

The French preposition sur is used primarily with the literal meaning "on" or "on top of". As such, it cannot be used everywhere English uses "on". For example,

• on TV = à la télé (NOT sur la télé, unless you mean "on top of the TV")

• on Mondays = le lundi (NOT sur les lundis)

There are also many instances where a verb is followed by a preposition in English, but not French, e.g.:

• to look for a book = chercher un livre (NOT chercher pour un livre)

• to look at my dog = regarder mon chien (NOT regarder à mon chien)

False Friends

False friends are words that look the same in English and French, but have different meanings. When writing, be sure to choose the correct French equivalent for the meaning you wish to express. In the following tables, we've indicated the most common problems:

False Friends with Verbs

False Friends with Nouns

False Friends with Adverbs and Adjectives

• anglicism
• avoir
• être
• peur