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

French	English mistake	French meaning	Correct translation
assister	to assist	to attend	aider
crier	to cry	to yell	pleurer
délivrer	to deliver	to set free	livrer
demander	to demand	to ask	exiger
déranger	to derange	to bother	rendre fou
être plein	to be full	to be pregnant	avoir bien mangé
être fini	to be finished	to be dead	avoir fini
experimenter	to experiment	to experience	faire une expérience
introduire	to introduce	to insert	présenter
passer un examen	to pass an exam	to take an exam	réussir à un examen
prétendre	to pretend	to claim	faire semblant
quitter	to quit	to leave	laisser, démissioner
rater	to rate	to fail, to miss	évaluer
réaliser	to realize	to fulfill, to make	se rendre compte de
replacer	to replace	to adjust	remplacer
reporter	to report	to postpone	rapporter
rester	to rest	to stay	se reposer
supporter	to support	to tolerate	appuyer, subvenir aux besoins de
user	to use	to wear down	utiliser, employer

False Friends with Nouns

French	English mistake	French meaning	Correct translation
batterie	battery	drum set	une pile
balance	balance	scales	l'équilibre
caractère	character	personality	un personnage
caution	caution	deposit	la prudence
comédien	comedian	actor	un comique
course	course	race	un cours
crayon	crayon	pencil	un crayon gras
date	romantic outing	calendar date	un rendez-vous
envie	envy	desire	la jalousie
essai	essay	try	une dissertation
fabrique	fabric	factory	un tissu, toile
formation	formation	training	la création
front	front	forehead	le devant, la façade
déception	deception	disappointment	une tromperie
grade	grade	rank	une année
graduation	graduation	increase	la remise de diplômes
habit	habit	clothing	habitude
hasard	hazard	chance	une danger, un risque
isolation	isolation	insulation	l'isolement
langage	language	way of speaking	une langue
lecture	lecture	reading	une conférence
librairie	library	bookstore	la bilbliothèque
liqueur	liquor	soft drink	l'alcool
location	location	rental	la position
match	match	game	une allumette, bonne paire
médecin	medicine	doctor	un médicament
messe	mess	mass	un désordre
monnaie	money	small change	de l'argent
office	office	public rank	un bureau
opportunité	opportunity	opportuneness	une occasion, une possibilité
photographe	photograph	photographer	une photo
pièce	piece	theatrical production	un morceau
place	place	public square	un endroit, un lieu
raisin	raisin	grape	un raisin sec
relatives	relatives	in relation to	de la parenté

False Friends with Adverbs and Adjectives

French	English mistake	French meaning	Correct translation
éventuel	eventual	possible	ultime, final
large	large	wide	grand, gros
sensible	sensible	sensitive	logique, raisonnable
actuellement	actually	presently	en fait
éventuellement	eventually	possibly	finalement