French words in English you already know, and the traps

French words in English are everywhere, and a lot of them mean the same thing on both sides. This page covers where they came from, which ones you already use, how to spot cognates, and the false friends that matter once you start speaking. For the words you need first, see Basic French words. For phrases that look like English but are not, see What does it mean in French?. For lines worth borrowing, see French quotes and sayings.

How did French words get into the English language?

The Oxford English Dictionary’s overview of Old English says that borrowings from French become more frequent around 1150, when Middle English is generally taken to begin [1]. It also says the major influx of words from French and from Latin belongs to the Middle English period and later, not to Old English [1].

The same overview adds that the Conquest took some time to show its full effect on the language [1]. So the French layer in English built up over time. It is not one event.

Which French words are used in English every day?

Plenty of everyday French words sit in English unchanged, grouped by what they name. These are examples, not a full list.

Say them the French way when you are speaking French. The English pronunciation is a habit of English, and it will not carry over. Our recordings of café and merci are on this page so you can hear the difference.

What are French English cognates?

Cognates are words in the two languages that look alike and mean about the same thing. Many of them are the same loanwords above, and many more are close in spelling without being identical. They are your fastest way to a bigger French vocabulary, because you can recognize a lot before you study.

The catch is that a word can look like a cognate and not be one. That is a false friend, and it is the part of this topic that costs learners the most.

Which French words in English use a different meaning?

A false friend is, in the Québec language office’s definition, a word that resembles a word in another language without having the same meaning [2]. The office says false friends often mislead users of French and English, who take them for equivalents [2]. Its two examples are below [2].

In French, actuellement is the adverb that goes with actuel. Larousse defines it as “dans les circonstances présentes ; en ce moment”, the present moment, as in “currently” [3].

A few verbs look like English ones and behave differently. attendre means to wait, in the sense of staying in a place until someone arrives or something happens [4]. demander means to ask, to question someone [5]. assister followed by à means to be present at something [6], and rester means to stay in a place [7]. Listen once to each, then say it back.

Can you use these words to learn French faster?

Yes, as a starting point. Use cognates to guess, and treat each guess as a hypothesis you check. For a wider plan, read How to learn French fast.

A short routine that works with this topic:

• Pick five loanwords you already say, and learn their French spelling and sound.
• Pick two false friends from the table and write a sentence for each.
• Play the audio, then say the word aloud before you read the spelling.

Common mistakes

• Pronouncing French words the English way when speaking French. The sound changes, so listen to the French first.
• Assuming a look-alike has the same meaning. The office’s own examples show that two familiar-looking pairs do not [2].
• Treating “actuellement” as “actually”. Larousse’s everyday sense is “en ce moment”, at the present moment [3].
• Mixing up the two uses of “assister”. Larousse gives assister à as to be present at something, and assister quelqu’un as to help someone in their work [6]. Learn the preposition with the verb.
• Relying on this page’s percentages or word counts. None are given here, and the sources below can change. Check each source’s date against ours.

Sources