Faux Amis

[Dwayne Roberts]

The following is a list I've made of French words that resemble English ones but in reality are different. I'm not interested in words (such as "poison" and "six" and "fiancé") that are the same in both languages. Would you care to add to this list?

 

as

assist

attend

bless

bras

but

cave

chair

chat

choir

chose

comment

figure

fin

four

irons

laid

lit

main

met

on

or

ours

pain

pays

pour

sale

sang

seize

smoking

son

sort

store

tape

tire

ton

tour

[Nicolas Wolff]

Wrong spelling:

the spleen = la rate   ==>  long anf heavy 'a' and the 'te' almost not sounding

the female rat = la ratte ==> short and light 'a', 'tte' sparkling

[Erwan]

We can write "rate" or "ratte" for the female rat. 

The way of pronoucing these words is not the same but they are all written with the same spelling.

[Charles D]

la lecture = reading as in "la lecture d'une piece" (the reading of a play)

the lecture = "la conference" ou "la sermonce" (in other words, a talk of some kind)

[Dwayne Roberts]

parole

In English, this has lost its meaning of "giving one's word".

[Dwayne Roberts]

"practice" in French is a golf driving range.

En anglais, «practice» a plusieurs significations, y compris «s'entrainer» et «le cabinet».

[alan gould]

"chance", "occasion," "rentable," "rouge" "parent," comédie,  "resentiment," "car," and "bus" are some that come to mind.  "partie" can mean a part or also a game (of cards or tennis).  and you really need to know about préservatif."  it's also interesting to note that a different concept is used for a word -- when you find something lost, you are "re-finding" it and when you meet up with friends you are "re-finding" them.  when you go to pick someone up (presumably with a car) from a location you go to "look for" them.    

[Dwayne Roberts]

Lecture

En anglais c'est la conférence.

In French, this is a reading or reading material.  Tu as pris de la lecture ?  (Have you brought something to read?)

[Dwayne Roberts]

Le pull in French is a pullover; a sweater; (GB) a jumper

pull en Anglais est le verbe tirer.  I pull the cork from a bottle of wine.
couper:  One good pull and the door opened.
la force:  Gravitational pull keeps the Moon dancing with the Earth.
l'influence:  She has a lot of pull in government.
La maille tirée:  Damn! I have a pull in my sweater.
et plusieurs autres définitions de ce genre.

[George Hunt]

"To pull" also means to have a success in  an encounter with the opposite sex-although I don't know if it is used in that way in USA or Canada.

[Charles D]

No, "to be on the pull" is not used in the US (I don't know about Canada, with its ties to the UK). We, in the States, would rather say "to be on the prowl" (like a predator  out for the kill). But, we're not here to discuss the niceties and differences of English.  Retournons-nous au francais.