Vocabulary Tips

Essential French Grammar (2012)

Cognates¹⁴

Many words in English and French are exactly the same in both languages. Many others have only minor changes in spelling, and are easily recognized. Study the following vocabulary hints and word lists. They will help you increase your vocabulary by many hundreds of words.

Adjectives

The suffixes -able, -ible, -al, -ant, -ent are usually the same in both languages.

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Study the following French suffixes and their usual English equivalents: -eux (-euse)=-ous; -eur=-or; -el=-al; -ique=-ic.

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Nouns

The following suffixes are generally the same in French and English: -ion, -tion, -age, -ice, -ent, -ence.

attention	distraction	courage
fonction	million	passage
opinion	question	village
caprice	accident	différence
justice	instrument	patience
service	moment	silence

Study the following French suffixes and their usual English equivalents: -eur=-or, -er; -té=-ty; -ie=-y; -ique=-ic; -re=-er.

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Verbs

As mentioned on page 30, the great majority of all French verbs belong to the ist conjugation (-er). Notice how we may derive the meaning of many of these verbs by observing the following changes in the ending:

1. The -er ending drops in English. aider consulter insister passer profiter

2. The French -er becomes -e. arriver décider désirer préparer refuser

3. The French -er becomes -ate. communiquer hésiter indiquer séparer

False Cognates

Now that we have called attention to the many similarities in French-English vocabulary, we must also point out that there are many pitfalls in words that look and sound alike. Sometimes these words mean entirely different things, other times the French word has other meanings more important than its exact English equivalent. Some of the most common of these faux amis (false friends) are given below.

French	Eng. meaning
actuel	present (les conditions actuelles, present conditions)
actuellement	at the present time
addition	bill or check in a restaurant, as well as addition
assister à	to attend, be present at
attendre	to wait (for)
blesser	to wound
chance	(good) luck or fortune (Bonne chance! Good luck!; Vous avez de la chance, You are lucky)
client	customer as well as client
commander	to order at a restaurant or in business, as well as to command
correspondance	connection, transfer place; for example, in the Paris subway (métro)
dame	lady
défendre	to forbid, prohibit, as well as to defend. A number of public signs begin with Défense de ... (Défense de fumer, No smoking)
demander	to ask (for)
déranger	usually to disturb, upset
embrasser	to kiss, as well as to embrace
enchanté	delighted, pleased, as well as enchanted
enfant	child
figure	face
formidable	wonderful, marvelous
friction	massage, rubdown, as well as friction
front	forehead as well as front
glace	ice, ice cream, mirror
histoire	story as well as history
intoxication	(food) poisoning
large	wide, broad
lecture	reading
librairie	bookstore
magasin	shop, store
monnaie	change, small cash
nature	nature, but note these expressions: nature morte, still life; omelette nature, plain omelet
note	hotel bill, school grade, as well as note, memo
parent	relative as well as parent
patron	usually boss, owner
pension	boarding-house, room and board, as well as pension
phrase	sentence
pièce	room, or play, drama
place	usually seat, job, plaza
prune	plum
regarder	to look at
remarquer	usually to notice
rester	to remain
robe	dress
rose	as an adjective, usually pink; as a noun, rose
société	society, but in commercial language has the sense of company
sympathique	nice, likable, pleasant, applied to persons
tarif	rates, scale of charges, as well as tariff
tour	tour, excursion, and turn (C‘est mon tour, It’s my turn), when masculine. As a feminine noun, tower (la Tour Eiffel).
type	type, but also a colloquial term for fellow, guy, character
wagon	railroad car (wagon-lit, sleeping car; wagonrestaurant, diner)