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Salut tout le monde!! Puzzled, what am I talking about? Well, let me tell you that the above phrase has been written in French, which means “Hi everyone”. Do you also want to learn about the common mistakes to avoid when learning French and write phrases like these? Well, you are at the right page. None of us wants to get caught in an embarrassing situation while making language errors. In my article, I will discuss 10 common mistakes to avoid when learning French. No need to panic now if you too make a Language blunder. Read this entire article and avoid social awkwardness. Just perfect your French and get the confidence to speak like a native speaker.

However, if you want to master the French Langauge, get enrolled in French Language Course, but, before moving towards discussing common mistakes to avoid when learning French, have a look at the French Language Course by Henry Harvin, the top-ranked educational Institute.

Other courses offered by Henry Harvin- are Spanish Language Course, English Speaking Course, Arabic Language Course, Japanese Language Course, Korean Language Course, German Language Course

French is a bit tricky language, how? I will explain. Here are 10 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Learning French:

1. False Friends/Faux Amis:

common mistake when learning French Language

 While learning French you will become familiar with terms like   false cognates/false friends, however as a beginner, you might not be sure about them. False cognates are words that look similar but have different meanings. This is one of the common mistakes to avoid when learning French.

English 

French


Ancient (old)

Ancien (former)

Button (small disc sewn onto a cloth)

Bouton (pimples)

Grape (a fruit)

Grappe (a bunch of anything)

Envy (jealousy)

Envie (wish/desire)

2. Gender Specifications: 

mistakes to avoid while learning French

In the English language, the gendered words are only for the people, while learning French you will know that this language uses the gender specifications for nouns and articles too. Here, /un/ is used for the masculine gender whereas /une/ is used for the feminine gender. Also, possessive adjectives like “my”, “your”, “his/her” when written in the masculine form are mon/son/ton (my/his/your), while in feminine form they are ma/sa/ta (my/her/your).

English

French

a pen

un stylo

my table

ma table

a cow

une vache

his bag

son sac

3. Placing Adjectives At the Wrong Places:

common mistakes to avoid when learning French Language

We know that in English Langauge, adjectives are placed before nouns, however, while learning French you will realize that the case is opposite in this. Although there are certain French adjectives that come before nouns, in most of the cases the nouns are placed before adjectives. 

English

French

An exact posture

Une posture exacte

That rectangle table

Cette table rectangulaire

A red carpet

Un tapis rouge

This straight line

Cette ligne droite

4. Misplacing Pronouns:

French is a tricky Language as I said. While learning French you will understand how this language doesn’t place the pronoun at the place of the noun. This is one of the most common mistakes to avoid when learning French.

English

French

Ted is eating this mango.


Ted is eating it.

Ted mange cette mangue.


Ted le mange.

Jenny gives a book to Daisy.


Jenny gives it to Daisy. 

Jenny donne un livre à Daisy.


Jenny le donne à Daisy.

In the above examples, the pronouns do not take the place of nouns as we notice in the English language.

5. Pronunciation:

  • CaReFuL rule: We know that French letters mostly have consonants at the end, however, some are silent, and others are not. There is a trick (of course with the exception). If a French letter ends with consonants C, R, F, or L, then the final letter is not silent, else the final letter is silent.

Eg- Avril (April), Le chef (“the boss”).

  • Plus vs Plus: In French plus means “more” or “not anymore”.

When it’s “more”, then S is pronounced. And when it’s “not anymore”, then S is silent.

Images

Eg- Lisa a besoin de plus de fruits (“Lisa needs more fruits”) (S is pronounced).

Harry ne veut plus manger (“Harry doesn’t want to eat anymore”) (S is silent).

6. Pour vs Pendant vs Depuis:

points to keep in mind while learning French
  • Pour (for): It is used for the entire duration referring to the future event only. It can be a replacement for pendant.

Eg- Anna part en Italie pour 3 ans (“Anna is going to Italy for 3 years”).

  • Pendant (for, during): On the other hand, pendant is used for the duration of an action. It is referred to the past, present or future.

Eg- Jennifer a appris lèspagnol pendant son voyage (“Jennifer learnt Spanish during her journey”).

  • Depuis (since, for): When an act that started in the past is still continuing in the present. It is referred for the present tense.

Eg- il pleut depuis 5h du matin (“It has been raining since 5am”).

This is one of the common mistakes to avoid when learning French. Learn more about the difference

7. C’est vs Il/elle est:

  • C’est: It is used when there is he/she/it is in the sentence followed by any article or determinant like un/une/la/ma/le etc. With C’est, only the masculine form goes.

Eg- C’est le fils de Ted (“He is Ted’s son”).

     C’est ma femme merveilleuse (“She is my wonder woman”).

  • Il/elle est: We use il/elle est while talking about some specific things. When the statement refers to a particular thing. It is used according to the gender of the thing.

Eg- Òuest votre livre? Elle est sur le lit. (“Where is your book? It is on the bed”).

8. Rencontrer vs Retrouver:

This is one of the most common mistakes to avoid when learning French. Let’s see how these words differ.

  • Rencontrer: It refers to an encounter by chance without any plans or meeting for the first time. 

Eg- Eliza a rencontré sa meilleure amie sur la route (“Eliza ran into her best friend on the road”).

  • Retrouver: On the other hand, retrouver is used when someone meets after making a plan. Also, after finding a lost property, it can be used.

Eg- Jolly a retrouver son mari au restaurant (“Jolly met up with her husband at the restaurant”).

9. Y vs En:

avoid common mistakes

These are the pronouns used which you will get to know when learning French. ‘Y’ and ‘en’ replace a group of words while writing a sentence.

  • Y: The pronoun ‘y’ is used to replace indirect objects, and it often means ‘there’.

Eg- Wilson ira-t-il faire du shopping? Oui il y va mardi. (“Will Wilson go for shopping? Yes, he will go there on Tuesday”).

  • En: Whereas, ‘en’ pronoun replaces ‘of’, and usually translates to ‘any’ or ‘some’.

Eg- Sophie veut 3 assiettes. Elle en veut 3. (“Sophie wants 3 plates. She wants 3 of them”).

10. Jour vs Journée

Another one of the most common mistakes to avoid when learning French is getting confused while using jour and journée. 

  • Jour: It is used while talking about a particular/specific moment or while counting the days.

Eg- Alexandra rejoindra dans 2 jours. (“Alexandra will join in 2 days”).

  • Journée: On the other hand, journée is used while talking about duration of time.

Eg- Tina a dormi toute la journée. (“Tina has slept all day”).

Here we are done with the most common mistakes to avoid when learning French

Future Prospects of Learning French Language:

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