Sometimes in the process of learning a language, we may say something with the right intention and right words only to imply something totally different in the spoken language. French has these pitfalls for new learners as well. After all, French and English are not just the same language with different accents! A novice in French immersion is bound to have a faux amis with words. Coming from the Francophones at French District, here are a few funny ones that can be avoided!<\/p>\n
We give you our top French sentences to keep away from, unless of course the situation calls for comic relief! So, what not to say in French\u2026<\/p>\n
1. I am so full (Je suis tellement pleine!<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t be surprised if you see some funny or angry faces at a dinner table when you say this. Although this directly translates to \u201cI am so full<\/em>\u201d, the French speakers think you are saying \u201cI am so pregnant<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n 2. I am done (Je suis fini<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, to your ears this is \u201cI am done<\/em>\u201d but unfortunately, to the Francophone\u2019s ears it is \u201cI am dead<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n 3. Could you please take me to the Eiffel Tower? (Pouvez-vous me prendre \u00e0 la Tour Eiffel?<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n You can hear this being said around the Eiffel Tower by newbies since they think they are asking \u201cCould you please take me to the Eiffel Tower?<\/em>\u201d. Think again, because what you are really asking is \u201cCould you have sex with me at the Eiffel Tower?<\/em>\u201d The correct way to ask for a ride would be \u201cPouvez-vous m\u2019amener \u00e0 la Tour Eiffel?<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n 4. That’s so exciting (C\u2019est excitant!<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n So, you played football or saw a great show and shouted this out thinking \u201cThat\u2019s so exciting<\/em>\u201d. Well in reality you just shouted out \u201cI am so aroused<\/em>\u201d. Don\u2019t curb your enthusiasm. Just use \u201cC\u2019est super<\/em>\u201d or \u201cC\u2019est genial<\/em>\u201d instead.<\/p>\n 5. \u00a0I can’t take it anymore (Je ne peux plus le prendre<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n You want to say “I can’t take it anymore<\/em>” with reference to a problem. However, what you are actually saying is “I can no longer take him along<\/em>“.<\/p>\n 6. Let me introduce you to Mr. Durand (Laissez-moi vous introduire Mr. Durand<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n Now, didn’t you want to say “Let me introduce you to Mr. Durand<\/em>“? We heard, “Let me put Mr. Durand inside you<\/em>“. You need to use “Je vous pr\u00e9sente Mr. Durand<\/em>” to avoid that gaffe.\u00a0So much for PG-13!<\/p>\n 7. To be a pain in the ass (Etre une douleur dans les fesses<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n Unfortunately your well aimed “To be a pain in the ass<\/em>” ended up meaning “To be a foot-breaker<\/em>” to us. The correct use is “Etre casse-pied<\/i><\/em>“.<\/p>\n 8. Speaking of the devil (En parlant du diable<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n You meant to say “Speaking of the devil” but don’t blame us for looking at you with a weird expression since we heard it as “Speaking of the wolf”. The correct phrase is “En parlant du loup”.<\/em><\/p>\n 9. Goose bumps (Des bosses d’oie<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n Your wanting to say “Goose bumps<\/em>” made us think “Having hen skin<\/em>“. The term for goose bumps is “la chair de poule<\/em>“.<\/p>\n 10. Give a hard time (Donner un mauvais moment<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n You thought you were saying “Give a hard time<\/em>“. But to us, the above words mean “Giving someone a wire to twist<\/em>” : “donner du fil \u00e0\u00a0<\/em>retordre”.<\/i><\/p>\n The list of wrong\u2019s can go on. But this is just for laughs. Just beware next time you want to scream out \u201cYou suck<\/em>\u201d in French as \u201cTu suces<\/em>\u201d. You could really offend someone there since you are telling them \u201cYou suck d*&*#<\/em>\u201d! \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometimes in the process of learning a language, we may say something with the right intention and right words only to imply something totally different in the spoken language. French has these pitfalls for new learners as well. After all, French and English are not just the same language with different accents! A novice in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-penny-for-our-thoughts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n