thumbnail

False Friends: English vs. French

Below is a list of false cognates (false friends) between American English and French. Can you provide the correct meaning of these words in French?
Quiz by Gyovhne
Rate:
Last updated: June 14, 2021
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
First submittedJune 14, 2021
Times taken48
Average score46.7%
Report this quizReport
4:00
Enter answer here
0
 / 15 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
English
French
Meaning in French
brass
bras
arm
brasserie
brassiere
brewery
blessed
blessé
injured
chance
chance
luck
grape
grappe
bunch / cluster
jolly
joli(e)
pretty
journey
journée
day
library
librairie
bookstore
location
location
rental
coin
coin
corner
preservative
préservatif
condom
raisin
raisin
grape
advertisement
avertissement
warning
crayon
crayon
pencil
football
football
soccer
+1
Level 84
Jun 14, 2021
Nice idea. The English and French columns are mixed up.
+1
Level 65
Jun 14, 2021
Fixed. Thank you.
+1
Level 43
Aug 24, 2021
How is the football one a false friend?
+2
Level 56
Jan 9, 2022
I was about to make a quiz like this and see you've got there before me! Nicely done too. A few suggestions:

+ "brassière" is a life-jacket or a bra - a brewery actually is a "brasserie"

+ perhaps we could have "bookshop" as a type-in for "librairie", and "hire" as a type-in for "rental"?

+ "football" does mean football unless you're talking one of just two varieties of English (Australian or American), so it might be best left off this list. Or - make it "foot", as that's what French people invariably call it anyway, and then it really is a false friend (but allow football as a type-in if you're going to make "soccer" the answer).

Thanks, I enjoyed it!