Actuellement doesn’t mean actually: 12 faux amis
Librairie, sensible, préservatif… the false friends that trip up English speakers.
French and English share thousands of words, which is great news for learners. The bad news: some of them look identical but mean something completely different. They are called faux amis, false friends. Here are twelve that catch almost every English speaker.
| French word | Really means | Not… | For that, say |
|---|---|---|---|
| actuellement | currently | actually | en fait |
| éventuellement | possibly | eventually | finalement |
| une librairie | a bookshop | a library | une bibliothèque |
| sensible | sensitive | sensible | raisonnable |
| un préservatif | a condom | a preservative | un conservateur |
| assister à | to attend | to assist | aider |
| attendre | to wait (for) | to attend | assister à |
| blesser | to injure, to hurt | to bless | bénir |
| une location | a rental | a location | un lieu, un emplacement |
| la monnaie | change (coins), currency | money | l’argent |
| rester | to stay | to rest | se reposer |
| une déception | a disappointment | a deception | une tromperie |
The three that cause the most trouble
Actuellement
Actuellement, j’habite à Lyon means “I currently live in Lyon”. If you want to say “Actually, I live in Lyon”, say En fait, j’habite à Lyon.
Préservatif
Asking whether a jam contains préservatifs will get you some very strange looks. Food preservatives are des conservateurs: Il y a des conservateurs dans cette confiture ?
Sensible
Il est très sensible means “he is very sensitive”. A sensible person, someone with good judgement, is raisonnable.
Two that are easy to mix up
Attendre and assister à look like “attend” and “assist”, but they trade places: J’attends le bus (I’m waiting for the bus), J’ai assisté à la réunion (I attended the meeting).
A good habit
When a French word looks exactly like an English one, enjoy the shortcut, but check it once in a dictionary. Most of the time it’s a real friend. Sometimes it’s an actuellement.