English vs. French

French is one of the most romantic languages in the world while English is considered the most common language in the world. Unlike English, French has more specific grammar and rules. What’s more, the French pronunciation as well as the syllables are relatively different from the pronunciation in English. The following paragraphs will introduce the differences between English and French; that is, words have genders, adjective of position and false cognates.

The first distinctive way is the use of French nouns and definite articles. All French nouns are either masculine or feminine while English nouns don’t have genders. Interestingly, people may wonder how French people define whether the nouns are masculine or feminine. The answer is there’s no standard to define the nouns. Take the French word “la maison” for instance. It means “house” and it is feminine in French. In general, people can’t describe whether “a house” is masculine or feminine. It’s just something that people are accustomed to using. Furthermore, in French, if the nouns are feminine, then the definite article must be “la”; on the other hand, if the nouns are masculine, the definite article should be put in “le”. As you can see, the nouns have their own genders and the definite articles should follow the genders of nouns without a doubt.

Apart from nouns and definite articles, adjectives usually come after nouns in French. In English, when we use adjectives to describe nouns, the position of adjectives will be in front of the nouns. On the contrary, French adjectives should always be put after the nouns. For instance, “chien jeune” which means “a young dog” in English, “chien” is noun while “jeune” is adjective. However, there’re some exceptions in French. There is a term called “quality adjectives”, which means these adjectives come before the nouns as English. Take “belle maison” for instance. “Belle” is the quality adjectives. That is why lots of people reckon that French always has an exception all the time. People who learn French as beginners should aware of this trait especially.

The last difference is French has many false cognates. False cognates are words resulted from similar sounds and meaning, but have different etymologies. As noticed earlier, both French and English share some common words which are called “cognates”. For example, “achever” this word looks like achieve in English and the meaning is almost the same: to finish, complete. Moreover, the French word “excité” is similar with the spelling of the English word “excited” and share the same meaning as well. By noticing these false cognates, people who are willing to learn French can get more familiar with it.

In sum, French and English have three major distinct traits. The first one is people who speak French need to decide whether the nouns are masculine or feminine, and then the definite articles should always follow the noun of gender to change itself. Second, when it comes to adjectives, they should be put in the right position: after the nouns. Nonetheless, French still has some exceptions, such as quality adjectives which must come before the nouns. Finally, the false cognates are pairs of words between French and English. They have similar sounds and meaning while the spelling is different due to the pronunciation. All in all, both French and English have their charming traits to intrigue people to learn and understand them.

References

Top 10 Differences Between French and English (n.d.)

Retrieved from:

https://www.optilingo.com/blog/french/top-differences-between-french-and-english/

20 Common French False Friends to Watch Out For (n.d.)

Retrieved from: https://www.fluentu.com/blog/french/faux-amis-french-false-friends-cognates