Learning French Words

Through
Etymology and Mnemonics

Yong Huang
2017 - 2022

1
 Introduction
When it comes to foreign language study, vocabulary takes a significant amount of
time. In general, there are two ways to learn a new word, by rote memory or
repeated drills, and by word analysis including thinking up a mnemonic. If your
preferred learning style is the latter for most words, you’ll find Learning French
Words Through Etymology and Mnemonics to be a welcome addition to your
personal library. The book is the first of its kind that combines a moderate amount
of French etymology and made-up mnemonics in one single volume. It aims to
help adults or young adults to learn French vocabulary, with a practical balance
between scholarly research and light reading. This is both a pocket-size dictionary
used as a reference, and supplemental study material used for leisure reading.
It is a well-known fact that cognates help foreign language learners study
vocabulary, and a slightly less known fact that etymology or origin of words
helps.1 Unfortunately, as of today, there is rarely any book that explicitly utilizes
etymological information to help learners memorize words. On the one hand,
etymological dictionaries written by scholars focus on the task proper, i.e.,
providing etymology, usually not giving consideration to its practical value in
helping people to learn vocabulary. On the other hand, there are books written to
make use of man-made mnemonics, with no regard to etymology. 2
With these two approaches, etymology and mnemonics, we see a long-stretched
but maybe narrow gap that can be bridged with some training or practice. It is
“long-stretched” because thousands or tens of thousands of words can be dealt with
in this manner, and “narrow” because many words that don’t “ring a bell” to an
English speaker only need an easy hint or reminder for the learner to connect their
meanings to their origins.
Take French word tort (“fault”, “wrong”) as an example. It is cognate with torque,
torsion (“twisting”), and with the root of contort, distort. It literally means “twist”.

1
Cognates are words in different languages that are derived from the same word in their common parent language.
Technically, they are different from loan words. This will be further explained later.
2
Alison Matthews and Laurence Matthews’s Tuttle Learning Chinese Characters, and Michael Gruneberg’s
Spanish by Association, doing an excellent job as intended, provide good examples of memory by mnemonics only.

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Something twisted is likened to something wrong, a connection that is easy to
understand and serves as a good memory aid for the word tort. Naufrage
(“shipwreck”) does not appear to be related to any English word on first look. But
word analysis reveals that this is a compound word, in which the nau- element is
cognate with navy (from a Latin word that means “boat”) or with navigate, and -
frage cognate with fracture. Combining “boat” and “fracture” into one image, you
get the sense of “shipwreck”. (Knowledge of the Latin word meaning “boat” is not
needed for this connection although it would further help if the learner knew the
word.)
Unfortunately, not all words can make use of etymology to aid memory, for
various reasons. The etymology may be too obscure or technical to an average
reader, may bring up words that sound or spell too differently from any English
word that could help, or may simply be unknown. Therefore, a different tactic has
to be used to fill the gap, using artificial mnemonics. For example, manquer (“to
lack”) has cognates in all major Romance languages (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese)
but not English. We can use the mnemonic “a mangled man lacks a limb”,3 which
not only makes a word that sounds like the French word to be remembered, but
also creates a vivid scene that may strengthen the learner’s memory. Words like
semelle (“sole of a shoe”) have uncertain etymology, and they benefit from
mnemonics as well, such as “the sole of the shoe smells!”
The current book will primarily rely on etymology, and only fall back on
mnemonics when etymology is lacking or too obscure. While mnemonics stop
serving any purpose and can be dispensed with after the learner fully remembers
the word, etymology may be retained as knowledge, if the learner wishes, and in
fact often does so, to go beyond just learning a foreign language. Thus, in a fun
way this book offers the additional advantage in terms of expanding the learner’s
historical and cultural background.
Any “irrelevant” details in etymology not conducive to vocabulary study are
skipped to avoid “pedantic” boredom, because the book is for practical use, not for
pure scholarly research. On the other hand, in case the “internal” history of a word
is not enough to explain the origin, its “external” history is researched and
provided. For example, espèces used in plural means “cash”, and it has the same
etymon or source as épice (“spice”). From historical sources, we find that spices
were used as currency for payment in the ancient times. Thus the two senses are
connected. To further accommodate a general reader, among all languages, only

3
In this book, underlined text refers to the word or words that serve as the key in the mnemonic or a “linkword” as
some people call it.

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knowledge of English is assumed. Minimum Latin and practically no words in
other languages will be given in description of each word.
This book is for people to study French, specifically French vocabulary. The
intended readers are adults and young adults only, since young children tend to
complain that “I have to remember that hint”, referring to the etymology or
mnemonic as an extra burden instead of an aid. Adults will be able to utilize their
life experience and general linguistic knowledge, even if it’s implicit or dormant in
their minds, in second language acquisition. Not only is the book useful to high
school and college students, but it is also and perhaps more appealing to the people
learning French outside of a school environment, because vocabulary acquisition
becomes a more prominent obstacle in learning a foreign language when not
following a textbook, in which new words would be fixed and outlined in each
lesson. Polyglots or people knowing or learning multiple languages, especially
other Romance languages, will find this book particularly helpful. The more
language experience, the better. Among other things, knowing an additional
language may give you an advantage in spotting cognation not mentioned by this
book due to the restriction that the reader is assumed to only know English. And in
case of unhelpful etymology, there’s also extra advantage in conjuring up a better
mnemonic that sounds and means closer to a word in that additional language you
know.
When mnemonics have to be created, there are tricks to help search for the best
words or phrases. They are summarized in the Appendix.

References used by this book are as follows:

* Wiktionary.org, which uses various etymological dictionaries. Fast and
convenient reference.
* Auguste Brachet, Etymological Dictionary of the French Language, Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1878. This is a must-have reference for anyone serious about
French etymology or even etymology in general. The sound changes of all the
words that descend from Latin are phonologically explained. This unique way in
lexicography brings to light the scientific nature of etymology and illuminates
many a case that would otherwise remain obscure. The long introduction which
takes about one-third of the total pages of the book is a valuable source for looking
up sound change rules of French words.

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* Lexicographie of cnrtl.fr (Centre national de ressources textuelles et lexicales).
Created by Centre national de la recherche scientifique in 2005, the CNRTL online
lexicographie or dictionary is the authoritative source of French words for
definitions and etymologies.
* Albert Dauzat, Jean DuBois, Henri Mitterand, Nouveau dictionnaire
étymologique et historique, Larousse, 1971. Although the content is largely
incorporated into the CNRTL, this dictionary is still consulted from time to time
for its conciseness.
* Edward Pick, An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language, 1869. This is
a nice-to-have supplement to Auguste Brachet’s dictionary.
* Various historical and argot (jargon) dictionaries, such as Friedrich Diez, An
Etymological Dictionary of the Romance Languages, 1864, translated from
German; Lorédan Larchey, Dictionnaire historique d’argot, 1880; Lorédan
Larchey, Les excentricités du langage, 1865; Lazare Sainéan, L’argot ancien:
1455-1850, 1972. Sense development of some informal words or slangs may be
explained in these dictionaries.
* Etymonline.org, a professional quality English language etymology web site
created based on sources such as Oxford English Dictionary; Walter W. Skeat,
Concise Dictionary of English Etymology; Dictionary.com, the etymology section.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_French. An excellent short
overview of the historical evolution of the French language.

* Peter Rickard, A History of the French Language, Routledge, 1989. A good,

systematic treatment of this subject.

* Oxford School French Dictionary, 2002; Langenscheidt Universal French

Dictionary, 1980; Larousse French Dictionary, 1971. These three basic
dictionaries are used as a guide to determine inclusion of words; if a word being
considered is not a headword in any of the three dictionaries (such as some
relatively frequently used words of vulgar or obscene nature), generally it will not
be included in this book. In addition, these basic dictionaries as well as
WordReference.com including the forum discussions therein are regularly
consulted to select the most appropriate definitions, and whether and what to add
as additional information such as precautions, false friends, or anything else
interesting. To add comments on false friends, various websites and books such as

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Saul H. Rosenthal, French Faux Amis: The Combined Book, Philip Thody &
Howard Evans, Mistakable French: Faux Amis and Key Words, have been
consulted. To distinguish synonyms and explain their nuances, HiNative.com
sometimes provides valuable insights.

* https://translate.google.com. Google Translate, when used as a dictionary,

is the only one that provides a translation frequency indicator, which “indicates
how often a translation appears in public documents”. The relative frequencies
assigned to translated words can be used to rank the meanings or definitions of a
French word.

* Google Books Ngram Viewer. This viewer is regularly checked to determine

phrase frequency. Only those with relatively high frequency are included as
examples for the headwords. Frequency is also used in ordering example
expressions having the same meaning, e.g. un visage ridé / de rides (“a wrinkled
face”) means visage ridé is more common than visage de rides. Occasionally,
frequency change in history is pointed out according to this viewer.

* https://hinative.com. This website provides good semantic as well as usage

distinctions between synonyms.

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 Notes

§1. The words in this book are taken from the Lexique corpus, specifically
http://lexique.org/public/Lexique381.Excel.zip

and are ordered by lemma frequency of usage in books (column freqlemlivres in

the Lexique spreadsheet).4 Simply put, the words in this book are ordered in
descending frequency of usage. Listing the words in frequency order in a
dictionary-like book offers the unique advantage that the reader has a better sense
of how common the word is in real language use, and in writing, can better
distinguish synonyms from the frequency perspective, e.g., choosing the more
common essayer (“to try”) instead of the less so tâcher. The index at the end of
this book lists all words in alphabetic order for easy lookup. Very common words
(approximately the first two hundred in the list, e.g. faire) and very “easy” words
for an English-speaking person (e.g. développer) are omitted. This book takes the
first 7600 out of the Lexique corpus, but with all omissions for the said reasons,
about 3000 headwords are included. Note that many French words are close to
their English counterparts in every aspect, but the nuances in meaning may warrant
inclusion; e.g. faillir in most common usage is not quite the same as fail in English,
and is thus included with a special comment. However, there are a large number of
French words that cannot be easily qualified as false friends and yet should not be
literally translated according to the meanings of their English counterparts (e.g.,
époque in j’avais 20 ans à l'époque, “I was 20 years old at the time”, is not
“epoch”). Such words may be excluded to make sure this book remains compact.

Because the words are listed in frequency order, definitions and descriptions of the
headwords on later pages may be slightly more advanced and may refer to the
headwords on earlier pages in definitions or as doublets, i.e. French words of the
same origin. Skipping certain details in reading are perfectly acceptable.

§2. Headwords are in bold type, as well as in “See also”. Words considered to be
linguistic units instead of part of the sentence are in italic, e.g., “English word foot
is a cognate”. Words as definitions or meanings are enclosed in double quotation
marks, except when they are definitions for the headwords. Definitions for

4
Lemma (lemme in French) is the canonical or dictionary form of a word; e.g., go is the lemma for goes, went,
going, gone.

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headwords may occasionally include French synonyms, which are in italic. (French
synonyms form part of headword definition generally only after this word occurred
as a headword on an earlier page, i.e. only if the synonym has a higher usage
frequency than the current headword.)

§3. Part of speech or word class, enclosed in parentheses, is obvious, such as n. for
noun, adj. for adjective, interj. for interjection. They are only labeled in case of
possible ambiguity. Gender is marked only if there is an interesting point to make;
e.g. critique means “criticism” as a feminine noun, but “critic” as a masculine or
feminine noun (depending on the person’s gender). A. Brachet in his Etym. Dict.
French Lang. remarked that “[in the case a concrete substantive or noun took an
abstract sense] the concrete substantive is often masculine, whereas the abstract
was feminine”. This was also observed by non-specialists such as Simone de
Beauvoir (“most abstract entities are feminine”, The Second Sex, trans. H.M.
Parshley). Lack of morpho-semantic justification notwithstanding, that observation
serves as a convenient mnemonic, which the reader will be reminded of wherever
appropriate in this book.

§4. The keyword or keywords in a mnemonic, which provide a phonetic clue, are
underlined. For example, the mnemonic for the headword vite (“quickly”) is “he
has a quick wit”.

§5. Two or more headwords are in one entry (i.e. paragraph) if they belong to one
lexeme5 or one is derived from another, and their frequencies are not too far apart,
and their spelling forms and meanings are not too different. They are listed in a
position according to the frequency position of the first of these words in the
Lexique corpus. Within this entry, the more frequent headword is given first. For
example, tâche (“task”) and tâcher (“to try”) are two headwords in one entry,
which is listed in the position according to the frequency of tâche, and tâche is
given before tâcher because tâche is more frequent than tâcher; blessé and blesser
are in the same entry positioned in the book according to the frequency of blessé,
and blesser is given after blessé due to the lower frequency of blesser. (Normally a
simple past participle of a verb would be omitted from this book. But blessé is
included as a headword because of its relatively high frequency and a somewhat

5
Lexeme is the set of words comprising the lemma i.e. canonical form (see above) and various inflected forms; e.g.
go, goes, went, gone, going form a lexeme, with go as the lemma.

8
interesting note: it is a false friend of English bless.) Note that not all forms of the
same lexeme are grouped under one headword; those with significantly different
meanings, with stem changes, or with a large frequency difference may still be
listed separately, if they warrant inclusion at all.

§6. The word “root” is only used to refer to the root of a word, synonymous with
“stem” in most contexts, not to the source or origin of a word or etymon, as used in
some other literature.

§7. Some common etymological rules are briefly outlined below. To remember the
word, reverse the etymological evolution. Many English words came from Old
French, whose ancestor is Latin. Once such a word entered English, it did not go
through as much phonological change as in French, thus better preserving the
original Latin form.

The characteristic French oi (pronounced /wa/) has a number of sources. A

prominent one is Latin long e (long means a full usually stressed vowel, by
convention marked with a macron diacritic, which is omitted here for simplicity):
e.g., regem (“king”) > roi; sedere (“to sit”, source of sedentary) > seoir (root of
asseoir); tela (“web”) > toile (“cloth”). Other sources include the short i, as in fides
(“faith”) > foi, and a long i in front of a guttural, e.g., nigrum (“black”) > noir;
digitus (“finger”, Latin g pronounced as /ɡ/) > doigt. In short, when you see oi, try
changing it to e or i to see if a cognate in English can be recognized.

Latin ca to French che or cha: e.g. caballus (“horse”) > cheval.

Latin o to French ou: e.g. tormentum > tourment (“torment”).

Latin ct to French it, Latin cl to French il: e.g. lac (“milk”), lactis (“of
milk”) > lait; lactuca (“lettuce”) > laitue; abstractus (“abstract”) > abstrait.
Essentially c changed to i, because it went through c > g > j > i; the fact that g
sometimes is pronounced like j in English makes the development less surprising.

French é- often corresponds to English e- or e plus a consonant, which

almost always is s, sometimes with a subsequent loss of e-: e.g. French forêt vs.
English forest, dépouiller vs. despoil, école vs. school. In fact, other French vowels
with a diacritic mark have this property as well, so that the mark serves as a clue
that a consonant was omitted during the development from Old French or Latin to

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Modern French but preserved by English. For example, â in tâche corresponds to
as in English task, while a in tache (“stain”) remains as a; ô in ôter maps to ous in
English oust and so the word won’t be mistaken for English otter. Of course there
are some words that don’t fall into this category, such as élude (“to elude”, “to
avoid”), where prefix é- simply means “away”. But sometimes you can still try
changing é- to ex- to find a match in English.

Needless to say, it takes some practice to make good use of etymology in learning
new words. For example, you’ll need to think of or mentally reverse the
development of the word in history (from oi to e or i, é to es or s), try splitting a
word in different locations (pénombre into pén- + ombre instead of pé- + nombre),
among other tricks. Hopefully this book offers essential if not minimal help in this
regard.

Tip There are times when it is not obvious whether an English word exists that is related
to a given word in another language. For example, cuisse as a French word means “thigh”
and, as a rare English word, means “armor to protect the thigh”. But the latter hardly
rings a bell to a general reader. Fortunately, Google, like many other search engines,
provides a site-specific search that can help us. In this case, we can limit the search to an
English dictionary website and see all (or most) of its pages that mention the non-English
word, with search keywords like site:dictionary.com cuisse. One of the search
results is the page for the word Quixotic, and we quickly find that the name of the
protagonist in the famous Cervantes novel Don Quixote actually has a meaning; it’s
named for “thigh”. This information, or rather knowledge, certainly helps you remember
the French word cuisse better than using the rare or obsolete English word cuisse alone.
In case of French mèche (“candle wick”; “fuse of a bomb”), we quickly find its Latin
etymon to be *micca according to Wiktionary or any French etymological dictionary. A
site-specific Google search for its Latin etymon with keywords site:dictionary.com
micca, returns a web page (among others) that mentions English match (the igniting
device). Indeed, match and mèche share the same Latin word as their origin, a fact that
greatly helps us remember the French word. When Wiktionary or any other source does
not list the multilingual descendants of the etymon of the French word being studied as in
the case of micca, or as in the case of cuisse lists unhelpful English descendants (such as
coxa, “part of an insect’s leg”), checking to see all that an English dictionary has to say
about the French word or its etymon sometimes can reveal a helpful English word-French
word relationship, which otherwise would require a lot of thinking or trial-and-error to
uncover.

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§8. Some words have many meanings. But only the basic ones are given, and if
possible to determine, the more common meanings are given first, unlike in most
dictionaries where the basic or literal ones are listed before the derived. Different
meanings are separated by semicolons instead of commas.6 After all, this is not a
dictionary primarily for meanings, but instead for etymology as well as mnemonics
to facilitate self-study of vocabulary. Which meaning or meanings are basic or are
the reason for inclusion of this word into the Lexique word frequency list in that
ranking position is not always easy to determine. For example, the word botte,
ranked 1751, has meanings of “boot”, “bundle” and a few others. Only “boot” and
“bundle” are included based on the fact that a few basic French dictionaries (see
References above) omit the others. Unfortunately, not all words are obvious, and a
best-effort guess will have to be made.

§9. Cognates are two or more words, each in its own language, which are regularly
(i.e. following a common pattern or according to certain rules) derived from
another common word (etymon) in a different language. This book traces word
origin up to Latin, occasionally beyond Latin or to other languages. If a common
word is found only in a remote ancient language such as Proto-Indo-European, for
practical purposes, cognation is generally not acknowledged, but sometimes is
briefly mentioned if it helps with word study. Cognates are not doublets, which are
two words, both in the same language, that are derived from another common word
in a different language. Technically, cognates are distinguished from loanwords,
which are borrowed. If we use > and < to denote “developing into” and “deriving
from”, respectively, and suppose French word F < Latin word L < Proto-Indo-
European word PIE > Proto-Germanic word PG > English word E, we can say that
F and E are cognates (as in the case of English do and French faire, from PIE
*dʰeh₁-). On the other hand, primarily as a result of the Norman conquest of
England in year 1066, a large number of English words directly came from Old
French, which is the ancestor of Modern (as well as Middle) French, close to Latin.
If both a French word F and an English word E are from one common Old French
word, technically the English word can only be considered a loan or borrowing
from Old French because Old French is not the proto-language of English. This

6
Most dictionaries list two words that happen to be spelled the same in two separate headword entries. This book
merges them into one entry or paragraph, separates their meanings with a semicolon and points out that they are two
distinct words.

11
book, however, may still loosely call E and F cognates since the word cognate
itself is already not so strictly used among educated English speakers that are non-
specialists. In this sense, sucre and sugar are considered cognates in this book as
they are both from a common Old French word.

§10. If absolutely needed, pronunciation is indicated with International Phonetic

Symbols, most of which are obvious. Those few an American reader may not be
familiar with are /æ/ as a in map, /ɛ/ as ea in dead, /ə/ as a in canoe, /ɔ/ as o in joy,
/θ/ as th in thin, /ð/ as th in that, /ʃ/ as sh in shy, /ʒ/ as s in usual, /j/ as y in yes, /tʃ/
as ch in china, /dʒ/ as j in joy. But not all these symbols are used in this book.

§11. The book assumes no strict format for each entry. Free text format is the best
option to provide appropriate amount of usage notes and warnings, such as “Not to
be confused”, “false friend”, “Note the first meaning, which may not be easy to
guess”, to list a few. Unlike other sources that utilize etymology to assist in
vocabulary study, this book makes a great effort to not miss any apparent
disconnection between etymology and modern meaning of the word, and failing
that, explicitly acknowledges it, usually followed by a best-effort mnemonic, as in
“The meaning of ... may be due to ...”, “It’s not clear how the sense .... Use a
mnemonic such as ...”. Even a seemingly casual mention of an interesting fact (as
in “It’s interesting that ...”) is meant to strengthen the learner’s memory.

Everything done in this book is an attempt to achieve one goal only: help you
remember the words. This is particularly helpful in initial encounter with a new
word, when you use this book to gain advantage in the form of a clue or hint in
order to avoid a completely blank mind when seeing the word again not long after
you have learned it. But in the end, the reader is still required to study the words,
combined with a large amount of reading or listening, which provides a rich
context to the otherwise isolated word study. Etymology or mnemonics may
indeed become a burden instead of an aid without genuine hard work.

For the usage frequency table based on the Lexique corpus and used by this book,
my contact information, and other information, please visit
http://yong321.freeshell.org/lfw/

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regarder to look at, to watch; to concern. regard look (n.), glance. Cognate with
regard. These words look easy but are listed because their meanings significantly
differ from those in English. Consider them false friends. Note regarder is a
transitive verb when followed by an object, i.e. with no preposition. Example, je
regarde la maison / la télé (“I look at the house / watch TV”).

suivre to follow. suivant following (adj.). Cognate with the root of pursue.
Examples, suivez-moi! (“follow me!”); à suivre (“to be continued”; note the
infinitive, not past participle); comme suit (“as follows”).

croire to believe. Cognate with credit, credence. Stressed e in Latin often changes
to oi in French. Not to be confused with croître (“to grow”). See also croître.

tête head. Cognate with test. To see the cognation, change the vowel with a
diacritical mark, ê, to es; see §7 of the Notes of this book. The Latin source refers
to an earthen pot, which is likened to a head due to its shape (sense taken by
French) and is used to test metal by melting it in the pot (sense taken by English).
This word has many extended meanings e.g. “mind” (où avais-tu la tête?, “what
were you thinking?”, literally “where did you have the head?”), and occurs in
idioms e.g. en tête-à-tête (“face-to-face”). Examples, j’ai mal à la tête / mal de tête
(“I have a headache”); il est en tête de la liste (“he’s at the top of the list”).

donner to give; to donate (cognate). This word primarily means “to give”; it’s
much more common to say faire un don for “to donate”. Examples, il m’a donné
un livre (“he gave me a book”); il se donne à cette grande cause (“he dedicates
himself to this great cause”, literally “he gives himself to ...”); étant donné que
(“given that”).

penser to think. Cognate with pensive (“looking thoughtful”). This word can be
followed by que (e.g., je pense que tu as raison, “I think you’re right”) or à (e.g., je
pense à ma maman, “I’m thinking of/about my mom”).

vie life. Cognate with vital. Example, c’est la vie (“that’s the way it is, don’t be too
disappointed”, “oh well”, literally “that’s life”). Note this word is a false friend of
English vie (“to rival”). Examples, les conditions de vie (“living conditions”); la
mode de vie (“lifestyle”); la prison à vie (“life imprisonment”); il est encore en vie
(“he’s still alive”).

13
laisser to let, to allow, to leave alone. Cognate with the root of relax. It’s likely
you already know laissez-faire (“an economic policy of letting things take their
own course without interfering”), literally “let (it/them) do”.

aimer to love. amour love (n.). Cognate with amorous. Note that amour is
masculine in singular, but feminine in plural in the literary language.

monde world; people. mondial global, world-wide. Cognate with mundane. Note
monde can also refer to people in general, e.g., tout le monde (“everybody”); il y a
beaucoup de monde (“there are lots of people”). Also note this word is masculine
in spite of -e ending, and so -on- is a nasal sound /ɔ̃/.

moins less, fewer; minus (cognate); (preceded by definite article) the least. This
word is generally easy, e.g., il est moins grand que moi (“he’s shorter than me”,
literally “he’s less big than me”); il y a moins de voitures dans la rue (“there’re
fewer cars on the road”; note de). But note two phrases: au moins (“at least”) is
almost the opposite of à moins de (“within”; “short of”), e.g. au moins un an (“at
least a year”); à moins d’un an / de 100 mètres (“within one year / 100 meters”); à
moins d’un miracle (“short of a miracle”). If you want to analyze them to
remember the difference, note au is short for à le where le makes moins mean
“least” not “less”, and de in à moins de adds the sense of “of” so the phrase
literally means “at less of” i.e. “at the lower / smaller side of”.

enfant child. enfance childhood. Cognate with infant, infancy. These words are
easy but note that English infancy is limited to early childhood but French enfance
covers a wider range of age. Also note enfant can be of either gender depending on
the child’s biological gender, but the abstract noun enfance is feminine.

arriver to arrive; to happen; (followed by à + verb) to manage (to do something).

English arrive is from Old French, which, like this French word, is from Latin ad
ripa, literally “to the bank (of a river etc.)”. This word looks easy but note the
second and third meanings, which may be easier to remember if you imagine the
scene of finally reaching land after floating in water for a long time. Examples, un
accident est arrivé (“an accident happened”; as a mnemonic, equate “an accident
happened” to “an accident arrived”); je n’y arrive pas (“I can’t do it”, literally “I
don’t manage to do it” or more literally “I don’t arrive at it / arrive there”).

14
attendre to wait (for); (reflexive) to expect, to foresee. attente waiting;
expectation. Cognate with attend. In spite of the cognation, this word does not
mean “to attend”, which would be assister in French. The sense development is
that the Latin source means “to attend to or listen to” (which has passed into
English attend) but its French derivation changed to “to wait to hear instruction”
and then to “to wait” in general. Note that in the sense of “to expect” when used
reflexively, it does not mean “to look forward to”, but “to foresee” or “to estimate”
instead. Example, j’attends le bus (“I’m waiting / I wait for the bus”); on s’attend
au pire / à mieux (“we’re expecting the worse / better”); le chef d’Interpol s’attend
à une hausse de la criminalité (“INTERPOL chief expects / foresees an increase in
crime”).

vieux old. vieil old. Cognate with veteran. Vieil is used before a masculine noun
that starts with a vowel sound, e.g. un vieil homme (“an old man”), and -il is
pronounced like y in English yes.

beau beautiful, handsome. English beautiful is from an Old French word, which
was derived from the same Latin word which French beau came from. Note when
modifying a noun, this adjective precedes the noun. Also note that the feminine of
this word is belle, and that for masculine, if the noun begins with a vowel sound,
the form is bel. Examples, il fait beau (“it’s nice weather”); musée des beaux-arts
(“museum of fine arts”); une belle maison (“a beautiful house”), un bel homme (“a
handsome man”).

depuis since, from; for (period of time). From de- + puis, where puis is cognate
with English post (used as a prefix e.g. post-Industrial). Examples, je suis à Paris
depuis 1990 / depuis 30 ans (“I’ve been in Paris since 1990 / for 30 years”); depuis
quand es-tu à Paris? (“how long have you been in Paris?”, literally “since when
are you in Paris?”).

sortir to go out, to exit. sortie exit (n.), outlet. English sortie (“an attack made by
troops coming out from a position of defense”) is from this French word. Cognate
with the root of resort. Think of a resort as a place that people go out to for
relaxation. Example, tout le monde est sorti dans la rue (“everyone went out to the
street”).

15
connaître to know. Cognate with cognize, cognizance, with the root of recognize.
English know can mean either “to know a person, place, etc.”, which is connaître
in French, or “to know a fact”, which is savoir. (Knowing a fact increases your
knowledge, which a sage has plenty of; savoir and sage are cognates; note Latin
sapiens as in Home sapiens.) But sometimes both words are acceptable. Examples,
je connais Jean, on se connaît (“I know Jean, we know each others”); je ne sais /
connais pas grand-chose à ce sujet (“I don’t know much about this subject”).

jeune young; young person. jeunesse youth. Cognate with juvenile. From Latin
iuvenis, where the middle syllable was omitted by French. If traced to Proto-Indo-
European, cognate with young. Note the noun jeune can be both masculine or
feminine. Examples, un jeune homme / une jeune femme (“a young man / woman”;
note jeune precedes the noun); dans ma jeunesse (“in my youth”, “when I was
young”).

comprendre to understand, to comprehend (cognate); to include, to comprise.

From Latin comprehendere (“to grasp”), in which h became silent and was
dropped. English comprise is from the past participle of this French word, compris.
Example, je vous comprends mal (“I misunderstand you”, literally “I understand
you wrong”).

noir black. From Latin niger (“black”). (Latin i in front of a guttural such as g
regularly changes to French oi, and the following unstressed syllable is dropped,
also seen in doigt etc.) It may be easier to learn this word by realizing that the
famous French wine Pinot Noir is brewed from black grapes.

fille girl; daughter. fils son. Cognate with English filial (“pertaining to a son or
daughter”, as in filial piety, filial affection). Note that while fille can mean “girl”,
fils rarely means “boy” (without a family relation), which would be garçon. Also
note that fils should not be confused with fil (“thread”), cognate with filament. To
avoid the confusion, imagine -s in fils is for son. Another point to remember is that
s in fils is not silent, but l is; the word is pronounced /fis/.

maison house. Cognate with mansion. Example, je rentre à la maison / je rentre

chez moi (“I’m going home”).

16
côté side; edge; (figuratively) side, aspect, perspective, character. Cognate with
costate (“having ribs or appearance of ribs”), coast (literally “margin of land”).
Ribs are considered to be on the side of the body. The first vowel with a diacritic
mark ô can be changed to os to help see the cognation. Examples, de l'autre côté de
la rue (“on the other side of the street”); il s'assied à côté de moi (“he sits next to
me”); j’ai encore un peu de travail de ce côté-là (“I still have some work to do on
that part”, literally “... on that side”). See also côte (“coast”; “hill”; “rib”).

mort dead; death (fem. n.); dead person (masc. n.); past participle of mourir (“to
die”). Cognate with mortal (“subject to death”), mortify (“to humiliate”, but
literally “to cause death”), mortuary. As a rule, the more abstract sense of a noun
takes the feminine form and the concrete sense the masculine. See §3 of the Notes
of this book. See also mourir.

visage face. Cognate with the root of envisage, visual. This word has entered
English vocabulary meaning “face” in the sense of “facial features or expressions”.
Note this word is masculine in spite of -e ending.

rue street, road. Cognate with ruga (“wrinkle”, a biological or anatomical term),
with the root of corrugate (“to contract into wrinkles”; “to form a series of parallel
ridges and furrows”). Roads are likened to wrinkles. But this etymology hardly
helps. Simply use road or route (in British pronunciation) as a mnemonic. Note
this word is not related to English rue (“to regret or repent”) or rueful (“regretful”).

soir evening. Etymology doesn’t help. Bonsoir (“Good evening”) is understood by

many English speaking people; but don’t forget to pronounce the uvula r trill.
English soirée or soiree (“evening party”) comes from French. Examples, hier /
demain soir (“last / tomorrow evening”); à ce soir! (“see you tonight!”).

personne person (cognate); nobody (used with ne); anybody. Note the meaning of
“nobody” and its usage. Examples, les personnes âgées (“the elderly”); personne
ne sait (“nobody knows”).

blanc white; blank (cognate). The feminine form is blanche. Note the ending c of
blanc is silent, just like other words ending with -anc (and many with -onc).
Examples, papier blanc (“white paper”); une feuille blanche (“a blank sheet (of
paper)”).

17
maintenant now. From main (“hand”) + tenant (“holding”). Apparently the
French make an analogy between holding in hand and the current time, which can
be compared to English at hand (“close by in time or space”). Whatever the
interpretation, this word doesn’t mean “maintenance” in spite of cognation;
consider them false friends. Example, il est maintenant cinq heures (“it’s 5 o’clock
now”; note if maintenant is not at the beginning of the sentence, it occurs more
often before than after the time).

ouvrir to open (window, mouth, store, etc.), to turn on (gas, faucet, etc.). ouvert
open (adj.), opened (adj. and past participle of ouvrir). Cognate with overt (“open”,
“not secret”), aperture, which is closer to their common Latin origin aperire. The
change of Latin p to French v is common, but a to ou is unusual. Not to be
confused with ouvrier (“worker”), which ends with -er.

bras arm. Cognate with brace, brachium (“upper arm”), with the root of embrace,
and even with pretzel (a pretzel looks like folded arms). With an s- ending, the
plural of this word is also bras. Note this word and English bra are false friends;
the latter in French would be soutien-gorge. Examples, mon bras fait mal (“my
arm hurts”); se croiser les bras (“to fold the arms”); bras dessus bras dessous
(“arm in arm”, literally “arm on top arm underneath”).

pied foot. There are multiple English words sharing the same Latin source, e.g.,
pedal, pedestrian. Note d is silent, even followed by a word beginning with a
vowel sound. Examples, aller à pied (“to go on foot”, “to walk”); donner un coup
de pied (“to kick”, literally “to give a blow of foot”); au pied de la montagne (“at
the foot of the mountain”).

sourire smile (n.); to smile. rire laugh (n.); to laugh. Rire, cognate with English
ridicule, means “laugh” in their Latin source. Sou- comes from sub- meaning
“below”. A smile is like a low-grade or suppressed laugh. Note laughing at a
person has a different meaning and uses a different word, e.g. ils se moquent de lui
(“they laugh at him”, literally “they mock him”). Examples, elle me sourit / sourit
à Pierre (“she smiles at me / at Pierre”); je ris de la blague (“I laugh at the joke”;
note the conjugation forms of rire, and so sourire, vary greatly).

nouveau new. nouvelle news (information); short story. Cognate with novel,
novelty. The adjective nouveau precedes the noun it modifies, and changes to

18
nouvel if followed by a vowel sound, e.g. un nouvel ordinateur (“a new
computer”). Both de nouveau and à nouveau mean “again”. The noun nouvelle in
the sense of “news” is countable (just like une information), unlike in English, e.g.
une nouvelle (“a piece of news”).

vivre to live. Cognate with the root of revive. Examples, où vis-tu? (“where do you
live?”; the same as où habites-tu?; note the irregular vis); ils vivent ensemble
(“they live together”); il a vécu une vie merveilleuse (“he has lived a wonderful
life”; note the irregular past participle vécu).

vrai true. Cognate with verify, verity, veracious. The first syllable vowel e may
have become unstressed in Latin or Old French and thus was omitted in French.
Examples, une histoire vraie (“a true story”); c’est un vrai problème (“this is a real
problem”; note problème is masc. and is after vrai); à vrai dire (“in fact”, “to tell
the truth”, literally “to say truly”).

presque almost, nearly. près near, close (to a time or place). auprès near (prep.);
nearby (adv.); to. Presque is from près + que, auprès from au + près, where près is
cognate with press. Pressing on things makes them close to each other. Although
the first e in presque is not written as è, it’s pronounced as such (slightly more
open than a plain e). Examples, près de / auprès de la maison (“near the house”);
j’habite tout près (“I live nearby”); j’ai presque fini (“I’m almost done”); il ne
reste presque plus de lait (“there’s hardly any milk left”).

appeler to call. rappeler (reflexive) to remember, to recall; to remind; to call

again, to call back, to recall. appel call (n.). Appeler or appel is cognate with
appeal, appellation (“name”, especially one indicating the geographic origin of
wine). Rappeler is from re- + appeler. Note its meaning of “to recall (in the sense
of remember)” and “to remind”, which may not be easy to think of. Examples, je
m’appelle Louis (“My name is Louis”, literally “I call me/myself Louis”; note
double l’s in certain conjugated forms); un appel téléphonique (“a phone call”); la
scène me rappelle la France (“the scene reminds me of France”; note no
preposition is needed for rappeler as English remind does); je ne me rappelle /
souviens pas (“I don’t remember”).

loin far (adv.). lointain faraway, distant (adj.). If traced to Proto-Indo-European,

cognate with long. In any case, long serves as a good mnemonic if you think of a

19
long way (away) as far away. The second syllable of lointain is not a separate word.
You may use a mnemonic such as “a long mountain” to aid memory. Example,
L’université est trop loin. C’est dans un quartier lointain de la ville. (“The
university is too far away. It’s in a faraway part/district/quarter of the town.”)

chercher to look for, to search (cognate); (followed by à) to try to. Examples, je

cherche la télécommande (“I’m looking for the remote control”) ; je vais chercher
une bière (“I’ll go get a beer”). See also rechercher (“to look for”, “to search”, “to
research”).

paraître to seem, to appear; to be published. disparaître to disappear. apparaître

to appear (literally), to be visible. apparition appearance; apparition (“ghost”).
Paraître is cognate with the root of appear, i.e. without the prefix. From Latin
parere. Note the second vowel becomes u in the past participle, paru, disparu, as
well as in a few other conjugated forms. Examples, il me parait étrange (“it seems
strange to me”); le livre a paru l’année dernière (“the book was published last
year”).

tomber to fall. If traced to Proto-Germanic, cognate with tumble, which can be

used as a good mnemonic. An alternative mnemonic is to think of the euphemistic
usage of fall for “death” and associate it with tomb. Examples, j’ai fait tomber mon
portefeuille dans la voiture (“I dropped my wallet in the car”, literally “I have
made my wallet fall in the car”); le soldat est tombé au champ d’honneur (“the
soldier fell on the field of honor”). See also tombe (“tomb”).

plein full, plenty (cognate). Also cognate with plenary (“fully attended”, as in
plenary session of a conference). Examples, une boîte pleine (“a full box”); en
plein air (“outdoors”, “in the open air”); en plein match / concert / champ (“in the
middle of the game / concert / field”; it may imply heated activity as in en plein
match); faire le plein d’essence (“to fill up gas / gasoline”).

cœur, coeur heart (in all senses). Cognate with core. Not to be confused with cour
(“court”; “courtyard”). Example, apprends les mots par cœur (“to learn the words
by heart”).

peine effort, trouble; (in à peine) hardly; penalty (cognate). In the first sense, it’s
cognate with pain; but French peine does not really mean “pain” (which would be

20
douleur), which you could nevertheless use as a mnemonic. In the second sense,
only used in à peine, it is cognate with Spanish apenas (“hardly”) and pen- of
English penultimate (“second to last”), peninsula (literally “almost island”),
penumbra (“partially shaded area around the edges of a shadow”). Examples, il
s’est donné de la peine de / pour expliquer la théorie (“he went to great lengths / a
lot of trouble to explain the theory”, literally “he gave himself the effort to ...”);
peine de mort (“death penalty”); il est à peine 5h du matin (“it’s barely 5 in the
morning”).

bout end (n.), tip; piece, bit. Cognate with beat and maybe with butt. Regardless,
butt is a perfect mnemonic if you think of e.g. the butt of a cigarette. This is a false
friend of English bout. Examples, au bout de la corde (“at the end of the rope”); un
bout de papier (“a scrap of paper”); la récession est au bout du tunnel (“the
recession is at the end of the tunnel”).

seulement only, solely (cognate).

matin morning. English matins (“morning prayer in some churches”), matinee or

matinée (“daytime show”) are from this French word or its Old French source.

dieu god, deity (cognate). Also cognate with divine, divinity. English adieu
(“goodbye”, “farewell”) is from Old French.

asseoir (reflexive) to sit down, to take a seat; to make sit down. The root is cognate
with sedentary, sediment, and if traced to Proto-Indo-European, with sit, seat.
Prefix a- just means “toward”, “at”, “about”. Letter d between two vowels (medial)
in Latin tends to disappear, and the stressed e changes to oi in French. Examples,
asseyez-vous! (“sit down!”). This word can be conjugated in either of two ways
thanks to the 1990 spelling reform which dropped e from the word (because this
syllable is pronounced /swaʁ/), though only one form is slightly more popular for a
specific person-and-number combination, e.g. je m’assois, tu t’assois, il s’assoit,
ils s’assoient, asseyez-tu (imperative), but nous asseyons, vous asseyez. See also
assiette (“dish”), assis (“seated”, “sitting”).

mourir to die. Cognate with morbid, moribund (“dying”). Example, il est mort en
mai (“he died in May”), where mort is the past participle, not adjective, and the
auxiliary verb must be être, not avoir. Although il est mort alone can also mean

21
“he is dead”, it can only mean “he died” with a point of past time in the sentence;
it’s much more common than saying il mourait.

gros big, thick, fat; coarse. Cognate with gross. This word precedes the noun it
modifies, e.g. un gros problème / morceau (“a big problem / piece”), and does not
have the sense of “disgusting” as English gross, which would be dégoûtant in
French.

tirer to take, to draw, to pull; to shoot, to fire. Cognate with the root of retire
(literally, “to draw back”, “to withdraw”), with tirage (“drawing wine from barrel”;
“drawing in lottery”), tear (if traced to Proto-Germanic). The sense of “shoot” is
implied from pulling the trigger of a firearm. Examples, il tire la corde (“he pulls
the rope”); la police tire sur le dealer de drogue (“the police shoots at the drug
dealer”).

perdre to lose. perte loss; waste (of time). Cognate with perdition (“loss of the
soul”, “eternal damnation”). But if this word doesn’t ring a bell, use a mnemonic
such as “Purdue University is small; you won’t lose yourself on campus”, or
“Perdón, I got lost.” (perdón is Spanish meaning “excuse me”.) Examples, j’ai
perdu mon portefeuille (“I lost my wallet”); c’est une perte de temps (“it’s a waste
of time”).

fort strong; loud; highly, very (much), très; fort (n.). Cognate with force. Note that
there’s no word specifically for “loud” in French; use fort instead. Fort of course
can also mean “fort” (defensive structure). When it means “very”, it may sound a
little more formal than très. Examples, parlez plus fort! (“speak louder!”); fort bon
(“very good”, très bon).

tard late. Cognate with tardy, with the root of retard. Example, il est tard, on se
parle plus tard (“it’s late, we’ll talk later”).

droit right (n., entitlement); law; right (adj., on the right-hand side); straight.
Cognate with direct. In the original Latin word directus, e changed to i, and ict
changed to oit in French, also seen in Latin strictus > French étroit, etc. English
adroit (“dexterous”, “skillful”) is from French. Most people use the right hand
more easily. Examples, les droits de l’homme (“human rights”); un étudiant en

22
droit (“a law student”); tournez à droite (“turn right”); une ligne droite (“a straight
line”).

guerre war. Cognate with guerrilla, where -illa is a diminutive (“small”). Not to
be confused with guère (“hardly”), guérir (“to cure”), both having a single r,
unlike in guerre or guerrilla.

ville city, town. Cognate with village. But it’s easier if you notice that many
English place names take -ville as the suffix, e.g. Nashville, Tennessee.

vite quickly. vitesse speed. Unknown or unhelpful etymology. Use a mnemonic

such as “he has a quick wit”. Vitesse may be known to some English speaking
people because it’s commonly used in the names for race cars or football clubs.
Note vite is not related to vita in curriculum vitae, where it means “life”. But as a
mnemonic, you can associate vivid with a person’s quick action or movement.
Example, pouvez-vous parler moins vite / plus doucement / plus lentement?
(“could you speak more slowly?”).

ailleurs elsewhere. Probably cognate with else. Another theory considers the word
cognate with alibi (originally or literally “elsewhere”; the defendant was in a
different place and so was not responsible for the crime). This word often occurs in
phrases d’ailleurs or par ailleurs, meaning “besides”, “additionally”,
“furthermore”.

écrire to write. Cognate with script, scribe. Change é- to s- to see the cognation.
Not to be confused with écrier (“to cry”, “to exclaim”). When this word is used
reflexively, it means “(two people) to write to each other” or “(a word) to be
spelled”, e.g. comment ça s'écrit (“how do you spell it?”, literally “how is it
written?”).

jeter to throw. Cognate with eject, jettison, jetsam. Note that many conjugated
forms have double t’s, e.g. jette-moi le ballon (“throw me the ball”). Idiom jeter un
œil / un coup d’œil means “to have a look / a quick look”.

lit bed. If traced to Proto-Indo-European, cognate with lie (“to lie down”), lay (“to
put down”). English litter is from French litière (“litter”), from lit (“bed”). People
in the Middle Ages strewed certain plants used as the bedding for animals.
Examples, un lit à deux places (“a double bed”); une chambre à deux lits (“a room

23
with two beds”; some people call this “a twin room” but not “double room”); il
dort dans son lit (“he sleeps in his bed”).

jouer (followed by de) to play (music instrument), (followed by à) to play (sport).

joueur player. Cognate with joke, jocular. Examples, jouer du violon / de la
guitare (“to play violin / guitar”); jouer au tennis / aux échecs (“to play tennis /
chess”); à toi de jouer (“your turn to play”).

lire to read. Cognate with lecture, legend, legible. Or use a mnemonic such as “I
read King Lear by Shakespeare.” Example, il me lit ce roman (“he reads this novel
to me”). The third person singular form is the same as lit (“bed”).

soleil sun. Cognate with solar. Most likely you’ve heard of the famous circus,
Cirque du Soleil, literally, “Circus of the Sun”. Example, il fait soleil (“it’s sunny”).

marcher to walk; to work, to operate correctly; to march. Cognate with march.

Note this word primarily does not mean “to march”, which may be better translated
as défiler, manifester. Examples, je marche à l’école (“I walk to school”); la
machine à laver ne marche pas (“the washing machine does not work”).

mur wall. Cognate with mural. Not to be confused with mûr (“mature”, “ripe”).
Example, le mur de Berlin (“the Berlin wall”). See also mûr for tips on avoiding
confusion.

écouter to listen (to). Cognate with auscultation (“listening with a stethoscope, in

medical diagnosis”). Latin aus- changed to Old French es- and Modern French é-.
If you prefer a mnemonic, imagine you talk to a cute child and say “You’re such a
cootie, I’ll listen to all you say.” Example, écouter la radio (“to listen to radio”;
note radio is feminine). When followed by an object, this verb is transitive, with no
preposition before the noun.

peur fear (n.). Etymology does not help. Use a mnemonic such as “I fear the purr
of a black cat.” or “Paul is a fearsome guy.” Examples, elle a peur des chiens
(“she’s afraid of dogs”, literally “she has fear of dogs”); n’ayer pas peur (“don’t be
afraid”). Not to be confused with peu (“little”).

raison reason (cognate). This word is a false friend of English raisin. Example, tu
as raison (“you’re right”, literally “you have reason”).

24
tour tour, walk, turn (masc. n.); tower (fem. n.) (cognate). These two meanings are
actually from two separate words with different origins. In the sense of “tower”,
it’s also cognate with turret (literally “little tower”). Examples, faire le tour du
monde (“to go around the world”); c’est ton tour (“it’s your turn”); chacun son
tour (“each taking his turn”, “one at a time”); la tour Eiffel (“Eiffel Tower”). Note
the gender of the noun in these two senses.

ciel sky; heaven. Cognate with celestial. Ceiling is not a cognate, but it may be
used as a mnemonic due to close pronunciation.

mois month. Cognate with menstrual. If traced to Proto-Indo-European, cognate

with month. From Latin mensis, where ns changed to s (loss of n also seen in
maison), and e changed to oi (also seen in croire etc.). The plural is also spelled
mois. Examples, au mois de mai / en mai (“in the month of May / in May”; note
the preposition); le mois dernier / prochain (“last / next month”).

bois wood; woods, woodland. Cognate with bouquet, bush if traced to Proto-
Germanic. English oboe is from French haut (“high”) + bois, by way of Italian,
literally meaning “a loud woodwind instrument”. The plural is still bois. Example,
une table en bois (“a wooden table”).

essayer (followed by de) to test, to try. essai trial, test (n.), attempt; essay
(cognate). Cognate with assay (“testing of chemical composition”), essay. English
essay used to have the sense of “test” when it was borrowed from Middle French
as the French thinker Michel de Montaigne wrote his Essais (meaning literally
“experiment”, “attempt”), which made essai a general word referring to the genre
of literary writing. Example, il essaie d’écrire l’essai. (“he tries to write the
essay”).

pousser to push (cognate); to urge; to grow, to sprout. As to the sense of “to grow”,
apparently growth is likened to a push to go up; growth spurt is poussée de
croissance in French, literally “push of growth”. Not to be confused with poussière
(“dust”).

épaule shoulder. Cognate with spatula (“a tool with a flat blade”), spatha (“a type
of long and flat sword”). Think of the flat, broad shape of the shoulder. Latin sp-

25
changed to French esp- for clearer pronunciation, and s was lost with e changed to
é to mark the loss. In short, you can change é- to s- to see the cognation.

oublier to forget; to leave behind due to forgetfulness. oubli forgetting (n.);

oversight. Cognate with obliterate, oblivious. Example, j’ai oublié de fermer la
porte (“I forgot to close the door”); j’ai oublié mon livre chez Jean (“I left my
book at Jean’s place as I forgot to take it”). The second meaning has no direct
English equivalence although it’s easy to understand.

apprendre to learn; to teach. Cognate with apprehend, one meaning of which, “to
understand”, is helpful. The primary meaning of apprendre is “to learn”, e.g. il
apprend l’anglais (“he’s learning / he learns English”); apprendre (auprès) de
personnes expérimentées (“to learn from experienced people”). In limited cases,
the word can also mean “to teach”, e.g. elle apprend à son enfant à cuisiner (“she
teaches her child to cook”); the verb should have a complement à quelqu’un (“to
somebody”) and the skill being taught normally does not need schooling, for which
teaching would be enseigner.

livre book (masc. n.); pound (for both currency and weight) (fem. n.). In the first
sense, cognate with library (and note the b-v change, which is common in
Romance languages), although English library is translated as a different French
word, bibliothèque. In the second sense, cognate with liter or litre, and
abbreviation lb (“pound”, from Latin libra). Not to be confused with livrer (“to
deliver”) even though livre happens to be a conjugated form of it. Note the two
different genders for the two senses, e.g., Ce livre de poche pèse une livre (“this
paperback book weighs one pound”, though metric units are used in France or
Canada).

manger to eat. English manger (“trough for animals to eat food from”) is
borrowed from the Old French form of this French word. Most people know the
Christmas carol “Away in a Manger”. Example, as-tu mangé? (“did you eat?”,
literally “have you eaten?”, but English speakers rarely say that).

bouche mouth. From Latin bucca (“cheek”); medial c before a regularly changed
to ch in French. Cognate with buccal (“of or relating to cheek”), buckle (from an
intermediate Latin word for “cheek strap of a helmet”; think of “Buckle up!” but
across the mouth of an animal). If you prefer a mnemonic, try “a big-mouth buck

26
(male deer)”, or “The mustache on his mouth is like a bush.” Example, on mange
avec sa bouche (“we eat with our mouths”, literally “one eats with one’s mouth”).

voiture car. English vehicle is a borrowing from French véhicule, which is a

doublet with voiture. Cognate with vector (“a directed quantity”) from a Latin
word meaning “to carry”. Latin -ect- regularly changed to French -oit-. Example,
nous allons à New York en voiture (“we go to New York by car”; note preposition
en, not e.g. par).

bruit noise, sound; rumor. This word has entered English vocabulary as a medical
term (“abnormal sound heard on a stethoscope”). Possibly cognate with bray (“to
cry”, said of a donkey). As a mnemonic, imagine the noisy scene of a brutal
combat.

plutôt rather (as in rather than); rather, quite, pretty. From plus (“more”) + tôt
(“soon”, “early”), so literally, “sooner”. English sooner also has the sense of
“rather” as in would sooner, although it’s not as common as would rather. Tôt is
cognate with toast; being hot implies “quick” or “soon”. Examples, je préfère ceci
plutôt que cela (“I prefer this to / rather than /over that”); c’est plutôt bon (“it’s
pretty good”). See also tôt.

fenêtre window. Cognate with fenestration (“arrangement of windows and other

openings in a building”). The English word defenestration means “throwing or
jumping out of window” (de- means “off”), as the practice was historically a
common way to kill an opponent and is lately one way of committing suicide,
especially in Hong Kong. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “the finest
window”, or “a window decorated with great artistic finesse”. Example, il regarde
par la fenêtre (“he looks out (of) the window”; par here is like “through”).

façon way, manner, fashion (cognate). Example, d’une façon différente (“in a
different way”; note the preposition de, not dans or en).

montrer to show. Cognate with the root of demonstrate. See also montre
(“watch”).

pièce room, chamber; play; coin; piece (cognate). Note the diverse meanings of
this word, but most commonly “room” as well as “piece” according to the Google
Translate frequency; various types of countable items are called pièce.

27
boire to drink. Cognate with beverage, with the root of imbibe (“to drink heavily”),
the root of imbrue (“to stain”), with bib (“cloth for a baby to prevent dirtying
clothes when eating or drinking”). Stressed i in Latin often changed to oi in French.
Not to be confused with bois (“wood”), which, maybe confusingly, is also a
conjugated form of boire. Example, qu’est-ce que tu veux boire? / que veux-tu
boire? (“what do you want to drink?”).

suite next step, sequel (cognate), rest of the story; series; suite. ensuite
subsequently. Related to suivre (“to follow”). English suite is from French suite.
But the French word has much more meanings. Examples, suite page 10
(“continued on page 10”); à la suite (“in a row”, “one after another”); trois fois de
suite (“three times in succession”); la suite / le reste appartient à l’histoire (“the
rest is history”).

vraiment truly, really. Cognate with verity, verify.

soudain sudden (cognate); suddenly, tout à coup.

geste gesture (masc.) (cognate). Note the masculine gender of the word in spite of -
e ending. (It may be used as a feminine noun but has a different meaning and is
much less frequent.)

cheveu hair (on the head). Cognate with capillary. From Latin capillus. Latin ca-
regularly changed to French che- as seen in Latin caballus > French cheval
(“horse”) etc., and b changed to v. The ending went through -il to -el to -eu. Note
that a hair on the body is poil. Not to be confused with cheval especially between
their plurals cheveux (“hairs”) and chevaux (“horses”), the latter with letter a.
Example, se faire couper les cheveux (“to get a haircut”, “to have one’s hair cut”).
See also poil.

besoin need (n.). Etymology doesn’t help, but -soin may be traced to the same
origin as that of English send. Use a mnemonic such as “I need a bassoon”, or “he
needs money; he asks money be sent right away”. Example, il a besoin d'une
voiture, il en a besoin (“he needs a car; he needs it”).

dormir to sleep. endormir to put to sleep. Dormir is cognate with dormant. Prefix
en- means “to make”, “to enable”. Example, as-tu / avez-vous bien dormi? (“did
you sleep well?”)

28
envie desire (n.); envy (n.) (cognate). envier to desire; to envy (cognate). In spite
of the cognation, the far more common meaning of these words is “desire”, not
“envy”, which is better translated as jalousie (“jealousy”). Example, j’ai envie de
glace / de aller à Paris (“I want ice cream / want to go to Paris”, literally “I have a
desire for ...”, slightly differently from the more direct je veux).

mer sea. Cognate with marine, maritime, and with the first element of mermaid,
which literally means “sea maid”. Example, au bord de la mer (“at the seaside”).

doigt finger; toe (especially in doigt de pie, “toe of foot”). From Latin digitus.
Cognate with digit, which has a meaning of “finger” or “toe”. Latin i before a
guttural such as g regularly changed to French oi (also seen in noir “black” < Latin
niger).

feu fire. Cognate with focus, with the second element of curfew (literally “cover
fire”). In the Middle Ages, calling to cover fire in the house was preparation for
sleep. If you use the first etymology, imagine using a magnifying glass to focus
sunlight into a dot on paper or anything flammable to start a fire. Alternatively,
although not a cognate, fire itself sounds like a good mnemonic. Note this word
has nothing to do with foe (“enemy”). Examples, prendre feu (“to catch fire”);
cuire à feu doux (“to cook over low heat”, literally “by way of mild fire”).

pays country; land, region. Cognate with peasant. English country has a minor
sense of “countryside”, thus connecting to the word peasant. Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “everybody pays taxes to his country”. Note the plural of this
word is still pays. Examples, un beau pays (“a beautiful country”); les Pays de la
Loire (“the Loire region”).

pauvre poor (financially or pitifully) (cognate); poor person, pauper (cognate). Of

the two cognates, obviously pauper is closer. Latin p sometimes changed to French
v. As an adjective, when pauvre follows the noun, the meaning is more literal (like
a normal adjective), e.g. un ménage pauvre (“a poor household”), but when it
precedes the noun, it becomes sentimental, e.g. mon pauvre garçon (“my poor
boy”). Many adjectives that can precede and follow a noun and have different
meanings follow this rule.

29
froid cold. Cognate with frigid. Latin i in front of guttural g changed to oi, and the
following unstressed syllable was lost. Note the verbs in these examples, avoir
froid (“to feel cold” said of a person); il fait froid (“it’s cold” said of weather);
prendre froid (“to catch cold”).

ombre shade; shadow; darkness. Cognate with umbrella, umbra (“shadow”). An

umbrella provides shade and forms a shadow. Note that in many languages, one
word can mean either “shade” or “shadow”, unlike in English. Example, à l'ombre
(“in the shade”; this is very much more common than dan l'ombre).

apercevoir to see, to notice, to catch sight of; to perceive (cognate). You can also
use voir (“to see”) to help remember the word.

chemin path, way, road. Gaulish origin. Camion, UK English word for “truck”,
probably came from French chemin; change che- to ca- to see the connection. Or
use a mnemonic such as “A camion runs on a road”. Not to be confused with
chemise (“shirt”), cheminée (“chimney”). Another mnemonic is an image of a
country road leading to a house with a chimney. Example, je suis sur le chemin de
la maison (“I’m on my way home”).

verre glass (both material and drinking glass). Cognate with vitreous (“glass-like”),
vitrify (“to convert into glass”), vitriol (“bitterly abusive language”). Latin tr
changed to French rr for easier pronunciation. Examples, un verre de vin (“a glass
of wine”); un verre à vin (“a wine glass”).

glisser to slip, to slide, to glide, to shift. Cognate with glide if traced to Proto-
Germanic. English glissade (“sliding down snow or ice”; “a ballet leg movement”)
is from French. Or use glide or grease as a mnemonic. Example, la route est
glissante (“the road is slippery”).

reconnaître to recognize (both “to recognize a person or thing seen before” and
“to acknowledge existence or contribution”) (cognate); to admit, to concede as true,
to acknowledge; to reconnoiter, to do reconnaissance. Note the second meaning
(“to admit”) may not be easy to guess. The third meaning is only used in military
context. English reconnoiter is from this French word. Examples, je ne t’ai pas
reconnu (“I didn’t recognize you”); il faut reconnaître c’est difficile (“we should
admit that this is difficult”). See also reconnaissance (“recognition”).

30
vide empty, blank, void; empty space, vacuum. vider to empty. Cognate with void,
vacuum, vacuous. Alternatively, use evict as a mnemonic, or “the video is blank”.
Not to be confused with vite (“quickly”, “fast”).

ajouter to add. Cognate with adjust, and the root is cognate with the first element
of juxtapose (“to place side by side”). Imagine the instructor at a class says adjust,
he means add. Alternatively, use adjoin as a mnemonic. Example, ajouter du sel à
la soupe (“to add some salt to the soup”).

gauche left (side) (adj.; n.); clumsy, awkward. This word has entered English
vocabulary, meaning “awkward or lacking grace”, not “left”. Etymology does not
help us. Use a mnemonic such as “Gosh, he can do that with his left hand”; the
notion that the left hand is less agile than the right is prevalent in many cultures.
Examples, tournez à gauche! (“turn left!); il est assis à ma gauche (“he sits on my
left”).

propre (after noun) clean; (before noun) own. Cognate with proper. To help
remember the two different meanings, consider the fact that an adjective normally
goes after the noun in French. If it can be used before the noun, the meaning is less
direct or literal. Properly dressing is more likely to mean wearing clean clothes
than wearing one’s own clothes. But note English proper has neither of the
meanings, “clean” and “own”. Examples, mes vêtements propres (“my clean
clothes”); ma propre voiture (“my own car”).

lèvre lip. Cognate with labial, labia (“lip”). From Latin labrum. Latin a before br
or tr would change to French è (as seen in frère “brother” < Latin fratrem). Latin b
regularly changed to French v.

jambe leg. The second element of doorjamb (“doorpost”) is from this word.
Etymology doesn’t help. But jambon (“ham”) is from this word and you may have
seen it on the menu in a French restaurant. Or use a mnemonic such as “help! my
legs are jammed”, or “humans jump with legs”, or “yum, the ham (pork leg) is
really good!” Example, il s’est cassé la jambe (“he broke his leg”). See also
enjamber (“to straddle”), jambon.

vent wind. Cognate with ventilate. Not to be confused with vente (“sale”).
Example, un vent d’est (“east wind”, “easterly wind”, “wind from the east”).

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fou mad, crazy. Cognate with fool, folly. Note the irregular inflections of this word:
folle and folles for feminine, fol for masculine singular before vowel. It’s not
uncommon to see ou-ol interchange in French. The adverb, follement, is formed
from the feminine singular. Examples, il est fou (“he’s crazy”); il est fou d’elle / de
course automobile (“he’s crazy about her / about car racing”); une femme folle (“a
mad woman”).

agir to act (including multiple senses, to do, to behave, etc.) (cognate). Also
cognate with agitate, agent, agenda. Examples, il faut agir maintenant (“we must
act now”); il s’agit de votre santé (“it’s about / all about your health”; you may
literally interpret the common phrase il s’agit de as “it acts upon itself regarding”).

état state (cognate), condition; state (cognate), nation (with initial capital, État).
Example, en bon / mauvais état (“in good / bad condition”, “in a good / bad state”).

sens sense, meaning; direction; conjugated form of sentir (“to feel”; “to smell”). In
the first and second meanings, the final letter s is pronounced (except in a few
idioms), unlike that of sans. Examples, dans les deux sens / tous les sens (“in both /
all directions”; note plural is still sens); dans le mauvais sens (“in the wrong way /
direction”); dans le sens où ... (“in the sense that ...”; note the preposition où); ça a
un/du sens (“it makes sense”); ça n’a pas de sens (“it makes no sense”).

frère brother. Cognate with fraternity, fraternal, friar (“a member of a mendicant
Christian order”). From Latin fratrem (accusative form of this word), where a
changed to French è, also seen in e.g. lèvre < Latin labrum. Example, frère aîné /
cadet, grand / petit frère (“older / younger brother”).

salle hall; room, chamber. English salon is related to this word. Suffix -on is
augmentative, meaning “a big one”. Examples, salle à manger / de bain / d’attente
/ de classe / de séjour (“dining room / bathroom / waiting room / classroom / living
room”).

dos back (of a person). Cognate with dorsal, with the root of endorse. Dossier is
derived from this word and has entered English. In square dancing, do-si-do is
from French dos-à-dos, literally “back to back” (as opposed to vis-à-vis, “face to
face”). Examples, j’ai mal au dos (“I have back pain / backache / My back hurts”).

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arbre tree; shaft, axle. Cognate with arbor, with the root of arboretum. English
arbor can also mean “shaft”, a sense that may have come from French. It’s
possible that a shaft or axle was mostly made of a tree trunk or branch. Examples,
un grand arbre (“a tall / big tree”); arbre généalogique (“family tree”).

serrer to tighten, to squeeze; to shake hands. Cognate with serried (“standing

close together”, “closely-packed”), serrefine (“a medical clamp used in clamping
small blood vessels”). Etymology may not help unless you know the cognates or
another Romance language. As a mnemonic, imagine you shake hands with
someone but squeeze too much, and you say “Sorry”. Example, ils se serrent la
main (“they shake hands”, literally “they squeeze the hand to each other”).

mauvais bad. The mau- part is cognate with prefix mal-, and -vais with fate. Latin
al sometimes changed to French au, also seen in chaud (“hot”) < Latin caldus
(with English descendants scald, calorie etc.), autre (“other”) < Latin alter. Unlike
mal (“bad”), this adjective modifies a noun, and goes before it. Examples, une
mauvaise excuse (“a bad excuse”); quelle mauvaise journée! (“what a bad / terrible
day!”); ça a mauvais goût (“it tastes bad”, literally “this has bad taste”).

sang blood. English sanguine is from French. English sang (past tense of sing) is a
false friend.

coucher to lay down; (reflexive) to sleep, to go to bed; going to bed / sleep (n.).
couche layer (of soil, snow, paint etc.); diaper. Cognate with couch. Imagine
sleeping on the couch. Couche can still have the sense of “bed” but nowadays it’s
uncommon. To remember the sense of “layer”, consider the concept of bed in
geology (rock formation marked by divisional planes). Example, je me couche
bientôt (“I’ll go to bed soon”); un beau coucher de soleil (“a beautiful sunset”,
literally “a beautiful going-to-sleep of sun”).

or gold; yet, and yet, well, now. Regarding the first sense, the chemical symbol for
gold, Au, is from the same Latin source; although a chemist always reads it as gold,
you can pronounce the symbol as if it was a word. Dorado, literally “of gold” or
“golden” in Spanish, is used as the name of many things in the US. In the second
sense (“yet”), or rather, the sense of a different word of this spelling, it is from
Latin hora (“hour”, “now”) and is cognate with hour. It’s a conjunction used for a
gentle negation in literary writing. English now sometimes serves this purpose as

33
well; it slightly contradicts the sentence before it but also builds upon it and
extends its meaning. In either case, this word is a false friend of English or.
Example, un âge d’or (“a golden age”). See also doré (“golden”), dorer (“to gild”).

argent silver; money. The country Argentina is named as a result of the silver
mountains legend or myth. The chemical symbol for silver, Ag, is from the same
Latin source; try to pronounce it as argent instead of silver as a real chemist does.
Or as a mnemonic, say “I urgently need money.”

coin corner. Cognate with English coin. In spite of cognation, this word and
English coin are false friends due to different meanings. Their common Latin
source refers to a wedge, which forms an angle or corner (sense taken by French),
and whose shape is that of a die to stamp metals, and a coin is the thing stamped
(sense taken by English). Alternatively, use corner as a mnemonic due to its
somewhat similar pronunciation. Example, tournez au coin! (“turn at the corner!”).

manquer (followed by de) to lack; (followed by à or reversing subject and object

positions) to be missed (“thought dearly of because one is absent”); (directly
followed by an object) to miss (“to not catch”). manque lack (n.). Etymology
doesn’t help unless you know one other Romance language. Use a mnemonic such
as “A mangled man lacks a limb.” Examples, il manque d’expérience (“he lacks
experience”); tu me manques (“I miss you”, literally “you, to me, are missed”); le
rapport manque beaucoup de détails (“the report misses a lot of details”). Note
that to express missing something in the past or that one can’t get any more, it’s
better to use regretter instead of manquer, e.g., Je regrette la vie à Paris (“I miss
the life in Paris”).

semaine week. The se- part is cognate with September, literally the seventh month
of the old Roman calendar, before the Julian calendar corrected it to the ninth
month. (The second syllable consonant m is not the beginning of a root or stem, but
signifies an ordinal number, as in septième “seventh”.) Think of seven as the
number of days in a week. Example, la semaine prochaine / dernière (“next / last
week”).

fermer to shut, to close. enfermer to lock up, to imprison. Cognate with firm.
When you hold something firmly, you close your hand. See also ferme (“firm”,
adj.; “farm”).

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heureux happy; lucky. bonheur happiness. malheur misfortune, unhappiness.
Bonheur is from bon (“good”) + heur, malheur from mal (“bad”) + heur, where the
obsolete French word heur is cognate with augury (“omen”, “divination”).
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “happy hour” to help remember heureux
and bonheur. Don’t use horror, though! Examples, il est heureux (“he’s happy”);
c’est une fin heureuse (“it’s a happy ending”).

oreille ear. Cognate with auricle (“ear”). As a mnemonic, imagine Mr. O’Reilly
has a good ear and can troubleshoot a car problem by just listening to it. Example,
j’ai mal à l'oreille (“my ear hurts”).

café coffee; café, cafe, coffee shop or a small restaurant. Note that unlike in
English, this word primarily means “coffee”. Examples, café au lait (“coffee with
milk”); café instantané (“instant coffee”; the adjective is not instante but more like
English instantaneous); je voudrais (prendre) un café (“I’d like (to have) a cup of
coffee”; note café is masculine, and you don’t say du café when you answer the
waiter or waitress).

malgré in spite of, despite. From mal (“bad”) + gré (“will”, “liking”). The sense of
“bad will” developed into “against (somebody’s) will”, into “in spite of”. Gré is
cognate with grace, grateful, the root of agree. Example, malgré le mauvais temps
(“in spite of the bad weather”). See also gré.

nu nude (cognate), naked; bare. Example, la vérité toute nue (“the naked truth”).

pierre stone. Cognate with the first element of petroleum, which is from Latin
petra (“rock”) + oleum (“oil”). Pierre and Peter are common masculine given
names, both derived from the same Latin word meaning “stone” or “rock”.

rencontrer to meet, to encounter. rencontre encounter (n.), meeting. The words

without re- are cognate with encounter. Prefix re-, shortened to r- before vowel, is
an intensifier. Examples, nous nous rencontrons à la gare (“we (will) meet at the
train station”; note the reflexive pronoun, the second nous, cannot be omitted); je
l’ai rencontré l'année dernière (“I met him last year”).

peau skin (of humans, animals, or fruits). Cognate with peel, pelt (“animal skin”,
“hide”). Or as a mnemonic, think of beautiful (beau) skin. Example, la peau sèche
(“dry skin”).

35
jardin garden (cognate).

chien dog. Cognate with canine. Latin ca- regularly changed to French che- (e.g.
Latin caballus > French cheval) or ch- followed by other vowel(s). Example,
attention au chien / chien méchant (“beware of dog”; the latter literally means “bad
/ mean dog”).

ancien (before noun) former, ex-; (after noun) ancient (cognate), antique. Note the
first meaning. To help remember it, note that the “normal” or more common
position of an adjective is after a noun, and that’s the position here for the easier-
to-guess meaning “ancient”. So the adjective with the unusual meaning “former”
must be taking the unusual position. Examples, une table ancienne (“an antique
table”); l’ancien président (“the former president”). See also propre (“clean”;
“own”) for more descriptions.

cacher to hide. This word has entered English vocabulary meaning “things stored
especially in a hidden place” or “computer cache memory”. Example, il a caché le
sac puis s’est caché derrière la porte (“he hid the bag and then he hid himself
behind the door”; you can omit himself in English but not se in French).

gagner to win (a match); to earn (money). Probably cognate with gain. Example, il
a gagné la course (“he won the race”).

gris gray, grey. Cognate with grizzle (“gray”), grizzly (“grayish”; “grizzly bear”).
Not cognate with gray or grey, which nevertheless can serve as mnemonics.

lourd heavy. Cognate with lurid (“horrifying”). The Latin source originally meant
“yellowish”, which later developed into “dirty”, “lazy”, “heavy” and “horrifying”.
Alternatively, use load or loaded as a mnemonic. The meaning of this word
extends to various figurative ones, such as “clumsy”, “serious” (“grave”), e.g. une
lourde erreur (“a serious mistake”).

vert green. Cognate with verdant, verdure (“green color of vegetation”). This word
has entered English vocabulary, especially as a heraldic tincture for green.

journée day, day’s work. Cognate with journal. Not to be confused with English
journey, which would be voyage. Note toute la journée is “all day (long)” or
“whole day” while tous les jours is “every day”, literally “all the days”. Examples,

36
il travaille au bureau toute la journée (“he works in the office all day long”); payer
à la journée (“to pay by the day”).

cheval horse. chevalier knight. Cognate with cavalry. From Latin caballus, where
ca- changed to French che- as usual, and b changed to v. Not to be confused with
cheveu (“hair”, cognate with capillary), especially between their plurals chevaux
(“horses”) and cheveux (“hairs”), where the second syllable vowel has e, not as
open as a. Example, monter à cheval (“to ride a horse”).

foutre (slang) to do, (vulgar) to fuck around. British English footle (“to waste
time”, “to talk nonsense”) is from this word. As a mnemonic, think of the first part
of the word as English fool, or French fou (“crazy”), or close to fuck, and
optionally, the second part as trash. If nothing helps, at least remember it’s an F-
word, although not of four letters. Not to be confused with foudre (“lightning”).

allemand German (adj.); German language. Allemand German man (Allemande,

“German woman”). Of all major European countries, Germany may be the one
with the most diverse names in different languages. Alemanni, the Germanic tribe,
originally meant "all men" (al- for "all" in its original language, hence English all).
So simply use a mnemonic "All men in Germany".

envoyer to send. renvoyer to return, to send back; to dismiss, to lay off (an
employee). The root is from Latin via (“road”), which in English is used as a
preposition as in go to New York via Boston. (Latin i sometimes changed to French
oi, then oy.) Renvoyer, with prefix re- (“back”), can mean “to dismiss” because
you send the employee back (home). Not to be confused with English envy (envie,
envier in French although they mean differently) or envoy (envoyé in French).
Example, je vais t’envoyer un livre (“I’m going to send you a book”).

nez nose. Cognate with nasal, and with nose if traced to Proto-Indo-European.
Note the plural is also spelled nez, and letter z is silent. Examples, il a un grand nez
(“he has a big nose”); nez à nez (“face to face”, face à face).

au-dessus above. dessus above. Etymology is more complicated than you may
think. (The root corresponds to -sus, which is abbreviated from a Latin word from
which English subvert is derived. And -sus is related to prefix sub- but in the sense
of “from under”, instead of just “under”.) Since sur (“on”) is easy, just use that as a

37
mnemonic; but remember “above” is higher than “on” in position. You may
memorize dessus and its antonym dessous (“below”, “beneath”, from de- + sous)
together. (You may use the extra o in dessous as a mnemonic as if it makes the
word heavy and sink.) Examples, une lampe au-dessus de la table (“a lamp above
the table”); un pont au-dessus de la Seine (“a bridge over the Seine”).

chaud hot; warm. Cognate with calorie, scald, cauldron. Latin ca- regularly
changed to French ch- followed by a vowel, and al sometimes changed to French
au, also seen in mauvais (“bad”), where mau- is from mal-. Note that chaud can
mean either “hot” or “warm”. Examples, j’ai chaud (“I’m hot”); il fait chaud (“it’s
hot / warm”).

jeu game; play (in theater). Cognate with joke, jocular. From Latin jocus, where
the medial c probably softened to g, to j, and was dropped. Example, jouer à un jeu
(“to play a game”). Note jeu refers to a game played for fun, not for competition,
which would be match, e.g. un match de basket (“a basketball match”).

importer to matter, to be important (cognate); to import (cognate). The first

meaning is much more common in French, e.g., n’importe qui (“anyone”),
n’importe où (“anywhere”), n’importe quoi (“anything”); n’importe qui sait faire
ça (“anybody knows how to do it”). But note English anyhow or anyway is de
toute façon, en tout cas in French. While n’importe q-word is etymologically short
for il n’importe pas q-word, the meaning has changed so it’s better to just
memorize it. To express “it doesn’t matter w-”, use peu instead of ne, i.e. say peu
importe q-/où, literally “it matters little w-”.

mille thousand; mile (cognate, originally “thousand paces”). Cognate with milli-
(prefix for “one-thousandth”). Unrelated to mill, which would be moulin in French.

parmi among. From Latin per + medium (“by or through the middle”). Note
English from among is also translated as parmi (not e.g. de parmi).

empêcher to prevent, to hinder, to impede (cognate), to stop, to hold. Example,

rien ne peut t’empêcher de le faire (“nothing can stop you from doing it”); je ne
peux m’empêcher de penser que ... (“I can’t help but think that ...”).

tuer to kill. Cognate with tutor. Originally the word meant “to guard” (close to “to
tutor”), not “to kill”. To guard or protect something, it is covered but may be

38
covered or wrapped too tight and stifled, therefore killed. But this sense change is
too convoluted. Use a mnemonic such as “duel to kill” or “this tuition is killing
me”.

bientôt soon. From bien (“a great deal”, “very”) + tôt (“early”). Tôt is cognate with
toast; being hot implies “quick” or “soon”. Example, à bientôt (“see you soon”).
See also tôt.

pareil the same, like, alike; such, like that. Cognate with pair, peer. Not cognate
with parallel, which nevertheless serves as a good mnemonic. Example, c’est
pareil / la même chose (“it’s the same / the same thing”). See also appareil
(“apparatus”).

tellement so; so many, so much. Etymology doesn’t help unless you know one
other Romance language. Use a mnemonic such as “Tell me so”, or make up a
mixed language phrase très many. Examples, il est tellement/si gentil (“he’s so
nice”); il aime tellement la musique (“he likes that music so much”); tellement
d’eau ici (“so much water here”; note de before the noun).

frapper to hit, to beat, to strike, to knock, to bang. Possibly Germanic origin; if

traced to Proto-Germanic, cognate with rap. This word is known to all Ballet
dancers referring to the leg striking the floor. You may also see this word in a
coffee shop, where frappé mocha or caramel is sold. If not, use a mnemonic such
as “The duck flaps his wings beating water.” Example, frapper à la porte (“to
knock on the door”).

libre free, unconstrained, at liberty. This word is easy but note that “free” in the
sense of “free of charge” is a different word, gratuit. When you see libre service,
don’t assume the service is free (of charge), because it means “self-service”,
literally “service at (your) liberty”. Example, cette place est libre? (“this seat/place
is vacant / not taken?”; “vacant” is better than “free” to avoid ambiguity).

maître teacher; master (cognate). To see the cognation, when you see a vowel with
a diacritical mark, check to see if it can be replaced with the unaccented vowel plus
s. Note maître is masculine in spite of -e ending; its feminine is maîtresse. English
maitre d’hotel or maitre d’ in short (“restaurant dining-room manager”) is from
French.

39
cher dear, beloved; expensive. chéri dear (n.), darling. Cognate with charity,
cherish. From a Latin word that begins with ca-, which regularly changed to
French che-. Originally or literally, charity means “kindness and understanding
toward others”, and you cherish this feeling as if the object or person is expensive.
To remember the second meaning “expensive” of cher, consider the fact that
running a charity needs lots of money. Note that there’s no word specifically for
“cheap” in French; say pas cher (“not expensive”), bon marché (literally “well
marketed”) or less frequently moins cher (“less expensive”) instead.

pleurer to cry, to weep; to mourn. Cognate with the root of deplore (“to bewail”;
“to condemn”) and implore (“to beg earnestly”). Note that cry as “to shout” is cri
in French. Not to be confused with pleuvoir (“to rain”, cognate with pluvial).

ligne line; route, course. This word influenced the inheritance of English line from
its Germanic root. Note this word is not related to lignin (plant polymer). Examples,
une ligne droite (“a straight line”); la ligne TGV Paris-Berlin (“the Paris-Berlin
TGV line”).

sœur, soeur sister; sister (in religion), nun. Cognate with sorority. Example, sœur
aînée / cadette, grande / petite sœur (“my older / younger sister”).

remonter to get up again, to climb again; to go back in time, to date back; to cheer
(someone) up. Note the second and third meanings; they probably come from “to
wind up the (old-style mechanical) clock”. Example, la tradition remonte à la fin
des années 1800 (“the tradition dates back to the late 1800s”).

suffire to suffice (cognate), to be sufficient (cognate), to be enough. Not to be

confused with souffrir (“to suffer”), where ou is pronounced differently. Example,
il suffit de demander (“all you need to do is ask”, “you just need to ask”).

apporter to bring. Cognate with porter (“person to help carry things”), port (“to
adapt a computer program to a different environment”), with the second element of
teleport. Example, apportez un sac de plastique! (“bring a plastic bag!”). To bring
a person, use amener instead.

bête beast (cognate); stupid, not bright. bêtise stupidity. A beast or animal is not as
intelligent as a human. To see the cognation, change ê to es. Both French bête and

40
English beast are from Old French beste (“beast”). Example, faire une bêtise (“to
do something stupid”).

hôtel hotel; town house, mansion (private house); public building. This word looks
easy but note the second and third meanings, which do not exist in English hotel.

debout standing, upright. The root bout (“end”, “tip”) is cognate with butt as in
two rams butt heads, but not as a cigarette butt. Nevertheless, just think of butt as
an end of something and debout is standing on the end. Unrelated to debut (“first
show”). Examples, il est debout / reste debout (“he is standing / remains standing”);
il se met debout / se lève (“he stands up”; actually se lever really means “to get
up”).

bouger to move, déplacer. English budge is a borrowing from this word. Example,
ne bougez pas! (“don’t move!”).

lentement slowly. lent slow. lenteur slowness. Cognate with lenient. You may
have seen the Italian words lento, lentando or rallentando on a music sheet; they
all mean “slow”. If not, consider their cognation with English lenient where the
meaning “soft” overlaps. If you don’t like either hint, use a mnemonic such as
“Lentils grow slow.” See also ralentir (“to slow down”).

parvenir to reach; to manage to (do), to succeed in (doing). The root venir (“to
come”) is cognate with the root of avenue, adventure (in the sense of “something
to come”). This word, followed by à or à (faire), can be literally understood as “to
come through”. French parvenu (“upstart”, “person of humble origin who has
become rich”), which is also the past participle of parvenir, has entered English; it
literally means “(who) has come through”. Example, il est parvenu à ouvrir la
bouteille (“he managed to open the bottle”).

pencher to lean, to tilt. Cognate with pend (“to hang”), with the root of depend and
suspend. French penchant (“habitual liking or tendency”) has entered English
vocabulary. Example, il se penche par la fenêtre (“he leans out of the window”).

demain tomorrow. lendemain the next day. The root (the -main part) is from a
Latin word, which if traced to Proto-Indo-European is cognate with matins
(“morning prayers”), matinee (“a daytime show”). Lendemain is from le (“the”) +
en + demain; just as in English, you must use the in this sense (e.g. the day after

41
my wedding). Note demain is not related to domain (domaine in French). Examples,
demain soir (“tomorrow evening”); après-demain (“the day after tomorrow”); à
demain! (“see you tomorrow!”); il est arrivé le lendemain (“he arrived the next
day”; note the “extra” le); le lendemain matin (“the next morning”); le lendemain
de l’accident (“the day after the accident”, literally “the next day of the accident”).

oser to dare. Cognate with audacity. But the etymology hardly helps because aud-
changed to aus- in Latin even before the word was inherited by French. Use a
mnemonic such as “An Aussie (Australian) dares to catch wild animals.” If you
have a friend named José or Jose, use him instead.

doux sweet (adj.); soft; gentle, mild. doucement softly, gently, slowly. douceur
sweetness; softness, tenderness. Cognate with dulcet (“sweet”, said of voice,
maybe ironically), dulcimer (a type of musical instrument). French billet-doux
(“love letter”, literally “sweet note”) has entered English vocabulary. L’eau douce
(not l’eau fraiche) is “fresh water”. If nothing helps, next time at an Italian
restaurant, note the word dolce (“sweet”) on the menu, which is a cognate.

entier entire (cognate), whole; integer (cognate). Not to be confused with English
enter (entre in French).

rose rose flower (fem. n.); pink, rosy color (masc. n.). This word is easy but note
the genders, and the first meaning is more common. As a mnemonic, imagine a
man sending roses, actual flowers, not just something pink, to his wife or girlfriend.

parent family relative; parent (cognate). Note the first meaning. In fact, in most
Romance languages, this word (which may be spelled slightly differently) has the
meaning of “relative”. Also note that a non-family relation or acquaintance is
simply relation. Examples, mes parents (“my parents”); parents et amis (“family
relatives and friends”).

cependant however, nevertheless. From ce (“this”) + pendant (“pending”).

English pending meaning “until something happens” can be considered a mild way
to suggest the opposite or to make a different argument.

âme soul; mind. From Latin anima, with the loss of the unstressed middle syllable,
marked by the circumflex on the preceding vowel. Cognate with anima (“inner self”
in English, a term used in Jungian psychology), animate, animal, animation.

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French âme sœur is often translated as soulmate, but literally it means “soul sister”.
If you prefer a mnemonic, associate ami (“friend”), amie (“female friend”), or
amor (“love”) with soul. Or “If you regularly give alms to the poor, your soul will
eventually go to paradise.”

pensée thought (n.); pansy (plant, not homosexual or timid male person);
conjugated form of penser (“to think”). It’s not very common that one form is both
the past participle of a verb and a noun closely related to it. In this case, English
noun thought is also the form of the past participle of the verb think. Note that
pansy is so named due to its shape resembling that of a thinker’s lowered head.

léger light (not heavy); weak, mild, slight. légèrement slightly, lightly. Cognate
with levitate, levity, lever, elevate, and if traced to Proto-Indo-European, with light
(“not heavy”). Latin -vi- changed to -vj- and thus -g(e)-. The adverb is formed from
the feminine form of the adjective légère. If something can be levitated, it must be
light. If you prefer a mnemonic instead, try “a legion of light cavalry”. Note léger
is unrelated to ledger (“accounting ledger”) or ledge (“shelf”). Examples, un repas
léger (“a light meal”); il est légèrement plus grand que moi (“he’s slightly taller
than me”).

sol soil (cognate), earth, ground, floor. Note that this word does not mean “sun”
(which would be soleil in French); be careful especially if you know Spanish,
Portuguese, or Latin. Also, what we say indoor floor in English is sol, literally
“ground”, in French (and many other languages).

joie joy (cognate). jouir to enjoy. Not to be confused with French jeu (“game”),
jouer (“to play”).

cour court (law or royal) (cognate); courtyard. Not to be confused with French
court (“short”), cœur or coeur (“heart”), and especially cours (“course of events”;
“teaching course”; “stream of water”), even though the plural of cour is spelled
cours. To avoid the confusion, imagine s in cours is pronounced /s/ (as in English
course), even though it’s silent.

moyen way, method, means (cognate); middle (as in Moyen-Âge, “Middle Ages”),
average, mean (middle). Also cognate with median, medium, moiety (“half”;
“part”). From Latin medianus. The middle syllable d was softened and later

43
dropped, and e changed to oy. Consider that English mean has both senses,
“middle” and (when used in a seemingly plural form, means) “way”; so does
French moyen. Examples, le salaire moyen (“the average salary”); en moyenne
(“on average”); nous n’avons aucun moyen de le contacter (“we have no means to
contact him”).

acheter to buy. Cognate with accept. The root is cognate with capture.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “a check to buy things with”. Example, je
vais t’acheter une voiture / des vêtements / à boire (“I’m going to buy you a car /
some clothes / a drink”; the last literally means “buy to drink”).

dehors outside. hors outside; except. Hors is cognate with foreign, from Latin
foris (“outside”). In Latin or Romance languages, f- sometimes changed to h-.
Dehors has entered English vocabulary especially as a legal term. Alternatively,
think of hors d'oeuvre, a borrowing from French meaning “appetizer”, but literally
“outside of work i.e. main course”. Examples, il attend dehors (“he waits outside”);
en dehors de la maison (“outside of the house”).

poche pocket (cognate); pouch (cognate). This word is unrelated to posh (“upper
class”) or Porche (the German car). Example, un livre de poche (“a pocket book”,
“a paperback book”).

frais fresh (food, air, etc.); cool, chilly; fee, cost, charge. fraîcheur freshness;
coolness. These words are not cognate with English fresh unless traced to Proto-
Indo-European. But you can use fresh as a good mnemonic for the first sense of
frais. In the third sense of frais (“fee”), or rather, of a different word spelled the
same, it is cognate with the root of defray (“to provide money to pay”). Or simply
use fee as a mnemonic. Better yet, remember all the meanings with a link
mnemonic or a chain of scenes: on a cool day, you go to a restaurant to eat fresh
food, which costs a lot. The noun fraîcheur is from the feminine form of frais plus
a noun suffix, taking its first two senses only; many abstract nouns are based on the
feminine rather than the masculine form (see §3 of the Notes). Examples, il fait
frais (“it’s chilly / cool”, referring to air temperature); les frais d’épicerie (“the
expenses for grocery / food”).

église church. Cognate with ecclesiastical, although the latter is an adjective.

Examples, aller à l’église (“to go to church”); la cathédrale Notre-Dame est la

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plus grande église de France (“Notre-Dame Cathedral is the largest church in
France”).

large wide, broad (adj.); open sea (n.). largeur width, breadth. Note that French
large does not mean “large” or “big” (which would be grand in French), and in
case you know Spanish, it does not mean “long” (which would be long). Examples,
10 mètres de large (“10 meters wide”); au large (“off the coast”, “offshore”).

école school (cognate). From Latin schola. Many French words beginning with é-
(as well as és-), especially before t, p or c, can be changed back to s- to see the
cognation. Example, aller à l’école (“ to go to school”).

sec dry (adj.). sécher to dry. Cognate with the root of desiccate (“to dry”).
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “Very dry air makes people sick”.

remarquer to notice. English remark primarily means “to make a comment”, but
has a much less used sense of “to notice or observe with attention”, which is still in
remarkable, literally “able to be noticed”. Example, j’ai remarqué qu’il était grand
(“I noticed he was tall”); je lui fais remarquer qu’il n’a pas raison (“I point out to
him that he’s not right”, literally “I make him notice that ...”).

ventre belly, abdomen. From Latin venter, which is also an English word in
anatomy for “abdomen”. Cognate with ventricle (“one of two lower chambers of
the heart”), with the first component of ventriloquism (literally “stomach
speaking”). Note this word is unrelated to English vent (which would be décharger
in French), French vent (“wind”), French vendre (“to sell”), English vend. Example,
avoir mal au ventre (“to have a stomach ache”).

goût taste (all senses). goûter to taste. dégoût disgust (n.) (cognate). The first two
words are cognate with English gusto (“enthusiasm”, “vigor”), with the root of
disgust. Change û to us to see the cognation; the diacritic mark indicates a dropped
s. If you remember dégoût for “disgust”, then the other two words are easy. Note
dégoût should not be confused with the less frequently used word déguster (“to
taste”). Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “French food is good taste food.”
Or if you know the disease of joints, imagine gout is associated with tasting too
many varieties of food. Examples, de bon goût (“elegant”, “in good taste”); ce café

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a bon/ mauvais goût (“this coffee tastes good/bad”); je peux goûter ce café? (“can I
taste this coffee?”).

espèce species (cognate), kind, type; (in plural) cash, liquide. To see why this word
when used in plural has the second sense “cash”, note that épice (“spice”) is its
doublet, and spices were used as currency for payment in ancient times. Examples,
payer en espèces (“to pay in cash”); je n’aime pas les gens de cette espèce (“I
don’t like that kind of people”). See also épice.

étranger foreign; foreigner, stranger (cognate); foreign place. Change ét- to st- to
see cognation. Also cognate with estrange (although that word would be translated
as e.g. éloigner in French). Note that this word is not a verb in spite of the -er
ending. Examples, un pays étranger (“a foreign country”); à l'étranger (“abroad”,
literally “at a foreign place”). See also éloigner.

couper to cut; to cut off, to turn off (gas etc.), to interrupt. découper to cut, to
carve. English coupon is from French, from couper + -on (diminutive), literally
“little cut”. A coupon is a small piece of paper you cut out and hand to the store
cashier for discount. The car body style coupé or coupe (spelling in US English)
literally means “(a style of) cut (body)”. The dé- prefix of découper indicates
dividing, not negation of the action, so the word essentially means the same “to
cut”, but it is less frequently used than couper. Note découper is not related to
decouple. Examples, couper les herbes (“to cut the grass”); aie! je me suis coupé le
doigt (“ouch! I cut my finger”); se faire couper les cheveux (“to have a haircut”,
literally “to have the hairs cut” where cut is in its past participle form). See also
coupe (“cut”; “cup”).

phrase sentence (a series of words, not judicial judgment). This word refers to a
sentence instead of a phrase. English phrase is more commonly translated as
expression, locution in French. Consider it a false friend.

taire to silence, to keep or make (somebody else) silent; (reflexive) to keep oneself
quiet. Cognate with tacit (“expressed in silence”, “implied”), taciturn (“silent”,
“quiet”, said of personality). From Latin tacere, with loss of the unstressed middle
syllable (as in the case of plaire < Latin placere and many others). Alternatively,
use a mnemonic such as “Solitaire is a game that one person plays quietly.”
Example, taisez-vous! (“be quiet!”), tais-toi! (“shut up!”).

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plaire to please. Cognate with please, pleasure. From Latin placere, with loss of
the unstressed middle syllable (as in the case of taire and many others). English
please (as in please come in) is from if you please, from if it pleases you, a calque
(word-for-word translation) of French s’il vous plaît or s’il te plaît (“please”,
literally “if it pleases you”). This word is more common than English please
because it can also be used in the sense of “to like” except you need to switch the
subject and object, e.g. ce lieu me plaît (“I like this place”, literally “this place
pleases me”, equivalent to j’aime ce lieu).

vague vague (adj.); wave (fem. n.) (cognate if traced to Proto-Germanic);

vagueness (masc. n.). Note the second meaning, or rather, the second word with
this spelling. It’s used in referring to certain things such as sea waves, but not radio
waves (which would be onde). The sounds of the first syllables of the two words, w
and v, are close; so as a mnemonic,focus on the first syllable. You can also picture
sea waves as seen from a distance and they appear not very clear, or vague. Or
imagine a vagabond roaming around like water waves.

feuille leaf; sheet. feuillage foliage (cognate). Also cognate with foliate. Note
feuille is feminine while feuillage is masculine (although normally if a concrete
noun takes an abstract sense, the abstract noun tends to be feminine). Examples,
une feuille de papier (“a sheet of paper”); feuille de route (“roadmap”); feuille de
calcul (“spreadsheet”).

mener to lead (literally or figuratively); to run, to drive. Cognate with menace

(“threat”; “to threaten”). The original meaning was “to drive (cattle etc.)”; driving
or herding animals would sure use a bit of threat. Example, cette rue mène à la
plage (“this street leads / goes to the beach”). See also ramener (“to bring back”),
amener (“to bring”), emmener (“to bring or take away”).

endroit place (n.). From en + droit, from Latin in directum, literally “straight
ahead”, but later it became a substantive or noun meaning “a place right before
you”. Example, c’est un bon endroit pour pique-niquer (“this is a good place for
picnic”).

embrasser to kiss; to hug, to embrace (cognate). The root -bras- means “arm”.
Nowadays, this word means “to kiss” more than its literal sense “to embrace”; the
French people rarely hug anyway. Unrelated to embarrass (embarrasser in French).

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court short. Cognate with curt (“very short in speech or writing to the point of
being rude”), curtail. Not to be confused with English court (a false friend), or
French cour (“court”), which is a homophone (pronounced the same). But
confusingly, English tennis court has entered French, written as court de tennis,
sometimes court for short.

chance luck; chance. This word looks easy but note that its primary meaning is
“luck” as in bonne chance! (“good luck!”), avoir de chance de (“to be lucky in”).
You may consider it a false friend of English chance. See also hasard (“chance”).

saisir to seize (cognate), to grab (literally, or figuratively, as mentally). Examples,

il a saisi l’homme par la main (“he grabbed the man’s hand”, literally “he grabbed
the man by the hand”); je n’ai pas saisi votre nom (“I didn’t catch your name”).

espérer to hope. espoir hope (n.). désespoir despair (n.) (cognate). désespéré
desperate. Espérer is not cognate with expect, which nevertheless can be used as a
mnemonic. (French attendre would be a better translation of English expect.)
Espoir is from espérer. Removing (des-) hope is despair. Examples, j’espère
pouvoir / j’espère que je peux aller au concert (“I hope to be able to / I hope I can
go to the concert”); j’espère bien / je l’espère (“I hope so”).

sauter to jump up; to skip; to blow up. Cognate with the root of assault (literally
“jump toward”), with the second component of somersault. This word has entered
English vocabulary as a culinary word; when you sauté food, you toss it from the
pan. Examples, il saute la barrière (“he jumps over the barrier”); sautez 3 pages!
(“skip 3 pages!”); les soldats ont fait sauter une bombe (“the soldiers blew up / set
off a bomb”).

boîte box (cognate), can, tin. From Latin buxita, where u before guttural x changed
to French oi, but x changed to ss and later was dropped. As a mnemonic, imagine a
boy holding a box. Example, déposer une lettre dans la boîte aux lettres (“to put a
letter in the post box”).

choisir to choose. If traced to Proto-Germanic, it’s cognate with choose.

larme tear (secretion from eyes). Cognate with lacrimation or lachrymation (“flow
of tears”), a medical term. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “She laments his

48
death and cries with tears.” Example, fondre en larmes (“to burst into tears”,
literally “to melt in tears”).

éloigner to remove, to take away; to estrange, to distance. Cognate with long.

Think of a long distance you need to stay away from. See also étranger
(“foreign”). Example, je veux m’éloigner de la ville (“I want to get away from the
city”; note the reflexive pronoun, meaning “to remove oneself”).

siècle century. Cognate with secular (“not religious”, “temporal”). The word
temporal has two related meanings, “not religious” and “related to time or age or
generation”, the latter sense connecting to century or siècle. Consider the fact that
religion strives for eternity or timelessness. Note that siècle is unrelated to English
sickle. Example, au / dans 19ème siècle (“in the 19th century”; au is much more
common than dans).

échapper to escape (cognate). Change é- to es- and ch- to c- to see the cognation.
Note that English escape as a noun is évasion in French, etymologically unrelated
to échapper. Also note that échapper is intransitive and must be followed by a
preposition. When followed by à, it means “to escape from (someone or
something)”, not “to escape to”, which would be échapper vers; à does not mean
“to” here. When followed by de, it means “to escape from (some place)”. The
“something” in échapper à quelque chose can be abstract such as a situation.
Examples, échapper à la prison (“to escape imprisonment”); échapper de prison
(“to escape from prison”); échappé de peu (“narrowly escaped”).

patron boss, manager; (dressmaking) pattern. Although English patron is from

Old French patron, it is a false friend (except in the phrase patron saint,
“protecting or guiding saint in Catholicism”); English patron would be protecteur
(“protector”), mécène (“patron of art”), or client (“customer”) in French. As to the
meaning of “pattern”, historically a patron was to be imitated or modeled after.

jaune yellow. Cognate with jaundice (“a disease causing yellowing of the skin,
eyes, etc.”). Examples, jaune d’œuf (“egg yolk”); mouvement des gilets jaunes
(“yellow vests movement”).

puisque since, because. From puis + que, where puis is cognate with English post
(used as a prefix e.g. post-Industrial) but the sense of “post” or “after” changed to

49
“because” due to a popular logical fallacy (post hoc ergo propter hoc) that
temporal relation implies causality. Example, nous avons annulé la rencontre
sportive puisqu’il va pleuvoir (“we cancelled the sports event since it’s going to
rain”).

voisin neighboring (adj.); neighbor (n.). Cognate with vicinity. The first vowel
changed from Latin i, to e to French ei, oi.

rapport relation, relationship; report (n.) (cognate). rapporter to bring back; to

bring in (money), to earn; to report. Rapport is back formed from rapporter
(literally “to bring back”), from re- + apporter. If you bring something to another
person and he brings something back to you, you are in a good relationship, a sense
of rapport which has entered English vocabulary. Examples, être en bon rapport
avec tout le monde (“to be in good relationship with everybody”); je ne vois pas le
rapport entre les deux (“I don’t see any connection between the two”); Londres est
froide par rapport à Rome (“London is cold compared to Rome”). See also
apporter (“to bring”).

chat cat (cognate); to chat, especially on the Internet (loan-word from English).
From Latin cattus (“cat”). Latin ca- often changed to French cha-.

moindre less; lesser; least (when preceded by a definite article). Cognate with
minor. Example, je n’ai pas la moindre idée (“I have absolutely no idea”, literally
“I don’t have the least idea”).

demeurer to remain, to stay, to live, to dwell, rester, habiter. demeure residence,

dwelling place. Cognate with demur (“to delay”, “to postpone a decision, etc.”).
The root (without de-) is cognate with moratorium (“delay in payment”). Not to be
confused with demure (“shy”, “modest”, “reserved”), which is not a French word
even though its root is from Old French and cognate with mature. Unrelated to
mourir (“to die”), whose conjugated forms include meure.

rêve dream (n.). rêver to dream. Unknown or debatable origin. Some sources
associate this word with réveiller (“to awaken”; “to wake up”; its imperative form
is the source of English reveille, “morning call to awaken soldiers”). English
reverie (“a state of dreaming while awake”) is from French. Or use a pure
mnemonic such as “I dreamed of a river”, or “I dream of having a race car I can

50
rev up the engine of.” Example, je fais un rêve (“I have a dream”; Martin Luther
King Jr.’s speech should be translated as such, although some render it as j’ai fait
un rêve, literally “I have made a dream”; the most inappropriate would be j’ai un
rêve). See also réveiller.

genou knee; lap (used in plural genoux). Cognate with genu (“knee”, especially of
an animal), with the first component of genuflect (“to bend knees”). The sense of
“lap” is derived; “on one’s lap” is like “on (literally, i.e. on the upper side of) one’s
knees”. Example, il est à genoux (“he’s on his knees”, “he’s kneeling”); l’enfant
est sur les genoux de sa mère (“the child is on his mother’s lap”). Note the
difference between à and sur here.

éprouver to experience, to feel; to test. épreuve test (n.), trial, exam, ordeal.
Cognate with prove, probe. Note the vowels in the noun, eu, not ou.

tenter to attempt (cognate), to try; to tempt. Not related to English tent (tente in
French). Tenter is less common than essayer (“to try”) and implies trying
something risky. Example, tenter de s’échapper (“to try to escape”).

prêt ready; loan (n.), lending. prêter to lend; to attribute. From Latin praestare,
literally “pre-” + “stand” or “to stand in front”, implying “to bestow”, “to give”,
“to lend”. Cognate with an obsolete word prest (“loan”). The more common
meaning is the first one, “ready”. To remember both meanings, as a mnemonic,
imagine a person standing in front ready to give something away. Not to be
confused with prêtre (“priest”). Note in prêt, t is silent. Examples, je suis prêt à
partir (“I’m ready to go”); prêt-à-porter (“ready-to-wear”, “ready-made”); prêter /
faire attention (“to pay attention”); prêter l’oreille (“to lend an ear”, “to listen”).

tôt early, soon. Cognate with toast. The circumflex of ô indicates an omitted letter
especially s. Think of “hot”, “quickly”, “soon”, and then “early”. Examples, tôt le
matin (“early in the morning”); le plus tôt possible (“as soon / early as possible”);
tôt ou tard (“sooner or later”). See also bientôt (“soon”), plutôt (“rather”).

langue tongue; language. Examples, tirer la langue (“to stick the tongue out”); je
l’ai sur le bout de la langue (“it’s on the tip of my tongue”, literally “I have it on
the end of the tongue”). See also langage.

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appuyer to press, to push (button); to support, to help, to back up, soutenir; to lean,
(reflexive) to depend, to rely. appui support (n.). The root is cognate with podium;
a podium represents a platform that must be supported to be raised. Alternatively,
think of going to the podium to call to the audience for support. Or simply use push
as a mnemonic. Examples, appuyez sur le bouton (“to press / push the button”;
note sur, “on”); appuyer l’échelle contre le mur (“to lean the ladder against the
wall”); le Parti va appuyer / soutenir le projet de loi (“the Party is going to support
the bill”).

sombre dark. From Latin sub- + umbra (“shade”; “shadow”). The root is cognate
with umbrella, somber (“dark in color or tone”). Under an umbrella, it’s dark.
Example, la sombre histoire de (“the dark history of”).

dent tooth; tooth on a gear, cog. Cognate with dental. This word is a false friend of
English dent, semantically and etymologically. But as a mnemonic, you could
think of a dent made by somebody’s bite with teeth. Examples, une dent de sagesse
(“a wisdom tooth”; note dent is fem.); avoir mal aux dents (“to have a toothache”).

meilleur better (adj.). Cognate with meliorate and ameliorate (“to make better”).
Note this word is an adjective, while mieux (“better”) is the adverb. Examples, tu
es le meilleur (“you’re the best”); c’est une bien meilleure voiture que les autres
(“this is a much better car than the others”).

été summer; past participle of être. This word in the sense of “summer” is
ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European word meaning “burn”, “fire”. Use heat as a
mnemonic if you remember to prepend h as you may often do in analyzing
possible variations of a word. This word is masculine in spite of -é ending,
probably under the influence of the masculine gender of printemps, according to
Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales. Example, l’été dernier /
prochain (“last / next summer”).

réveiller (reflexive) to wake up; to awaken. veille eve, day before; vigil (cognate),
night watch, waking. éveiller to awaken (often figuratively), to arouse, to stimulate.
veiller to stay up; to keep guard, to watch. réveil waking (n.); alarm clock,
réveille-matin. These five words are listed in decreasing frequency order. Veiller
and veille are cognate with vigil (“keeping awake during normal sleeping hours”),
vigilant (“watchful”). From Latin vigilia, where -gil- contracted to -gl-, which,

52
being medial (in the middle of a word), lost g. Veille is a false friend of English
veil (which would be voile in French). If the etymology sounds too complicated,
veil can be used as a mnemonic by thinking of night and darkness as if the sky was
under a veil. Réveiller or réveil has entered English vocabulary as reveille,
referring to the wake-up call in the military or in a prison. Examples, je me réveille
à sept heures tous les jours (“I wake up at seven o’clock every day”); la veille / le
réveillon du jour de l’an (“New Year’s Eve”); la veille / le réveillon de Noël
(“Christmas Eve”); la veille (“the day before”); la veille au soir (“the night
before”).

relever to pick up, to lift up, to raise; to revive, to rebuild; to notice (errors, etc.);
to measure, to read (meter, compteur). This word has many senses based on the
first one given here, which is literal (as in relever la tête, “to raise the head to look
up”).

arrière back (n.), rear. The root is cognate with rear. English arrears (“money that
should have been paid earlier”) is from Old French. Examples, c’est à l’arrière de
la voiture (“it’s in the back of the car”); regarde en arrière (“to look back”).

mari husband, époux (not as common as mari). Cognate with marry, marriage,
marital. A marriage is between husband and wife equally sharing the relationship.
But mari is husband, not wife, because it derives from Latin maritus (“married
man”; “husband”), the masculine form, not the feminine form marita (“married
woman”; “wife”). Generally, when there’s a difference, French derivation from the
masculine form of Latin words occurs more than from the feminine form.

hasard random chance; hazard. English hazard is from Old French. This word
primarily means “chance”, as in par hasard (“by chance”), au hasard (“at random”,
“randomly”), à tout hasard (“on the off chance”, “just in case”’ note its meaning is
very different from au hasard). Compared to French chance (“luck”, “good
chance”), hasard is more often neutral. Note the spelling; the second syllable starts
with s, not z. English hazard is often translated as French danger, e.g. matières
dangereuses (“hazardous materials”, “dangerous goods”). See also chance.

plat (of surface) flat (adj.); plate (cognate) (n.), dish (n.), course of meal. English
platitude (“dull saying”; “dullness”) is from this French word. Examples, l’eau

53
plate (“still water”); la surface plane / plate (“the flat surface”; plane is more
common); un plat froid (“a cold dish”); le plat de jour (“the dish of the day”).

pluie rain (n.). pleuvoir to rain. Cognate with pluvial (“rain”). The irregular verb
pleuvoir has several forms in which u is not followed by v, notably pleut (third-
person singlular present) and plu (past participle). Not to be confused with pleurer
(“to cry”), in all conjugated forms of which u is followed by r. Examples, un jour
de pluie / un jour pluvieux (“a rainy day”); il pleut (“it’s raining”); il a plu toute la
journée (“it rained / has rained all day”).

réussir to succeed, to achieve, to manage (to do), to pass (a test). réussite success.
The root (-ussi- part) is ultimately cognate with issue, exit. Imagine someone
finally coming out of a difficult situation. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as
“He receives an award for his success”. Receive and réussir are pronounced
somewhat similarly. Examples, j’espère que tu réussis / tu réussis l’examen (“I
hope you succeed / you pass the exam”); le projet a été très réussi (“the project
was very successful”); il a réussi à faire ses devoirs (“he managed to do his
homework”).

joue cheek; conjugated form of jouer (“to play”). In the sense of “cheek”, the
etymology is unhelpful, but may be cognate with jaw if the proposed Germanic
origin is trusted. Use jowl or jaw as a mnemonic. See also jouer.

emporter to take or carry away; (reflexive) to get angry. The root is cognate with
porter (“person carrying luggage at a hotel”), port (“to adapt software to run in a
different environment”). The prefix em-, originally en-, has an implied sense of
“from”. Be careful about the implication of being carried away in French; it does
not mean “to be overly excited”, but “to be angry”. Examples, vente à emporter
(“buy to take out”, possibly a sign on the door of a restaurant); plats à emporter
(“take-away meal”).

couler to flow, to run; to sink. couloir corridor, lane, hallway, aisle (as in an
airplane). Couloir is from couler + -oir (suffix for verb to change to noun
indicating an object). Cognate with colander (“a perforated bowl used to strain off
liquid from food”, “strainer”). The sense “to sink” for couler is implied; a ship
sinks if water leaks in. Couloir has entered English vocabulary meaning “a steep
gorge in a mountain”. Alternatively, think of a colorful corridor as a mnemonic.

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Examples, la Seine coule vers le nord-ouest (“the Seine flows northwest”); le
Titanic a coulé en 1912 (“Titanic sank in 1912”); une siège / place côté couloir
(“an aisle seat”).

joli pretty, cute. Cognate with jolly (“cheerful”). A cheerful girl is more likely to
be pretty. But due to the difference in meaning between joli and jolly, you may
consider them to be false friends.

second second, deuxième. seconde second (time); feminine form of second. Note
that the pronunciation of the second syllable starts with /ɡ/, not /k/. For example,
second is pronounced /səɡɔ/̃ . (In the 13th and 14th centuries, the word was spelled
segonder. But in the 16th century the second syllable consonant changed to c
probably by pedantic scribes trying to restore the spelling to the original Latin form.
Nevertheless people continued to read it like g.) Also note that compared to
deuxième, second implies there is no more after this one, although some consider
the distinction arbitrary. If, God forbid, the Third World War were to befall
humanity, la Seconde Guerre mondiale (“Second World War”), currently more
common than la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, would certainly be replaced by the
latter. In some set phrases, such as seconde nature, you don’t use deuxième.

proposer to propose, to suggest; to offer (a job, a price, help, products, etc.). Note
the second meaning, which does not exist in English propose, e.g. on lui a proposé
un poste (“he was offered a job”, literally “one has offered a position to him”).

naître to be born. Cognate with nativity, nascent. The past participle is né

(masculine) and née (feminine). You may have seen the latter (e.g. “Marie Curie,
née Maria Salomea Skłodowska”), which precedes a woman’s maiden name. The
former, the masculine form, is rare before a name because it “is used to indicate
what a man was originally known as before the adoption of a different name”
(Wikipedia). But obviously the past participle is often used as a verb in a sentence,
e.g. il est né / elle est née en 1990 (“he / she was born in 1990”).

souffrir to suffer (cognate). Not to be confused with suffire (“to suffice”, “to be
sufficient”). As a mnemonic, think of sou- as sous (“under”); if you’re forced to
stay under something perhaps bending your back, you suffer. Example, souffrir du
dos (“to suffer from back pain”).

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entrée entry (cognate), entrance; starter (of a meal), appetizer. This word is easy
but note the second meaning. In the US and some parts of Canada, an entrée is the
main dish. But in France and many other areas of the world, it’s only the starter
served before the main dish (which would be le plat principal in French). You may
want to keep this in mind when dining at a French restaurant to avoid
embarrassment.

tante aunt (cognate). But there’s no good explanation for the initial consonant t- in
tante. Not to be confused with tant (“so much”, “so many”), which, by the way, as
an adverb, does not have a feminine form.

chaise chair (cognate), seat. A variant of chaire (“pulpit”; “chair in university”).

Sometimes French r changes to s, also seen in e.g. plusieurs (“many”, variant of
plural). Historian Jacques Barzun thinks the French changed r to s (which is true
around the Paris area in the 16th century) when imitating the fashionable Italians
(which is questionable). Note chaise is not related to English chase (which would
be chasse or chasser in French), and French chair means “flesh”, not “chair”.

surprendre to surprise (cognate). The root of English surprise is from Old French
past participle of prendre (“to take”), i.e. pris (“taken”), which is still the past
participle in Modern French. Examples, cela m’a beaucoup surpris (“that surprised
me a lot”); je l’ai surpris en train de voler (“I caught him (in the middle of)
stealing”).

étonner to surprise. étonnement astonishment. étonnant surprising. Cognate with

stun, with the root of astonish, astound; change é- to s- or as- to see the cognation.
The -tonner part means “thunder”, but English thunder is cognate with it only if
traced to Proto-Indo-European. Example, pas étonnant (“no wonder”). See also
tonnerre (“thunder”).

secouer to shake (all senses). secousse shake (n.), jolt. Cognate with succuss (“to
shake vigorously”). The root, -cou-, is cognate with the root of English percussion,
concussion, or rescue, which originally means “to shake”, presumably “to shake
somebody out of a dangerous situation”. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as
“budget sequestration to shake off debt”. Note to shake hands when you meet
someone you say serrer la main (literally “to tighten the hand”). If you say secouer

56
les mains, you actually shake your hands maybe to dry them. See also secours
(“rescue”).

allumer to turn on (light, radio, TV, etc.), to light (fire). Cognate with the root of
illuminate. In spite of the cognation, this word is not limited to turning on light.
Example, allumer la lampe / le feu (“to turn on the lamp / to light the fire”).

chaleur heat. Cognate with calorie. It’s common for Latin ca- to change to French
che- or cha-.

drôle funny, amusing. English droll is from this word. While English droll may
have a negative connotation, French drôle is neutral. Example, c’est une histoire
très drôle (“that’s a very funny story”).

baisser to lower; (reflexive) to go down. Cognate with base, basis. Not to be

confused with baiser (“kiss”, n., not “to kiss”), in which a single s is pronounced
/z/ instead of /s/. Examples, baisser le volume (“to turn down the volume”); baisser
le prix (“to lower the price”).

cou neck. Cognate with English collar. From Latin collum. It’s common for Latin
ol (or ul) to change to French ou.

sommeil sleep (n.). From Latin somnus (“sleep”). Cognate with the root of
insomnia, where in- is for negation. Examples, avoir sommeil (“to feel sleepy”);
avoir le sommeil léger (“to be a light sleeper”). See also songer (“to think”; “to
dream”), somme (“nap”; “sum”).

fer iron. Cognate with ferrous, ferric, or chemical element symbol Fe. Examples,
le rideau de fer (“the iron curtain”); le chemin de fer (“the railway”).

avenir future, futur. Cognate with advent, adventure. Think of a- and -venir as “to”
and “come”, respectively, at least as a mnemonic. Example, à l’avenir (“in the
future”).

arracher to snatch, to uproot, to pull out, to tear off, to extract. Cognate with
eradicate (literally, “to pull up by the root”, “to uproot”). From Latin eradicare,
which lost -di- because it’s short, unstressed, and before a stressed syllable. As a
mnemonic, think of -rach- in this word as -natch of snatch. Example, le voleur a

57
arraché le téléphone portable d’une vieille dame (“the robber snatched the cell
phone from an old lady”).

soulever to raise, to lift. The root (-lever) is cognate with lever, with the root of
alleviate, elevate, and the prefix sou- cognate with sub-. The prefix is to be
understood as “up from under”, just like the prefix sup- in English support.
Examples, soulever la valise (“to lift the suitcase”); soulever la question (“to raise
the question”).

oiseau bird. Cognate with aviation. From Latin aucellus, from the diminutive of
avis. Latin av changed to Latin au, to French oi, the latter change also seen in
claustrum > cloître (“cloister”), nausea > noise. Unfortunately, for word study
purposes, it’s not easy to connect oi back up to its Latin form and down to an
English cognate. Use a mnemonic such as “An owl soars”, or “a bird in Warsaw”.

mêler to mix, to shuffle, (reflexive) to mingle. Cognate with miscellaneous, mix.

This word has entered English vocabulary as melee (“a confused fight”). Examples,
se mêler à / avec des amis (“to mingle with friends”); mêle-toi de tes affaires
(“mind your own business”).

habiter to live (in). Cognate with the root of inhabit, where prefix in- simply
means “in”. This word is easy but should not be confused with English habit,
which would be habitude in French. Example, j’habite à Londres (“I live in
London”; slightly more common than je vis à Londres).

côte coast (cognate), shore; rib. This fem. word should not be confused with its
masc. variant côté (“side”, “edge”) in meaning. (To remember which is which,
maybe imagine going to the coast is more romantic than saying you plan to go to
the side of a place.) But the senses of “coast” and “rib” are indeed related to “side”,
as the edge of the land and the side of the human body, respectively. Examples, la
Côte d’Ivoire (“Ivory Coast”); la côte nord (“the north coast”; not to be confused
with le côté nord, “the north side”). See also côté.

foule crowd. Cognate with folk if traced to Proto-Germanic. This word is not
related to English foul or fool, the latter of which nevertheless you may use as a
mnemonic. When the number of people in the crowd goes up, the average

58
intelligence is no longer guaranteed. Not to be confused with folle (feminine form
of fol, “mad”, “mad man”).

deviner to guess. Cognate with divine (“of god”; “to foretell”, “to guess”),
divination. This word actually means “to guess”, not “to suppose” or “to think” as
in English I guess so (which would be je suppose in French). Example, attends un
peu, je devine (“wait, let me guess”).

entourer to surround. English entourage is from French entourage, derived from

this word. A retinue of attendants surround the VIP. The root tour means “turn”
(n.). Example, le manager est entouré des employés (“the manager is surrounded
by the employees”; note the correct preposition is de, not par).

étendre to stretch, to extend (cognate). Not to be confused with éteindre (“to

extinguish”, “to put out”), which is cognate with extinguish, extinct. To help
remember them, focus on the second vowel. The French vowel in -en- is more
open than that in -ein-, just as that in English -en- is more so than in -in-. Example,
le cancer s’est étendu / propagé à son estomac (“the cancer has spread to his
stomach”). See also éteindre, étendue (“expanse”).

arme a weapon, arms (cognate). This word is easy but note that English arm (body
part) is not this word, but bras in French. Example, une arme à feu (“a firearm”;
note arme is singular, unlike English arms).

carte card (cognate); map; menu; chart (cognate). From Latin charta. The
multiplicity of meanings may be explained by the Latin source which means
“papyrus”, “paper”, and the material of a card, a chart, etc. is made of or on. This
word is unrelated to English cart. Examples, carte de visite (“business card”);
carte d’embarquement (“boarding pass”); carte de séjour (“residence permit”);
carte routière (“road map”).

mémoire memory (fem. n.); memo, memoir (masc. n.); university mémoire
(somewhat similar to master’s degree thesis in the US) (masc.). The first therefore
more common meaning is obviously more abstract, and so tends to be feminine.
Refer to §3 of the Notes of this book.

selon according to. Origin uncertain. But -lon may be cognate with long as in
along. Although se-, which came from sub-, is not a-, try to use along as a

59
mnemonic and think of “along the line of”. Example, selon la police, l’homme est
mort par suicide (“according to the police, the man died by suicide”).

guère hardly (used with ne), à peine. Etymology doesn’t help; the word meant “a
lot” in Frankish, and with ne it meant “not a lot”. As a mnemonic, think of “not get
a lot”, or use single word scarcely. Not to be confused with guerre (“war”), which
is cognate with guerrilla; note double r’s. But just to aid memory, you may
associate guère with a war and think of the hardship and scarcity as a result. Also
not to be confused with guérir (“to cure”). Example, je ne vois guère / je vois à
peine M. Martin (“I hardly see Mr. Martin”).

vin wine (cognate). Also cognate with vine, with the first element of vintage.
Example, le vin rouge (“red wine”).

former to form, to mold, to shape; to train, to educate. Note the second meaning,
which is missing in English. Training a person is likened to molding him into an
educated one. Compare with English formative (e.g. the child’s formative years).
See also formation (“training”; “formation”).

gueule (animal’s) mouth, snout, face; (person’s) mouth (informal, rude or joking).
Cognate with gullet (“passage between throat and stomach”, “esophagus”). As a
mnemonic, maybe think of the gill of a fish, which is near its face. Example, ferme
ta gueule! / tais toi! (“shut up!”).

ramener to take or bring back. amener to bring, to take; to lead. From mener (“to
lead”). Examples, je te ramène à la maison (“I’ll take you home / give you a ride
home”; to be clear about giving a ride with a car, you can add en voiture); amener
mon fils au parc (“to bring my son to the park”). Note the object of amener is
commonly a person, sometimes an animal, unlike apporter; to remember the
difference, think of amener as “to lead” and apporter as “to port” or “to carry”. See
also mener, apporter.

demi half (adj.; n.). The de- part means “apart” and -mi is from Latin medius
meaning “middle”. This word has entered English vocabulary often used as a
prefix as in demigod (“half god half human”), although prefix semi- is more
common. Note as a prefix, English demi- can and often does omit the hyphen but
French demi- does not. Examples, le garçon a cinq ans et demi (“the boy is five

60
and half years old”); une heure et demie (“an hour and half”); une demi-bouteille
(“half a bottle”); demi-finale (“semi-final”); demi-journée (“half a day”).

ignorer to be unaware of, to not know, ne savoir pas; to ignore. English ignore is
from this word. This word is easy but note that its primary meaning is “to not
know”, which is unintentional. It may be slightly more formal and polite (and less
common) than ne savoir pas and should always be followed by an object.

trou hole. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “A troll is a cave-
dwelling being in folklore”, or “He dug a hole in the ground and used it as a trough
for his horse.” or “a trout swimming in a hole”.

craindre to fear, to be afraid of, avoir peur. crainte fear (n.), fright. Etymology
doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “She cringed away at this horrifying scene.”
or imagine someone is scared of a crane. Note many conjugation forms of the verb
do not have -dr-, e.g. je / tu crains, il / elle craint, nous craignons.

île island. Cognate with isle, insular. Change î- to is- to see the cognation; the
diacritic mark often indicates an omitted s. This word is not cognate with English
island.

vif lively, alive, keen, brisk; (of emotion, stir) great. Cognate with English vivid.
Sometimes Latin v changed to French f. The feminine form of vif is vive, e.g. une
vive discussion (“a lively / heated discussion”, une discussion animée). In the sense
of “great”, it’s placed before the noun, e.g. provoquer un vif émoi (“to cause a great
stir”). Idiom sur le vif means “on the spot”, where vif (n.) may be interpreted as
“living flesh or person”.

prix price (cognate); prize (cognate). This word, whose plural is also prix, has both
meanings, “prize” and “price”. But in the phrase Grand Prix, it only means “prize”.
In expressing “prize” unambiguously in French, you may also use the word
trophée. Not to be confused with prise (“catch”, “hold”, n.). Note the ending -x is
silent, unlike that in dix (“ten”), six (“six”), phénix (“phoenix”). Examples, quel est
le prix de ce livre? (“what’s the price of this book?”); à tout prix (“at all costs”); le
premier prix (“the first prize”; it could mean “the first price” but unlikely,
depending on the context); la cérémonie de remise des prix (“the award ceremony”,
literally “prizing giving ceremony”).

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peuple people. This word looks easy but note it is singular unless explicitly made
plural i.e. peuples (while in English both people and peoples are plural), and
different from gens, this word refers to such a group that has ethnic or religious
significance. Examples, le peuple sud-américain (“the south American people”); le
peuple élu (“the chosen people”).

coller to stick, to glue, to paste. English colloid (“a mixture of fine insoluble
particles dispersed in a medium without precipitation, such as milk-water mixture”)
is from French colloïde, originally meaning “glue-like substance”. English
collagen is from French collagène, literally “glue-generating”.

toile canvas, cloth, linen, fabric; painting; spider web; web, Internet. Cognate with
textile, texture. English toilet is from the diminutive form of this word in Middle
French meaning “small cloth”; -let is diminutive. Toile also has entered English
vocabulary meaning “simple or cheap fabric”. From Latin tela, which has entered
English vocabulary as an anatomical term meaning “web-like tissue”. (In case
you’re curious, when a stressed e is followed by one consonant which is not nasal,
it changed to French oi, also seen in savoir < sapere and many others.) For a
mnemonic, see the headword étoile (“star”). Examples, toile de lin (“linen cloth”);
toile de fond (“backdrop”); la Toile (“the Internet”, “the Web”).

chair flesh; pulp (of fruit). Cognate with carnage, doublet with carne (“meat”).
Latin ca- regularly changed to cha- in French. This word is a false friend of
English chair, which would be chaise (“chair” in general), chaire (“chair in
university”; “pulpit in church”) in French. Examples, chair à saucisse (“sausage
meat”); avoir la chair de poule (“to have goosebumps”; literally “to have the flesh
of hen”; imagine what the skin of a chicken looks like after you remove all feathers;
it’s the same analogy in Spanish).

champ field (in various senses). Cognate with campus, camp. This word is a false
friend of English champ (“buddy”, or short for champion). Try to pronounce ch- as
if it was c- to see the cognation. The street in Paris Champs-Élysées literally means
“Elysian Fields” (where Elysium is the place for heroes after death). Example, un
champ de riz (“a rice field”); champ de bataille (“battlefield”). But English football
field is terrain de football in French, rarely using the word champ.

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franc frank (adj.); franc (currency before euro). This word is easy but note the
ending c is silent, just like other words ending with -anc e.g. blanc, banc (and
many with -onc, e.g. tronc). The fem. form of franc (adj.) is franche.

propos talk (n.), remark, words. Cognate with propose. It’s commonly used in
phrases such as à propos (“by the way”; “at the right time”), à propos de
(“speaking of”). To propose is to make a remark. À propos is like “speaking of
which”.

occasion opportunity, occasion (cognate), chance; bargain (n.), second-hand buy.

Note the second meaning; a bargain can only be got by chance. Examples, une
voiture d’occasion (“a second-hand car”); acheter d’occasion (“to buy second
hand”); une bonne occasion / opportunité (“a good opportunity”).

prier to pray (cognate); (followed by de) to request, to beg. prière prayer

(cognate). Unrelated to and not to be confused with English pry, prey or prier
(“person who pries or is unduly interested in the affairs of others”). Examples,
prier Dieu (“to pray to God”; note no preposition after prier); les visiteurs sont
priés de se taire (“the visitors are asked to be quiet”; note de following prier); je
vous prie (“please”, literally “I beg you”, much more formal than s’il vous plaît,
“please”, literally “if it pleases you”); je vous en prie (“you’re welcome”, more
formal than de rien in response to merci, “thank you”; there are multiple
explanations why je vous en prie, literally “I beg you to do so / about it” means
“you’re welcome”).

triste sad. tristesse sadness. This word has cognates in all major Romance
languages and occasionally occurs in English as a borrowing. Use a mnemonic
such as “A sad person needs trust.” or “The sad lady sought comfort in a tryst with
her lover.”

divers various, varying, diverse (cognate). This word (an adjective) is a false
friend of English diver or divers.

emmener to bring or take (away). Like amener (“to bring or take”), this word is
used on a person, not a thing except for a car, or in a very colloquial context. If you
want to make a distinction, amener has the connotation of “to” due to a- and
emmener of “away” due to em-, but amener is a more common word. Example,

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emmener mon fils au parc (“to take my son to the park”). See also mener (“to
lead”), amener.

pain bread. Cognate with pantry, panary (“related to bread”). Think of the pantry
as a place to store bread. This word has cognates that mean “bread” in many
Romance languages (pan in Spanish, pane in Italian, etc.), but barely any in
English. If you have paid attention to French bakery, you may have seen the
French bakery and café chain Au Bon Pain (literally “at the Good Bread”).
Examples, pain de campagne (“French sourdough”, literally “country bread”); pain
d’épices (“gingerbread “, literally “spice bread”); pain complet / entier (“whole
wheat bread”, “brown bread”); est-ce que le pain grillé fait grossir? (“does toasted
bread make you fat?”). Note French pain is a false friend of English pain.

troupe troupe; troop. This word is easy but note that English troop (“military unit”)
and troupe (“a band or group of singers or dancers”) are both mapped to this
French word.

songer to contemplate, to ponder, to reflect, to think; to dream (figuratively), to

daydream, to imagine. songe dream (literary or figurative) (n.). Cognate with the
root of insomnia. The spelling change is that iu in Latin somnium changed to
French ju then j to g, and most notably mn to n; you need to reverse the change.
Alternatively, use song as a mnemonic and imagine hearing a song makes you
contemplate something meaningful and spiritual. Note that to really dream,
literally, is rêver. See also sommeil (“sleep”).

enfoncer to push in, to press in; (used reflexively) to bury, to immerse. The root is
cognate with foundation, found. Think of pushing something or oneself to the
bottom. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “The advocacy group pushed the
legislature to enforce the law.” Example, enfoncer un clou dans le bois (“to drive a
nail into the wood”). See also foncer (“to darken”; “to rush”).

brûler to burn. Cognate with broil. Not to be confused with briller (“to shine”).

nul no, nil, null; (informal) of no value, of poor quality, bad; (sports) draw, tie.
Note the second meaning, which is missing in English null. Examples, je suis nul /
nulle en maths (I”m bad at maths”); le jeu est un match nul (“the game is a draw /
tie”).

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poitrine chest of human body, bosom; chest of poultry. Latin pectus, pectoris.
Cognate with the second element of parapet (“low wall”, literally “to shield
chest”), with the root of expectorant, expectorate (literally “to expel something
such as phlegm from chest”). But the etymology hardly helps. Use a mnemonic
such as “a portrait of the chest”. Examples, avoir mal à la poitrine (“to have a
chest pain”); quel est votre tour de poitrine? (“what’s your bust size?”; tour means
“circumference”); poitrine de poulet (“chicken breast”). See also torse (“torso”).

bouteille bottle (cognate). Example, une bouteille de vin rouge (“a bottle of red
wine”). Examples, une bouteille de vin (“a bottle of wine”); une bouteille à vin (“a
wine bottle”; à, a more ambiguous preposition, roughly means “for” here).

paix peace (cognate). paisible peaceful (cognate). apaiser to appease (cognate).

Paix is from Latin pax (“peace”), as in Pax Romana (“the peaceful environment
created by the Roman Empire”). Not to be confused with pays (“country”).
Examples, faire la paix avec (“to make peace with”); la paix intérieure (“inner
peace”); un village paisible (“a peaceful village”).

copain buddy, pal, friend; boyfriend, petit ami, petit copain. Cognate with
companion. From Latin com- + panis, literally “together, bread” or “sharing bread”.
Whether un copain / une copaine imples a romantic relationship depends on the
context. But if it’s preceded by mon / ma, there’s a greater chance it does. If
preceded by petit / petite, it definitely does. See also pain (“bread”).

ferme farm (cognate), farmhouse; closed (adj.); firm (adj.). Examples, le magasin
est fermé le week-end (“the store is closed on weekend”); un ferme croyant /
croyant ferme de la séparation de l’église et l’état (“a firm believer in separation
of church and state”). Not to be confused with firme (“firm”, “company”). See also
fermer (“to close”).

fauteuil armchair. From a Germanic word composed of two elements equivalent to

fold + stool. When combined in French, s in -st- was lost (as in paste changed to
pâte). In spite of the origin, now the word refers to an armchair that may or may
not be folded. This word has entered English vocabulary. Note a chair without
armrests is chaise. Example, un fauteuil roulant (“a wheelchair”, literally “rolling
armchair”, informally une chaise roulante).

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sale dirty. Cognate with sallow (“of unhealthily yellow”; “dirty”) if traced to
Proto-Germanic. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “His clothes are soiled.”
Or use sully (“to damage one’s purity or integrity”) as a mnemonic. Note this word
is a false friend of English sale. But as a mnemonic, imagine that a Frenchman
coming to the US for the first time doesn’t want to buy anything labeled “Sale!”.
(Compare to the joke, based on an unfounded rumor, that the Chevrolet Nova was
not sold well in Spanish-speaking countries because no va means “does not go” in
Spanish.)

moitié half (n.). Cognate with moiety (“either of two groups into which a society is
divided”; “a part or functional group of a molecule”). Examples, il a mangé la
moitié de la pizza (“he ate half of the pizza”); la bouteille est à moitié pleine d’eau
(“the bottle is half full of water”); la moitié du temps je travaille à domicile (“half
the time I work from home”).

dimanche Sunday. From Latin dies Dominica (“the Lord’s day”), which when
combined, lost the medial D (“medial” means “surrounded by vowels”), as seen in
Latin confidentia > French confiance, videre > voir and many others. Alternatively,
use a mnemonic such as “The Lord demands that we go to church on Sunday”, or
pretend dimanche is a variant of Dominica. Examples, fermé le dimanche (“closed
on Sunday”); dimanche prochain / dernier (“next / last Sunday”).

entraîner, entrainer to train; to carry, to drag; to involve, to entail, to lead to, to

bring, to result in. The root is cognate with train. From Latin trahere (“to pull”),
from which are derived English train (“rail-mounted vehicle”; “to train”), tractor,
etc. The last meaning “to involve”, “to lead to” may be understood as “to make or
enable (en-) to follow (-traîner)”; note it’s not “to follow” but “to make (something
else) follow”. Examples, l’équipe s'entraîne tous les jours (“the team trains every
day”; note reflexive se as the team trains itself); l’alcool entraîne un problème de
santé (“alcohol leads to / brings / causes a health problem”).

éclater to burst, to erupt. éclat brilliance, shine (n.); fragment or splinter as from
an explosion. Cognate with slate. A rock can split into slates. These words have
entered English vocabulary as eclat or éclat (“brilliant show or success”).
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “The metal box bursts with a clattering
noise.” Examples, le ballon a éclaté (“the balloon burst”); éclater de rire / rire aux

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éclats (“to laugh out loud”, “to burst out laughing”); une guerre a éclaté (“a war
broke out”).

souffle breath (n.), blow (of air or wind). souffler to breathe, to blow. Prefix sou-
is sub- (“under”) and -fler is from Latin meaning “to blow” (as -flate in English
inflate). English soufflé is from French, meaning “baked dish made from beaten
egg whites and other ingredients”. A soufflé is puffed up due to the egg whites
during baking. Imagine it puffs up because you blow air into it. Examples, j’étais à
bout de souffle (“I was out of breath / breathless”); le vent souffle (“the wind is
blowing”); des paysages à couper le souffle (“breathtaking landscapes”). See also
gonfler (“to inflate”).

colère anger. Cognate with gall (“content in gall bladder”, “bile”; “anger”) if
traced to Ancient Greek. Alternatively, if you know colic (“a baby’s severe
abdominal pain”), use that as a mnemonic, as if a baby was in anger. Or say aloud
“the bad-tempered colonel is angry / in anger”, which in French is le colonel de
mauvaise humeur (literally “of bad humor”) est en colère.

accrocher to to hang, to hook; (reflexive) to collide. The root is cognate with

crook (“bend”, “turn”; “dishonest person”) and crochet (“needlework done with a
hooked needle”) if traced to Proto-Germanic. A hook is a bent rod or wire. The
idiom by hook or (by) crook (“by any means possible”) combining the two words,
hook and crook, may help you with memory association. Examples, accrocher un
tableau au mur (“to hang a picture on the wall”); il a accroché la voiture
endommagée au camion (“he hooked the damaged car to the truck”). See also
décrocher (“to unhook”), raccrocher (“to hang up”), crochet (“hook”).

courant current (n.; adj.) (in all senses) (cognate). Examples, courant électrique
(“electric current”); compte courant (“checking account”, “current account”,
“transaction account”); il est au courant de ces situations (“he’s aware of this
situation”).

dresser to set up, to erect; to train (animal); to draw up (a list), to prepare. Cognate
with direct in the sense of “straight”, with the root of address (as in “to address a
problem”), redress. Note English dresser (furniture) is a false friend; if you do use
that as a mnemonic, think of a dresser that stands up (even though we rarely see a
dresser not standing up). The core meaning is “to stand”, extended to “straighten”,

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as in English redress. Examples, dresser une tente (“to pitch / set up a tent”);
dresser un chien (“to train a dog”; dresser is like “to straighten up the behavior”).

fil thread, wire, cord, string, yarn. filer to spin (wool, web, thread, etc.); to run, to
dash, to leave or go to (a place) quickly, to speed along, to slip away or through;
(informal) to give, to hand. enfiler to thread (a needle), to string; to put on
(clothes). Cognate with filament. Fil is used in a number of idioms such as coup de
fil (“phone call”), and should not be confused with fils (“son”), which is cognate
with filial. To remember the many informal meanings of filer, whose sense
development is not clear, use a link mnemonic such as “After she finished weaving
the sweater, she quickly ran to the client and gave the sweater to him.” Filer is not
related to English file or filler (“thing or person that fills”). Example, je te file de
l’argent (“I’m giving you some money”). See also fils.

hiver winter. Cognate with hibernate. Latin b may change to French v, a change
Spanish-speaking people may be more familiar with.

risquer to risk, to run the risk of; to be possible, might. This word is easy but note
the second, extended meaning, as in il risque de pleuvoir (“it may rain.”)

roi king. Cognate with royal. Example, le roi et la reine (“the king and the queen”).

parti political party. This masculine word is easy but should not be confused with
the feminine word partie (“part”), as in la première partie (“the first part”). To say
“party” in the sense of a social gathering, say fête instead.

baiser kiss (n.); (vulgar) to fuck (v.). Cognate with an outdated English word buss
(“kiss”). Use a mnemonic such as “He gave his girlfriend Beth a kiss.” Be very
careful with the meaning of baiser used as a verb especially followed by a person.
It used to mean “to kiss”, which nowadays is embrasser or donner un baiser (“to
give a kiss”) in French. You can use the word as a noun (in spite of the -er ending)
without such concern. Not to be confused with baisser (“to lower”). Examples, un
baiser sur la joue / bouche (“a kiss on the cheek / mouth”); bons baisers de Paris
(“with love from Paris”, literally “good kisses from Paris”, used at the end of a
letter).

sable sand. Cognate with sabulous (“sandy”, “gritty”). Alternatively, use a

mnemonic such as “A saber is made from iron sand, a source of iron ore”, which

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has some truth in it, especially in Japanese swordsmithing. Or a wordplay “Why is
taking out t from stable makes it unstable? Because sable means ‘sand’.” Example,
une plage de sable fin (“a fine sandy beach”, “a beach with fine sand”).

proche close (to a time or place) (adj.), near; (in plural) close family and relatives,
loved ones. Cognate with proximal, proximity. There’s no direct relationship
between ch in proche and x in proximal, but if you happen to know how x in
México is pronounced in Spanish, use that as a mnemonic to make a connection.
Examples, un magasin proche du parc (“a store near the park”); un ami très proche
(“a very close friend”).

retirer to remove, to withdraw, to take off (clothes); (reflexive) to retire. From re-
(“back”) + tirer (“to pull”). Note the first meaning, which is literal and does not
exist in English retire. Example, retirer le nom de la liste (“to remove the name
from the list”). See also tirer.

davantage more, further (adv.), plus. From de- + avantage (“advantage”). French
avantage or English advantage literally or originally means “front”, “forward”
(French avant). Moving forward is making more or further progress. Example, il a
aidé son fils, mais il a fait davantage / plus pour sa fille (“he helped his son, but he
did more for his daughter”).

promener to walk (transitive v.), (reflexive) to walk. English promenade (“to

walk”; “walkway”) is from French promenade, from promener. Not to be confused
with promettre (“to promise”) or promesse (“promise”, n.). Examples, promener le
chien (“to walk the dog”); il se promène dans la rue (“he walks on the street”; note
se).

tromper to deceive, to mislead, to fool, to cheat; (reflexive) to go wrong, to be

wrong. Cognate with trumpet. According to A. Brachet, an etymologist, this word
means “properly to play the horn, alluding to quacks and mountebanks, who
attracted the public by blowing a horn, and then cheated them into buying; thence
to cheat”. You may also create a mnemonic if the word sounds like the name of a
politician you don’t trust. To balance that joke, though, also learn the less common
word berner, which has the same meaning. Examples, je me suis trompé (“I was
wrong”, “I made a mistake”); désolé, vous vous êtes trompé de numéro (“sorry,
you’ve got the wrong number”).

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juger to judge (cognate). Example, ne jugez pas les gens à leur visage (“don’t
judge people by their faces”).

merde shit (both literally and figuratively). This word has entered English
vocabulary, along with Spanish mierda (“shit”). If you don’t know it and don’t
know any other Romance language, you may use mud as a mnemonic and think of
both as something dirty and unpleasant. English has an obsolete word merd
(“dung”) and its adjective merdurinous, which are cognates.

étage floor; stage (cognate). To see the cognation, change é- to s-; see §7 of the
Notes of this book for this rule. Examples, il habite à l'étage / au dernier étage
(“he lives upstairs / on the top floor”; dernier literally means “last”); le premier
étage (“the second floor (US)”, “the first floor (UK or Europe))”. Note the first
floor (US) or the ground floor (UK or Europe) is called le rez-de-chaussée in
French. See also rez-de-chaussée.

avouer to confess, to admit. Cognate with avow, which in English does not quite
mean “to confess”. Examples, j’avoue que j’ai fait / j’avoue avoir fait une erreur
(“I admit I made a mistake”); s’avouer vaincu (“to admit defeat”).

merci thank you (interj.); mercy (cognate), pity, grace (fem. n.); thank-you, thanks
(masc. n.). The first sense is overwhelmingly more common, but the word can be
used as a noun in either gender. To remember which gender has which meaning,
maybe associate mercy as a more feminine characteristic. Or consider “grace” to
be more abstract than “thanks” and see §3 of the Notes of this book. Example,
merci beaucoup de m’avoir aidé (“thank you very much for helping me / having
helped me”; note de, not pour).

diriger to direct (cognate), to act as director, to manage; (reflexive, followed by

vers “toward”) to head for, to head to, to go in the direction of.

déjeuner to have lunch (in France); lunch (in France) (n.). The root in Latin,
ieiunus (“fasting”), is cognate with jejune (“simplistic”, “uninteresting”; “not
nutritious”). With the prefix dé-, the word literally means “ending the fast”.
Unfortunately, this word means “lunch” in France, while petit déjeuner means
“breakfast”. The French people are known to eat slow, a habit that may lead to a
gradual, two-stage, ending of the fasting. Fact or not, use that as a memory aid.

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Example, je prends le petit déjeuner à 8 heures et je déjeune à 13 heures (“I have
breakfast at 8 AM and I have lunch at 1 PM”).

faute fault (cognate), error; lack. Examples, tout est / c’est de ma faute (“it’s (all)
my fault”; note de); faire une erreur / faute (“to make a mistake”); faute d’un
meilleur mot (“for lack of a better word”).

engager to hire, to employ; (reflexive) to promise (to do); to commit, to pledge; to

advise, to encourage; to enter into. engagement commitment. French engager has
more meanings than English engage; in fact, none of them is exactly the same as
the latter. For example, a pre-marital engagement is fiançailles (plural only) ; je me
suis engagé ... means “I’m committed ... (as in je me suis engagé à le faire, “I’m
committed to doing that / I promise to do that”). Examples, engager un nouvel
ouvrier (“to hire a new worker”; note it’s nouvel not nouveau); il s’engage dans
l’armée (“he joined the army”, literally “he employed himself into the army”); la
liberté n’est pas l’absence d’engagement, mais la capacité de choisir (“freedom is
not the absence of commitment, but the ability to choose”, said Paulo Coelho, a
Brazilian novelist); enfanter, c’est prendre un engagement (“to have a child is to
make a commitment”, said Simone de Beauvoir).

balle ball (cognate if traced to Proto-Germanic); bullet. Note the second meaning;
historically, bullets were round balls. In the first sense used in sports, balle refers
to a small and non-inflatable ball, as distinct from the bigger and inflatable ballon.
Example, une balle de tennis / golf (“a tennis / golf ball”).

casser to break. Cognate with quash. From Latin quassare. One major
development of Latin qu- is to French c-. Use crash as a mnemonic. Or “I broke a
casserole pan”. Examples, le vent a cassé la vitre (“the wind broke the glass
window”); la vitre s’est cassée (“the glass window broke”; note reflexive pronoun
se); je me suis cassé le bras (“I broke my arm”; note reflexive pronoun me).

vendre to sell. vente sale. English vend (hence vendor, vending) is from French
vendre. Not to be confused with vent (“wind”). Examples, vendu (“sold”); à vendre
/ en vente (“for sale”). But note American English on sale (“for sale at a reduced
price”) uses different words in French, e.g. en solde, au rabais, or avec remise.

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hier yesterday. If traced to Proto-Indo-European, cognate with yester-. This word
is almost a false friend of English here (which would be ici in French). Examples,
hier matin / soir (“yesterday morning / last night”); avant-hier (“the day before
yesterday”; note the hyphen unless you say le jour avant hier, which is less
common).

juif Jewish (cognate); Jew (cognate). From Latin iudaeus, which lost part of its
second syllable when inherited by Old French, from which English Jew is derived.
The Latin word sounds closer to Judah, the founder of the Israelite and the
Kingdom of Judah, the land of Judea and the Jews. Sometimes Latin final d
changed to f in French; think of d and f in the second syllables of English feudal
and fief. By convention, the initial letter J should be in capital when the word refers
to the people instead of, say, religion. The feminine form of juif is juive.

écarter to separate, to push aside, to exclude, to spread, to discard (cognate). écart

gap. écarté remote; apart (adj.); discarded. From ex- (“away”, “removing”) + carte
(“card”). It originally meant “putting the cards aside” in card-playing. Cognate
with discard (literally “to reject a card”). Examples, écarter les bras (“to spread
the arms”); un village écarté (“a remote village”); écart de génération / écart
générationnel (“generation gap”); tenir à l’écart de la lumière, de la chaleur (“to
keep away from light and heat”).

appartenir to belong (to). Cognate with appertain (“to belong to”). The root is
cognate with pertinent. Unrelated to partenaire (“partner”, from English partner),
which nevertheless serves as a good mnemonic; partners belong to a group bonded
by partnership. Example, à qui appartient ce stylo? (“whose pen is this?”, literally
“to whom does this pen belong?”, the same as à qui est ce stylo?).

œuvre, oeuvre work (n.), especially work of art. Cognate with opera. From Latin
opera (“work”). English opera as a music term is from Italian opera, which can be
either “music work” or “opera”, or “work” in general. Latin p sometimes changed
to French v (by way of b). On a restaurant menu, hors d’œuvre means “appetizer”,
but literally “outside the work (i.e. main course of meal)”. This word should not be
confused with ouvrir (“to open”).

confiance trust (n.), confidence (cognate). From Latin con- + fidere (“trust”).
Medial d often gets lost when the word is inherited by French. Another way to

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remember the -fiance part is English cognate fiance or fiancé, “man who is
engaged” but literally “trusted”. Examples, je fais confiance à M. Bernard (“I trust
Mr. Bernard”; note faire and à); fais-moi confiance, ça va marcher (“trust me, this
is going to work”). See also fier (“to trust”).

douleur pain; grief. douloureux painful. Cognate with dolor (“great sorrow or
distress”), a word maybe too literary for people to know. Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “Life is hard. Even making one dollar is a pain.”

toit roof. Etymology hardly helps unless you know an anatomical word tectum
(“top part of the brain”) as well as a phonological rule (Latin long e changed to
French oi). Use top as a mnemonic, or think of “to go to it” as “to go to the roof”,
or see also étoile (“star”).

défendre to defend (cognate); to forbid. Note the second meaning, which is

missing in English. The sense development may be to defend a protected region
against enemy’s access, hence “to forbid”.

épais thick. épaisseur thickness. Etymology doesn’t help; they are cognate with
outdated words, which don’t sound alike, inspissate (“to thicken”), spissated
(“thickened”). Consider using space or spacious as a mnemonic and think of the
rule of changing é- to s-. Or think of the thick lip of an ape. Examples, une tranche
épaisse (“a thick slice”); épaisseur d’un cheveu (“thickness of a hair”).

glace ice; ice cream, crème glacée; glass, mirror. glacé iced, icy cold. glacer to
freeze. English glacier is from French glacier. These words are not related to
English glass, which nevertheless can serve as a mnemonic; Lorayne and Lucas
The Memory Book suggests a mnemonic “you’re eating glass instead of ice cream”.
Whether glace means “ice” or “ice cream” depends on the context. Examples,
(crème) glacée au chocolat (“chocolate ice cream”; crème may be omitted); thé
glacé (“iced tea”).

pont bridge; deck (of a ship). Cognate with pontoon (“floating bridge”, “pontoon
bridge”; “floatation device”). Example, un pont au-dessus de la Seine (“a bridge
over the Seine”).

écraser to crush, to squash. Early French sometimes appended e- or é- in front of

sc-, sm-, sp-, or st- to help with pronunciation. Examples, écraser un ail (“to smash

73
a garlic”); la voiture s’est écrasée dans un arbre (“the car crashed into a tree”; note
se); l’homme a été écrasé par une voiture (“the man was run over / crushed by the
car”); écrasez l’infâme! (“crush the infamous!”, Voltaire’s call to oppose religious
authorities especially the Roman Catholic Church).

sauf except, save (prep.) (cognate); safe (adj.) (cognate). In the first sense, it’s
cognate with English save used as a preposition. In the second sense, it’s often
used in the phrase sain et sauf, whose earlier Old French form was sauf et sain,
from which English safe and sound originated. Examples, tout le monde a ri sauf
Jean (“everyone laughed except Jean”); je veux l’acheter à moins que ce ne soit
trop cher / sauf si c’est trop cher (“I want to buy it unless it’s too expensive”; note
sauf si is slightly less common and you don’t use the subjunctive after it); c’est bon
sauf qu’il n’y en a pas assez (“it’s good except that there’s not enough”).

poste post office (fem. n.; both the physical office and the postal service); job,
position, post (masc. n.); radio or TV set (masc. n.); phone number extension
(masc. n.). This word is easy but note the gender difference; in spite of the -e
ending, the masculine noun has multiple meanings (incomplete here) while “post
office” is the only one in the feminine form. La poste is from Italian feminine
posta (A. Brachet thinks it’s from Latin *posita) and le poste is from Italian
masculine posto. But that doesn’t help us remember the difference. As a mnemonic,
just imagine a female postal worker for the feminine form, and the rest are
masculine. Examples, où est la poste / le bureau de poste / le poste de police?
(“where is the post office / police station?”; note the two ways to say “post office”,
and the masculine poste for “police station”); un poste d’analyste d’affaires (“a
business analyst position”).

vêtement clothing, clothes. vêtir to dress. Cognate with vestment (“robe worn by
the clergy”), vest, with the root of invest (originally “to put on clothes”). Change ê
(a vowel with a diacritic) to es to see the cognation.

lâcher to release, to let go, to drop. Related to laisser (“to let”, “to leave alone”),
which forms part of the phrase laissez faire (literally “let do”), which has entered
English as laissez-faire (“economy without government interference”). Examples,
lâche-moi! (“let me go!”, “let go of me!”); une corde lâche (“a slack / loose rope”).

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tableau picture, painting; table (grid of rows and columns, not the furniture)
(cognate).This word has entered English vocabulary. Examples, un tableau de
Léonard / un tableau de Vinci (“a painting by da Vinci”; the first expression is
more common, and note de, not da); tableau noir / blanc (“black- / white-board”);
tableau d’affichage (“bulletin board”; think of ficher as “to fix” or “to fasten”).

allonger to stretch, to extend, to lie down (and stretch). The root is cognate with
long. Example, le boxeur était allongé sur le sol (“the boxer was lying down on the
floor”).

pire worse (adj.). pis worse (adv.). Cognate with pejorative, which is from French
pejorative, from Latin peioratus (“made worse”), from peiorare (“to make worse”),
from peior (“worse”), from which French pire was derived. If you only read the
first part of English pejorative and pronounce j as i, it may help you remember pire.
Alternatively, use prefix pyro- as a mnemonic and imagine a fire makes a situation
worse. While pis should be used as an adverb, nowadays it only occurs in set
phrases; colloquial expression tant pis, literally “so much (the) worse”, is often
translated as “never mind”, “too bad”, “oh well”. Examples, Hollande était encore
pire que Sarkozy (“Hollande was even worse than Sarkozy”); la situation va de
mal en pis (“the situation is going from bad to worse”).

sinon otherwise, if not, alternatively; except that. From si (“if”) + non (“not”).
Example, dépêche-toi! sinon / ou tu vas rater / manquer le train (“hurry up!
otherwise / or you’ll miss the train”).

important significant, considerable, sizable, big; important (cognate). Note the

first and probably more common meaning; something big in size doesn’t have to
be important. Examples, un retard important (“a significant delay”); une quantité
importante (“a considerable amount”).

poids weight; importance, influence. Cognate with ponder (“to think or consider”;
“to weigh”, an obsolete sense). Etymology can be explained but it may be
unhelpful to a general reader. Although English ponder has lost the sense of “to
weigh”, English weigh does have the sense of “to ponder”. Note that poids takes
the same form for both singular and plural; *poid does not exist. Not to be
confused with the homophone pois (“pea”). Examples, perte de poids (“weight
loss”); poids net (“net weight”).

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voler to fly; to steal, to rob. vol flight; theft. volée flying, volley. Cognate with
volatile, volley (as in volleyball). It’s a frequently asked question why this word
has these two very different senses, which is unique in French among various
Romance languages. It is believed that in falconry, the bird of prey flies over and
robs or steals other animals. Which meaning it takes depends on the context. For
example, the song in the movie Ratatouille has volant en chemin tout ce que je
peux (“stealing on the way all I can”), where volant cannot be “flying” because the
next line reads car rien n’est gratuit dans la vie (“because nothing is free in life”).
Examples, je vais voler de Paris à Londres (“I’ll fly from Paris to London”); voler
quelque chose à quelqu’un (“to steal something from somebody”). See also volet
(“shutter”), voleur (“thief”).

hurler to scream, to howl, to yell, to shout. hurlement howl (n.), yell (n.).
Cognate with ululate (“to howl”, a practice in some especially Arab countries as an
expression of grief). If that doesn’t help, we’re lucky to have both howl and holler
(as in “Give me a holler!”) that may be used as mnemonics. Note these words are
not related to hurl (“to throw”, which would be lancer, jeter in French).

désormais from now on, à partir de maintenant; from then on. From dès (“from”)
+ or (“hour”, “now”, outdated sense) + mais (“more”, implying “forward”). Think
of “from this hour and more” as a mnemonic. See also dorénavant (“from now
on”).

hein hey, eh. Onomatopoeia and probably a natural human expression, but not to
be confused with haine (“hate”).

douter to doubt (cognate); (reflexive) to suspect, to guess, soupçonner. Note the

meaning of the word when used reflexively; the meaning is actually the opposite of
English doubt. Examples, je doute de sa véracité (“I doubt its veracity /
truthfulness”; note preposition de); je m’en doute (“I guess so”); il se doute que
Jean l’a fait (“he suspects Jean did it”).

terrible terrible (cognate), horrible; (informal) terrific (cognate), excellent,

formidable (as in French, not English). Note the meaning in informal or colloquial
usage. While all derived from the same Latin source, English separates the two
opposite meanings into terrible and terrific but French keeps one form, taking
different meanings according to context and tone of speaking voice. Examples,

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c’est terrible (“this is terrible”; “this is great”); c’est / ce n’est pas terrible (“it’s
not very good”; with pas, French terrible only means “terrific”).

chapeau hat. Cognate with cape, cap, chapel (originally the sanctuary where St.
Martin’s cape was kept). The word can be used as an interjection: chapeau! (“hats
off!”, “great job!”; note English uses plural hats while French uses singular
chapeau).

roman novel. It’s not because a novel is mostly about romance or is predominantly
a love story that roman means “novel”. Instead, roman referred to the then
Romance language i.e. Old French, as distinct from Latin. Since stories were told
in this vulgar or popular language, the name of the language also denoted the story,
and later this literary genre. Not to be confused with its doublet romain (“Roman”).
Incidentally, the French word romance means “ballad”, “love song”, but it is a
historical term. English romance is simply amour in Modern French. But the word
romantique does mean “romantic”. Examples, un roman d’amour (“a romance
novel ); un roman policier (“a detective story”); un roman-feuilleton (“a serial
novel”, “a novel published in installments”). See also romancier (“novelist”).

truc (informal) thing, stuff; trick (possible cognate). The first meaning, both
concrete and abstract, is very common. It’s not clear how the sense of “thing”
came about. Maybe it was initially the gadget used to play the trick. Examples, il a
un truc à cacher (“he has something to hide”); il y a un truc qui ne va pas
(“something is wrong”).

repartir to leave again, to go again; to go back; to restart. This word is easy since
partir is “to leave”, but, at least in formal writing, make sure not to confuse it with
répartir (“to share”, “to distribute”), which has a much lower usage frequency.
Prefix re- can mean either “again” or “back”, but sometimes it’s not translated as if
the word was just partir. Examples, je suis reparti chez moi (“I went home
(again)”; “I went back home”); repartir de zéro / à zéro (“to start from scratch”;
since this start is often a restart, it makes sense to use repartir, not partir).

gare railway station. From garer (“to park (a car)”, “to garage”). Its derivative
includes garage, literally “place to shelter”, which has entered English.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “a guard at the train station”. Examples,

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Gare de l’Est (“East Station”); gare routière (“bus transit center”, “major bus
station”, literally “road station”). See also garer.

trottoir sidewalk, pavement (British English). From trotter (“to trot”). Cognate
with trot. Suffix -oir is appended to a verb to form a noun related to this verb,
including the place where the action happens. A sidewalk is for people to walk on,
but imagine people trot or slowly run on it.

plage beach. Cognate with flake, according to one theory, taking the sense of “flat
surface” from their common Latin origin. If you know Spanish playa, which is a
cognate, use that. Otherwise, use a mnemonic such as “play on the beach”, and
note French -ge is not too different from -y in English.

supporter to bear, to stand, to tolerate; to support (physically), soutenir. Note the

first meaning, which is not in English support. To support in an abstract sense, use
soutenir, appuyer, subvenir. Examples, je ne supporte pas mon frère, il est trop
difficile (“I can’t stand my brother, he’s too picky”); les colonnes supportent /
soutiennent le toit (“the columns support the roof”).

éclairer to illuminate, to light up. éclair lightning, flash, spark; éclair, eclair (a
kind of pastry). The root is cognate with clear, and prefix é- indicates “to give out
(light)”. You may know the pastry named eclair, which is from this French word.
According to the CNRTL dictionary, it’s so called because you can eat it quickly.
But Etymonline says it is “a cake, long in shape but short in duration” citing
Chambers Dictionary, which according to chambers.co.uk does not (or no longer
does?) say so. Not to be confused with éclat (“shine”), éclater (“to burst”).

tiens well, like, you know, listen, oh (interj.). From tenir (“to hold”). The original
meaning may be “Take this!”, and later evolved to a wide range of interjections to
express doubt, surprise, emphasis, etc.

patte paw, leg (of animal). According to one theory, this is an onomatopoeia
imitating the sound of stepping on the ground, like Spanish pata. According to
another theory, it’s cognate with path (if traced to Proto-Germanic). Example, la
bête marche à quatre pattes (“the beast walks on all fours”).

livrer to deliver, to hand over. Cognate with liberate, with the root of deliver,
which used to mean “to set free” (e.g. “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us

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from evil” in the Bible, or “prayers for deliverance”). If not familiar with the Bible,
as a mnemonic, imagine a captive is delivered or sent back to his family. Note that
while livre is a conjugated form of livrer, livre (“book”; “pound”) is a completely
different word with a different Latin origin (which confusingly takes the same
form, liber, if we only look at its nominative singular masculine). English livery
(as in livery stable, “a stable where horse owners pay a weekly or monthly fee to
keep their horses”) is from this French word. Examples, livrer gratuitement (“to
deliver for free”); livraison gratuite par Amazon (“free delivery by Amazon”). See
also délivrer (“to free”; “to deliver”).

événement event (cognate). Not related to English evidently. Although French

suffix -ment usually corresponds to English -ly to convert an adjective to an adverb,
it can also convert a verb to a noun and the noun is masculine.

rideau curtain. Cognate with wreath, writhe (“to twist”) if traced to Proto-
Germanic. The word originally meant “wrinkled or plaited cloth”. Try to
pronounce th like d as a person with a big tongue might do. Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “There are uncountable riddles behind the iron curtain.”
Examples, ouvrir les rideaux (“to open the curtains”); le rideau de fer (“the iron
curtain”).

métier job, profession, occupation. Cognate with ministry (“work of a religious

minister”; “work”), minister. From Latin ministerium, which lost the second
syllable, and changed mis- to mé-. Some people believe that Latin mysterium
(“mystery”) at least partially contributed to this word; the guilds of artisans kept
their tricks of trade secret because they were valuable property, as Jacques Barzun
commented while debunking this folk etymology. But use mystery at least as a
mnemonic. Or imagine that employees swipe their cards on the time meter when
reporting to work in the morning and leaving work in the evening. Or “He’s a
meteorologist by profession.” But don’t confuse the word with mètre (“meter”), or
mettre (“to put”).

fumer to smoke. fumée smoke (n.). Cognate with fume (“gas or smoke of bad
smell”), fumigate, with the root of perfume. Note the noun (substantive) fumée
takes the same form as the feminine singular of the past participle of fumer.
Examples, le saumon fumé (“smoked salmon”); merci de ne pas fumer (“thank you

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for not smoking”); il n’y a pas de fumée sans feu (“where there’s smoke there’s
fire”, literally “there’s no smoke without fire”).

sein breast, bosom. Cognate with sinus. The connection to breast may be easier to
see if you realize that sinus in English actually means “a pouch or cavity in any
organ or tissue”, although frequently it only refers to the nasal cavity. The word
sein is not related to the river Seine, nor to seiner (“to fish with a net called seine”).
But you can use Seine as a mnemonic as if it was the bosom of France. (But note
sein is masculine while Seine, which ends with e, is feminine.) Examples, cancer
de sein (“breast cancer”); au sein de within (literally “in the bosom of”).

tas heap, pile. Etymology doesn’t help, although it has an obsolete cognate word
tass (“heap”). Use a mnemonic such as “Toss the junk to the pile.” or “I have a pile
of tasks to finish.” Not to be confused with tasse (“cup”). Examples, un tas de /
une pile de papier (“a pile of paper”); un tas de choses à faire (“a ton of things to
do”).

soi self. From se (the reflexive pronoun) according to one theory. Examples, il faut
avoir confiance en soi (“you should have confidence in yourself”, “one must have
confidence in oneself”); cela va de soi (“it goes without saying”, il va sans dire).

honte shame. honteux shameful. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such
as “the culture at Honda Motor is one of honor and shame”, or “his action was a
shame and often haunted him ever since”, or “a former hunter felt shame after he
became an animal rights activist”. If you happen to think of honor when you see
this word, remember to reverse the meaning to dishonor. Example, la fille de
Staline a honte de son père (“Stalin’s daughter is ashamed of her father”; note a i.e.
avoir, not est i.e. être because honte is a noun); il est honteux de traiter un enfant
cruellement (“it’s shameful to treat a child cruelly”).

disposer to arrange, to lay out; (followed by de) to have at one’s disposal. The root
poser simply means “to put (down)”. Note that this word does not mean “to
dispose of” or “to get rid of”. Consider it a false friend of English dispose.
Example, les familles riches disposent d’argent à dépenser (“rich families have
money to spend”, literally “... have money at their disposal”); tout le monde est
bien disposé à étudier le nouveau sujet (“everyone is quite willing / ready to study
the new subject”).

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bain bath. baigner to bathe; (reflexively) to go swimming / swim casually.
Cognate with an obsolete English word bagnio (“building for bathing”; “brothel”;
“prison”), and with Spanish baño (“bath”; “bathroom”). Bain-marie (“a container
holding hot water into which a pan is placed for slow cooking”) is from French.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “balm the body after a bath”, or “take a bath
in the bay”, or “Taking a bath is a bane for those who don’t like it.” Examples,
salle de bain (“bathroom”); bain de sang (“bloodshed”, literally “bloodbath”); je
prends un bain (“I take / I’m taking a bath”).

vacance (used in plural) vacation (cognate), holiday; vacancy (cognate). To

connect the two senses (“vacation” and “vacancy”), imagine the empty office or
school campus during a holiday. Examples, il est en vacances (“he’s on vacation /
holiday”; British English uses holiday; note preposition en); bonnes vacances!
(“have a good / enjoy your vacation / holiday”).

pomme apple. Cognate with pome (“a fruit such as apple or pear”). Alternatively,
remember that the word pomegranate is literally pome (“apple”) + granate
(“having many seeds”) i.e. “apple with many seeds”. Examples, jus de pomme
(“apple juice”); pomme de terre (“potato”, literally “apple of / from earth”).

bateau boat. Cognate with boat if traced to Old English. This French word has
entered English vocabulary meaning “a small flat-bottomed riverboat”.

souhaiter to wish, to hope. Etymology doesn’t help. The pronunciation is close to

sweat so use a mnemonic such as “I sweated out the long exam in the hope of
getting the job”, or imagine -haiter is the same root as that of inhale and exhale
and think of the action of inhaling and then blowing out a candle to make a wish.
Or use swear as a mnemonic. Example, je souhaite bonne chance aux étudiants (“I
wish the students good luck”); je souhaite obtenir le poste (“I hope / wish to get
the job”).

étoile star. Cognate with stellar. From Latin stella, where e changed to oi in French
and s- to es- to ease pronunciation and finally es- to é- where the diacritic indicates
omission of s. As a mnemonic, try to memorize toit (“roof”), toile (“canvas”) and
étoile together by thinking of the ceiling of a building that is a canvas on which
stars are painted. Not to be confused with étroit (“narrow”). Examples, une étoile
filante (“a shooting star”); à la belle étoile (“outdoors”, en plein air).

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jurer to swear, to promise; to swear, to curse. Cognate with jury, juror. To be on
the jury, one has to swear an oath. It’s interesting to know that this word also has
the double meanings of English swear.

crever to burst, to pop; (informal) to die. Cognate with crevice (“crack”, “fissure”).
Examples, un pneu crevé (“a flat tire”, literally “a burst tire”, more literally “a
cracked tire”); je crève de faim (“I’m starving”, literally “I die of hunger”).

conscience consciousness, awareness; conscience. conscient aware, conscious.

Note the meanings “consciousness” and “aware”, respectively, which do not exist
in English conscience. Examples, conscience de soi (“self-consciousness”, “self-
awareness”); je suis conscient de ce qui s’est passé (“I’m aware of what
happened”).

achever to finish, to complete, to end. Cognate with achieve. In spite of the

cognation, English achieve may be better translated as atteindre in French (which
is cognate with attain), réaliser. Note that in several conjugated forms of this word,
the second vowel e changes to è. Example, la journée s’achève avec une crêpe et
un café (“the day ends with / we end the day with a pancake and a coffee”, literally
“the day ends itself ...”).

remplir to fill; to fulfill. The root is cognate with implement (literally “to fulfill”,
originally “to fill”). Prefix re- (shortened to r- before vowel) is an intensifier, and
does not mean “again” or “back”; English refill would be recharge or remplir à
nouveau (“to fill again”) in French. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of the
reverse (re-) of empty. Examples, remplir le bol d’eau (“to fill the bowl with
water”; note preposition de, not avec); veuillez remplir ce formulaire (“please fill
this form”; note you can avoid using the imperative if you start with veuillez). See
also emplir (“to fill”).

mince slim, slender, thin, svelte, maigre. This word is easy because English mince
means “finely chopped meat” (or used as a verb). Actually this French word has a
different etymology which may have influenced the formation of English mince. In
any case, fine meat and the flesh of a slender person may be literarily associated.
Note the synonyms have different nuances in meaning; thin and maigre are neutral
while slender and svelte are more positive, but mince can take either sense.
Example, il n'est ni mince ni gros (“he’s neither thin nor fat”).

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briller to shine. Cognate with brilliance, brilliant. If these two English words had
a verb, it would be a perfect cognate since it would even match on the grammatical
part of speech. Not to be confused with brûler (“to burn”).

course race, running. Cognate with course, related to French courir (“to run”).
Note that in spite of cognation, this word does not mean “course”, which in French
would be cours (“stream of water”; “class or lesson in school”; “course of events”).
Examples, course à pied (“running race”); course de vélos (“bicycle race”; note de);
course automobile (“car race”; note missing de because automobile is an adjective);
faire les courses (“to do shopping”; this is an idiom).

neige snow. neiger to snow. Cognate with Nevada, the US state named for Sierra
Nevada (literally “Snowy Mountains”). Sometimes Latin v changed to French g
(which is why we have doublets abbreviate and abridge). Cognate with snow if
traced to Proto-Indo-European. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, imagine a horse
neighing while standing in snow. Examples, il neige (“it’s snowing”); un
bonhomme de neige (“a snowman”).

peindre to paint (cognate). peinture painting (cognate); paint (n.)(cognate).

Examples, une peinture de Léonard (“a painting by da Vinci”; note une peinture de
Vinci is less common and une peinture de De Vinci is rare); peinture fraîche! (“wet
paint!”, literally “fresh paint”).

dessiner to draw, to sketch; to design (cognate). dessin drawing; design (n.). Latin
g in gn, gm, etc., always dropped out in French, also seen in malignus > malin,
benignus > bénin, pigmentum > piment (“spice”), etc. Note that French désigner
(“to designate”) does not mean “to design”. Example, un dessin de Léonard (“a
drawing by da Vinci”; un dessin de Vinci is less common); dessin animé
(“animated cartoon”). See also dessein (“intention”, “design”).

somme sum (cognate), amount, total (fem. n.); nap, doze, sieste (“siesta”) (masc.
n.). The second meaning actually is of a different word spelled the same, a
variation of sommeil (“sleep”). Examples, la somme d’argent est 100 euros (“the
sum / amount of money is 100 euros”); faire un somme (“to take a nap”; note un,
not une). See also sommeil.

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cuir leather. From Latin corium, which has entered English vocabulary (“a layer of
skin, dermis”). Cognate with the root of excoriate (“to wear off the skin”; “to
denounce”). Not to be confused with cuire (“to cook”) or English cure, which
nevertheless can be used as a mnemonic such as in “leather production starts with
curing the animal hide”. Example, un sac en cuir (“a leather bag”).

partager to share; to divide. Cognate with part. Think of sharing as keeping part
of the whole piece, or as parting with some portion of it. Examples, partagez votre
expérience avec les autres! (“Share your experience with others”); il partage son
temps entre Londres et Paris (“he divides his time between London and Paris”)

enlever to remove, to take off, retirer; to kidnap, to abduct. The root is cognate
with levitate, levity, lever, elevate. Part of the action of removing something is to
bring it up, although taking off clothes also uses this word. To kidnap a child is to
hold him up and run away. Examples, enlever les vêtements (“to take off clothes”);
enlever la tache (“to remove the stain”).

poussière dust. Cognate with powder, pulverize (“to break into powder, dust or
fragments”). From Latin pulvis (“dust”, “powder”), which lost v when inherited by
French. Dust looks like powder. Not to be confused with French pousser (“to
push”, which is actually cognate with push). See also poudre (“powder”).

nombre number. This word is used in counting or referring to quantity, different

from the doublet numéro, used in referring to a specific number or item (e.g.
numéro 1). In case you’re also studying Spanish, note that this word does not mean
“name”. Example, un certain nombre de personnes (“a number of people”).

particulier particular; private person, individual person (n.). Note the second
meaning.

hauteur height; (music) pitch; haughtiness, arrogance. From haut (“high”) + -eur
(noun suffix). Examples, la hauteur du bâtiment (“the height of the building”);
l’avion prend de la hauteur (“the plane is gaining height”).

note score, grade, mark (given to a student in exam), rating; check, bill, invoice;
(plural) notes. Note the first two meanings of the word. Examples, prendre des
notes (“to take notes”); la note / l’addition s’il vous plait (“the check / bill please”;

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l’addition is actually more common); j’ai eu une bonne note en maths (“I got a
good grade / score in maths”).

éteindre to switch off (light); to put out (fire), to extinguish (cognate); (reflexive)
to die out, to become extinct, to die peacefully. éteint extinct (cognate); past
participle of éteindre. Change é- to ex- to see the cognation. Not to be confused
with étendre (“to extend”). One way to avoid the confusion is to note the letter i in
éteindre and extinguish or extinct. Note that many conjugated forms of this word
have g, e.g. nous éteignons, je éteignais; after all, the Latin word from which this
and English extinguish came is extinguere. Examples, éteindre la radio / la lumière
(“to turn off radio / light”); un volcan éteint (“an extinct volcano”). See also
étendre.

nuage cloud. English nuance (“subtle difference”, “shade”) is from French nuance
(related to nuage). This sense of “shade” probably came from the imperceptible
gradation of brightness to darkness (“shade” literally) with clouds in the sky.
Cognate with nebula, nebulous. From nue + -age, where the archaic word nue
(“cloud”) is from Latin nubes, but b changed to v and eventually was dropped.
Example, il y a des nuages / le temps est nuageux (“it’s cloudy”, literally “there are
some clouds / the weather is cloudy”).

repas meal. Cognate with repast (“meal”), which is from Old French. The
root -pas is cognate with pasture, which is from a Latin word meaning “to feed”,
“to graze” but -st- changed to -s- (a change also seen in Latin post > French puis).
Prefix re- is an intensifier. Example, le repas du soir (“evening meal”, dîner).

taille cutting (n.); size; (size of) waist, height (of person); tax levied on peasants
before the French Revolution. Cognate with tailor. A tailor has to cut cloth to the
right size. The sense of “waist” and sometimes “height” probably comes from
cutting cloth to make clothes; think of tailor. Examples, quelle taille faites-vous?
(“what size are you?”); une taille fine (“a slim waist”); tee-shirts homme grande
taille (“men’s large-size T-shirts”).

foi faith. Cognate with faith, fidelity. From Latin fides. Short unstressed i in Latin
often changed to French oi. Not to be confused with homophones fois (“time”, but
also plural of foi), foie (“liver”).

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fuir to flee, to escape. enfuir to escape. fuite flight, the act of fleeing; leak (n.),
leakage. Fuir is cognate with fugitive. From Latin fugere, contracted to fug’re,
where g in front of r always disappeared when inherited by French. In memorizing
fuir, imagine i is pronounced roughly so you insert g in front of it. Enfuir should
not be confused with enfouir (“to bury”). Examples, la famille a fui les nazis (“the
family fled the nazis”); la bouteille fuit (“the bottle leaks”).

vitre window pane; window (of a vehicle). Cognate with vitreous (“of glass”).
English in vitro (“taking place outside a living organism as in a test tube”) literally
means “in glass”.

poing fist. Cognate with pugnacious (“aggressive”, “hostile”). Latin u before a

guttural such as g changed to oi in French. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of
poing as an onomatopoeia as if the fist hits something, or think of ping-pong.
Example, un coup de poing (“a punch”). See also poignée (“handful”), poignet
(“wrist”).

poil hair (of the beard, coat of animals, etc.); bristle. Possibly cognate with the
second component of capillary. From Latin pilus (“hair”), where i changed to oi.
Alternatively, use pale as a mnemonic as if poil could refer to an old man’s white
hair (but it cannot; the hair on the head is cheveu). Example, le chat perd ses poils
(“the cat is losing its hairs”). See also cheveu (“hair on the head”).

faim hunger. Cognate with famine. Note that English famine is still famine in
French, not faim, and that English fame is unrelated to this word (which may be
translated as célébrité, renommée, réputation in French). Examples, j’ai très faim
(“I’m very hungry”; note verb avoir, not être); je meurs de faim (“I’m starving”,
literally “I die of hunger”)

regretter to regret; to miss. Note the second meaning, as in je regrette le bon vieux
temps (“I miss the good old days”). See also manquer (“to lack”; “to miss”).

étroit narrow. Cognate with strict, strait, with the root of restrict, constrict. St-
changed to est- then ét- (the diacritic sign indicates omission of s), and -ict changed
to -oit, which is also seen in Latin directus > French droit (“right”). See §7 of the
Notes of this book. Detroit, the city in Michigan, is from French détroit, literally
“strait”, surface analyzed as dé- + étroit. Detroit was named by French Colonists

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for the Detroit River, which is a strait linking two large bodies of water, Lake
Huron and Lake Erie. Not to be confused with étoile (“star”), which does not have
the immutable -tr-.

sept seven. September was the seventh month in Roman calendar, in which a year
started with March.

médecin (masc.) doctor, docteur, physician. médecine medicine (field of study).

médicament medicine, medication. Note that the masculine word médecin can
refer to either a male or a female doctor. The feminine word médecine does not
refer to a female doctor, nor to medicine (as drug or medication), but to the field of
study or medical science (see §3 of the Notes of this book for the tendency of a
feminine noun to refer to an abstract concept). To refer to a female doctor, just say
une médecin even though the word is grammatically masculine, or une femme
médecin if you want it to be more explicit (compare the feminine word personne,
which can refer to a person of either sex). Note the spelling of the two words; the
second vowel is e, while it is i in médicament. Also note médecin should not be
confused with the unrelated French word physicien (“physicist”, not “physician”).
Examples, aller chez / va voir le médecin / le docteur (“to go see the doctor”);
étudier la médecine (“to study medicine”).

attirer to attract. Prefix at- means “toward”. The root, -tirer meaning “to draw”, is
cognate with the root of retire (originally or literally “to draw back”). This word is
not related to attire (“clothing”, “dress”), but as a mnemonic, imagine somebody’s
pretty attire attracts people’s attention. Example, attirer mon attention sur cette
question (“to draw my attention to this matter”; note sur, not à, and mon, not ma,
due to a- of attention).

lunette (plural) glasses, goggles (lunettes de protection; lunettes de plongée),

sunglasses (lunettes de soleil); lunette (crescent-shaped opening at the top of a
window). From lune (“moon”) + -ette (diminutive suffix, “small”). This word
occurs more in the first sense used in plural. The eyeglasses look like a small moon.
Example, il porte / met des lunettes de lecture pour lire un livre (“he wears / puts
on reading glasses to read a book”).

creux hollow. creuser to dig. Cognate with corrode. Loss of the first syllable
vowel o in these two French words probably makes it hard to use the etymology.

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Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “a hollow cross”. Note these words are not
related to cross (croix in French) or cruise (croisière in French). Examples, heures
creuses (“off-peak hours”, literally “hollowed hours”, the opposite of heures de
pointe, “rush hours”); une assiette creuse (“a shallow bowl”, “a deep dish”,
literally “a hollow plate”; note fem. adj. creuse); se creuser la tête / la cervelle (“to
rack one’s brain”, literally “to hollow the head / the brain”); creuser l’écart / les
inégalités (“to widen the gap / inequalities”; imagine you keep digging a ditch).

ramasser to pick, to pick up, to collect, to gather. From re- (intensifier) + amasser
(“to amass”, “to gather”). Examples, il a ramassé le stylo (“he picked up the pen”);
le vigneron a ramassé les raisins (“the vigneron / grape farmer picked the grapes”).

château castle (cognate). Latin ca- often changed to cha- (sometimes che-) in
French. The diacritic mark of â suggests loss of s. This word has entered English
vocabulary. Example, château d’eau (“water tower”, literally “castle of water”).

drap sheet, duvet. Cognate with drapery, drape.

convenir (followed by à) to be convenient (cognate), to suit, to be suitable for;

(followed by de) to agree, to admit. English convene (literally “to come together”,
“to meet”) is from this French word. If both parties can come together, they are in
accord and suit each other’s need. Example, cet arrangement convient à votre
besoin / vous convient (“this arrangement suits your need”).

prévenir to warn, to inform, to notify, to tell in advance. From pré- (“before”) +

venir (“to come”). Cognate with prevent. In spite of cognation, this word does not
mean “to prevent” (which would be empêcher). Examples, préviens-nous de ta
visite (“let us know of your visit”, “let us know before you come”); laisse-moi te
prévenir (“let me warn you”).

évoquer to evoke; to mention. Note the second meaning, which may be considered
an extension of “to evoke” or “to bring to mind”. Example, le garçon intelligent a
évoqué une autre solution au problème (“the smart boy mentioned another solution
to the problem”).

exprimer to express (cognate). French exprimer and English express can be traced
to different conjugated forms of the same Latin word.

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flic (colloquial) police, cop. One theory about this slang that is useful to us is that
this word is from the flicking sound of the whip used by a policeman in the old
days. Or imagine a group of students at a party freaked out when the police broke
in the door calling “Freeze!”.

mec (slang) guy, fellow, dude. The word may be related to the interjection
expressing surprise, “Holy Mackerel!”. Etymonline.com states that “medieval
people had imaginative notions about the erotic habits of beasts. The fish
(mackerel) approach the shore in shoals in summertime to spawn”. Thus mackerel
referred to a pimp, but nowadays its descendant mec has lost its vicious nature and
simply means “guy”. If you prefer a mnemonic, think of a guy named Mack, or a
Mexican guy, or a car mechanic.

loi law. Cognate with legal. From Latin legem (accusative of lex). Latin e changed
to French oi and g was dropped. English law is not a cognate but may be used as a
mnemonic. Examples, respecter la loi (“to respect / obey the law”); les lois du
mouvement de Newton (“Newton’s laws of motion”).

hausser to raise, élever; to shrug. Cognate with haughty, altitude. Examples,

hausser / augmenter le prix (“to raise the price”); hausser les épaules (“to shrug”).
See also hauteur (“height”).

pantalon pants, trousers. Originated from a character in an Italian comedy, this

word or its cognate exists in all major Romance languages. If you don’t know it,
use pants as a mnemonic. If you need to accommodate the -alon part, think of
“pants that are long”. Unlike English pants or trousers, this word (like pyjama,
“pyjamas”, or short) is normally used in singular unless more than one pair of
pants are referred to. Examples, un pantalon neuf (“a new pair of pants”); deux
pantalons (“two pairs of pants”).

ranger to put away, to arrange, to tidy up; (reflexive) to side with, to align (oneself
in viewpoint) with. Cognate with the root of arrange. Examples, ranger les
ordures (“to put away trash”); ranger ma chambre (“to tidy up my room”); ranger
les livres sur l’étagère (“to arrange the books on the shelf”).

tache stain, blot, stain-like mark. If traced to Proto-Germanic, cognate with token.
Cognate with Spanish tacha (“blemish”, “defect”). Use tarnish as a mnemonic, or

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“a stain on my moustache”. Not to be confused with tâche (“task”, cognate with
tax). Examples, une tache de graisse / de gras (“an oily stain”); tache de rousseur
(“freckle”, literally “stain of redness”). See also tâche.

titre title (cognate), heading; title (bestowed upon somebody) (cognate).

Sometimes Latin l changed to French r. Examples, le titre du livre (“the title of the
book”); les gros titres de ce matin (“the headline / big news of this morning”); à
juste titre (“rightly so”, “quite rightly”, “justifiably”, literally “by a just title”); à
titre d’exemple (“as an example”, literally “by title of example”); à titre
d’information (“for your information”; not used at the beginning of a message as
English FYI).

voie way, (road) lane, (railroad) track. Cognate with via, doublet and cognate with
voyage. Examples, la voie de gauche, c’est fait pour dépasser (“the left lane is for
passing”); le train (en provenance) de Paris va entrer en gare voie C (“the train
from Paris will arrive on track C”; some varieties of English uses platform instead
of track); être sur la bonne voie / en bonne voie (“to be on the right track”; note no
la after en); un pays en voie de développement (“a developing country”; note, not
un pays développant).

gêner to bother, to embarrass, to hinder, to be in the way. gêne embarrassment,

discomfort, inconvenience. gêné embarrassed, uncomfortable. gênant
embarrassing, awkward. One source of these words is Hebrew Gehenna, a place of
torment or hell. Etymologist A. Brachet thinks the word has lost its strength from
“torment”, “punishment”, “torture” to “annoyance”. But that etymology doesn’t
really help us unless you’re familiar with the Hebrew Bible. Use a mnemonic such
as “People with this gene live in discomfort.”, or think of an annoying lady named
Jenna. Note these words are not related to this group of words: général, générique ,
généreux (“generous”), gène (“gene”), générer (“to generate”), which are related to
each other and take either the grave or acute but not circumflex diacritic. Also note
gène (masc.) and gêne (fem.) are homophones, having the same pronunciation, but
differ in gender. Not to be confused with Gênes (Genoa, an Italian city) and
Geneva (a Swiss city), which are related to genou (“knee”) and the first element of
English genuflect; in Genoa and Geneva, there is a bending coastline or a river,
likened to a bending knee. As a mnemonic, imagine bending the knee (genou in
French) causes discomfort or annoyance. Example, ne te gêne pas (“don’t

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bother!”); si votre voiture gêne la circulation, on doit la déplacer sur le côté de la
route (“if your car blocks traffic, it should be moved to the side of the road”); je
suis un peu gêné de l’admettre (“I’m a little embarrassed to admit it”).

inquiéter to worry (someone), to make (someone) worry; (reflexive, intransitive)

to worry. inquiétude worry (n.), concern, anxiety. inquiétant worrying, disturbing.
Literally “to make uneasy or restless”. The root is cognate with quiet. Not related
to English inquire, inquiry. Note in many conjugated forms, é becomes è.
Examples, ne t’inquiète pas! (“don’t worry!”; note reflexive pronoun te); çette
situation m’inquiète (“this situation worries me / makes me worry”); elle va
s’inquiéter si son enfant ne l’appelle pas (“she’s going to worry if her child doesn’t
call her”); vives inquiétudes (“serious / great concern”).

peser to weigh. Cognate with pensive (“looking thoughtful”). In English, weigh

means “to measure weight”, but can also mean “to ponder”.

valise suitcase. This word has entered English vocabulary. Controversial and
unhelpful etymology (from Italian valigia, “suitcase”). Use a mnemonic such as “I
keep my wallet in the suitcase”. Example, faire ses valises, faire sa valise (“to
pack”, “to get ready to leave”, literally “to do the suitcases”).

immeuble building (usually a multi-story building one rented for living or as

offices). Cognate with immobile, immovable. Literally “that which does not move
or cannot be moved”. To translate “real estate”, it’s better to use bien immobilier.
Note that im- or imm- is pronounced /im/, not /ɛ/̃ , since the /m/ sound is followed
by a vowel (this rule has a few exceptions, though). See also meuble (“furniture”).

ressentir to feel, to experience. From re- (intensifier) + sentir (“to feel”). Cognate
with English resent (“to feel indignation”), which obviously is not the same in
meaning as French ressentir.

projet rough draft, design (n.); plan (n.); project (cognate). Note the first two
meanings, which are missing in English project. When the word was in Latin, it
literally meant “to throw forward”. A plan is for the future, which is thrown to you,
so to speak. The sense is extended to a draft plan, and project. Examples, projet de
loi (“bill”, “proposed law”); mon projet / plan pour le week-end (“my plan for the
weekend”).

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traiter to treat (cognate), to deal; (followed by de) to call. This word is easy but
should not be confused with traître (“traitor”), alternatively spelled traitre.
Examples, le médecin traite beaucoup de patients (“the doctor treats many
patients”); le directeur traite mal les travailleurs (“the manager treats the workers
badly”); tu me traite de menteur / tu m’appelles un menteur (“you call me a liar”).

causer to cause (cognate); (informal) to chat, to speak, to talk. Note the second
meaning, which has the same origin. Etymologist A. Brachet explains “to defend a
cause (in Salic civil law around 500 AD), then to discuss, lastly to talk”. Example,
causer avec lui de cette affaire (“to talk / chat with him on this matter”).

prochain next, upcoming. Cognate with the root of approach, possibly with
proximal, proximity. Unrelated to English chain, although you may use it to make
a mnemonic as in “the next link going forward in the chain”. Examples, le mois
prochain (“next month”); la semaine / l'année prochaine (“next week / year”);
samedi prochain (“next Saturday”); la prochaine fois (“next time”; note the
position of prochaine); à la prochaine (“see you next time”).

cuisse thigh. The protagonist in Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote is named for
“thigh”, or the armor protecting the thigh. As a mnemonic, imagine your coworker
or friend Chris having a muscular thigh. This word has entered English vocabulary
meaning “armor protecting the thigh”, also spelled cuish. Examples, exercices pour
les cuisses (“exercises for the thighs”); cuisse de poulet (“chicken leg”); écarter les
cuisses (“to spread the legs”, possibly said of a woman).

amant lover. Cognate with amorous. Doublet with aimant (“loving”), related to
amour (“love”). Think of suffix -ant as the person doing the action indicated by the
verbal root, i.e. “person that loves”, as in servant, attendant.

laver to wash. Cognate with lavatory. Examples, machine à laver (“washing

machine”); il lave sa voiture (“he washes his car”); il se lave les mains (“he washes
his hands”; note the reflexive pronoun).

caisse cash register, checkout (of a store); box. Cognate with case, capsule.
Examples, payer à la caisse (“to pay at the cash register”); une caisse est souvent
plus grande qu’une boîte (“a caisse is often bigger than a boîte”; this is to compare
the two French words in the sense of “box”).

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recouvrir to cover completely; to re-cover (cognate), to cover again. In the first
sense, re- is an intensifier. In the second send, re- implies “again”. In neither case
does the word mean “to recover (from illness)”, which would be récupérer in
French (cognate with recuperate).

reculer to move or go or put back, to retreat; to drop. recul retreat (n.); drop,
reduction. English recoil was derived from reculer during the Old French days (but
coil has a different etymology, although you may use it as a mnemonic). The root -
cul- means “posterior”, “buttocks”, “bottom”, “rear”. Examples, reculer la voiture
hors du garage (“to back the car out of the garage”); reculer de quelques pas (“to
take a few steps back”); un léger recul des prix (“a slight price drop”; note this is
not “a price rebound”). See also cul.

angoisse anguish (cognate). angoissé anxious, anguished, anxieux.

produire to produce; (reflexive) to occur, to happen. Note the second meaning,

when used reflexively. Think of it as “to produce (by) itself”, “to crop up”.
Example, ça s’est produit / c’est arrivé hier (“it happened yesterday”; note the
extra se compared to arriver).

cul (informal) butt, ass, buttocks, posterior; bottom, rear. English cul-de-sac (“dead
end street”, literally “bottom of sack”) is from French. Examples, cul sec!
(“bottoms up!”, a toast said when drinking alcohol, literally “dry bottom”); mon
cul (a vulgar interjection expressing disbelief).

soin care (n.). soigner to care, to look after. soigneusement carefully. Etymology
is uncertain or doesn’t help. English sin may be remotely related to soin if traced to
Proto-Germanic. Use a mnemonic such as “The church takes care of sinners.”
Examples, il a bien pris soin du petit garçon (“he took good care of the little boy”);
les première soins (“first aid”).

taper to hit, to beat; to type (on a keyboard); to knock (on a door). Cognate with
tap, which, however, is not normally translated as taper, but tapoter (“to lightly
strike”), in French. This word is a false friend of English taper (“to become smaller
toward one end”) or tape. Examples, taper une lettre (“to type a letter”), taper des
mains (“to clap hands”), taper du pied (“to stomp one’s foot”).

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plaindre (reflexive) to complain; to feel sorry for, to pity. plainte complaint.
Cognate with the root of complain. English prefix com- in complain and complaint
is an intensifier and does not mean “together”. Examples, il se plaint du bruit au
voisin (“he complains about the noise to the neighbor”); porter plainte (“to file a
complaint”; porter may be literally translated as “to bring” i.e. “to submit”).

comte count (nobility) (cognate). Although count and earl are different noble
statuses in English, there is only comte in French because earl is English specific
and may be translated as comte. Not to be confused with comet (which would be
comète in French), nor with the more common French word compte (“account”;
“counting”), which is a homophone.

paysan peasant (cognate), farmer. paysage landscape, scenery. In English,

sometimes the word country when preceded by the means “countryside”, or when
used as an attributive noun as in country music. See also pays (“country”; “land”).

maigre thin, skinny, lean, meager (cognate). But note the more common meaning
of English meager is “insufficient”, referring to things, instead of “skinny”,
referring to a human’s flesh. Not to be confused with malgré (“in spite of”).
Examples, maigre comme un clou (“very thin”, literally “thin like a nail”); période
de vaches maigres (“lean period”, “time of insufficiency”, literally “period of lean
cows”; in the Bible, Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream in which lean cows ate
fat cows as famine following years of plenty).

balancer to swing (back and forth), to rock, to oscillate; (informal) to throw, to

throw away. balance scale (for weighing); balance (in physics, economics, etc.).
The primary meaning of balancer is “to swing”, not “to balance” (équilibrer in
French) except in certain contexts. Consider them false friends. Nevertheless, it’s
easy to infer “to swing” from the two swinging ends of a balance scale before they
come to a stop. Examples, je me balance sur la chaise (“I rock on the chair”); je
vais balancer / jeter les vieilles chaussures (“I’m going to throw away the old
shoes”).

saluer to greet, to say “Hello”; to salute (cognate). Note the first meaning is more
common. Examples, je l’ai salué (“I said Hi to him”; “I waved at him”; both
meanings are possible); je l’ai salué de la main (“I waved at him”).

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gentil nice, kind, friendly, gentle. Note that “gentle” is not the most common
translation of this word, and that this word is pronounced /ʒɑ̃ti/ (letter l is silent)
and its feminine gentille /ʒɑ̃tij/. Example, tu es si gentil(le) (“you’re so kind /
nice”).

prétendre to claim, to allege, to maintain, to say; to claim (right). prétention

claim (n.). Note prétendre does not mean “to pretend” in its modern sense (which
would be faire semblant in French). Consider them false friends in spite of
cognation. The word literally means “to stretch or strive forward”. If one steps
forward, he intends to make a claim or to claim his right. Example, il prétend que
ce n’est pas (de) sa faute (“he claims it’s not his fault”; de makes it more formal).

habiller to dress. déshabiller to undress. Cognate with habiliment (“clothing”),

habit (in the sense of “clothing of a monk or nun”), habile (“able”, formerly
“suitable”). Alternatively, use a mnemonic which is not completely deprived of
etymology, “he habitually dresses himself like that”. Examples, il habille l’enfant
(“he dresses the child”); il s’habille (“he’s getting dressed”; note reflexive pronoun
se for himself); habille-toi vite! (“get dressed quickly!”). See also habit
(“clothing”).

ouvrier worker, operator (cognate). ouvrage work (n.). From Latin operarius,
where p changed to French v and o to ou. Not to be confused with ouvrir (“to
open”). If there’s no context, one trick to help remember the difference is that -er,
but not -ir, can be used as the suffix for a person in English; but note the feminine
of ouvrier is ouvrière. Example, la classe ouvrière (“the working class”; ouvrière
here is an adjective).

fier proud; (reflexive) to trust. fierté pride. fièrement proudly. The two senses of
fier are actually from two separate words. In the first sense, it’s from Latin ferus
(“wild”, cognate with fierce), from which the sense “bold” or “daring” may have
developed, and then to “proud”. The abstract noun suffix -té corresponds to
English -ty. In the second sense, it’s cognate with faith, fiancé, with the root of
confide. Examples, je suis fier de toi (“I’m proud of you”); peut-on se fier à la
bible? (“can we trust the Bible?”; note reflexive pronoun se). See also confiance
(“trust”).

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lune moon. Cognate with lunatic. People used to believe insanity was associated
with the phases of the moon. If you like classical music, you may have listened to
Debussy’s Clair de Lune, literally “clarity of (the) moon” but commonly translated
as “moonlight”. Example, pleine lune (“full moon”; note pleine in front); lune de
miel (“honeymoon”; miel means “honey”).

désigner to designate (cognate), to appoint; to indicate, to point out. Note that this
word does not mean “to design”, which in French would be dessiner (“to draw”,
“to design”), dessein (“intention”, “plan”, “design”), conception.

banc bench. Cognate with bench if traced to Proto-Germanic. Note the ending c is
silent, just like other words ending with -anc e.g. blanc, franc (and many with -onc,
e.g. tronc). This word does not “bank” in the sense of “financial institution”, which
would be banque in French. Example, il est assis sur le banc (“he sits on the
bench”).

sauvage wild, savage (cognate). Not to be confused with sauvetage (“saving”,

“salvage”), which is cognate with salvage. These two groups of words (sauvage
and savage vs. sauvetage and salvage) have different sources and are completely
unrelated. To avoid confusion, one possible fact may help: sauvage occurred much
earlier in textual history than sauvetage, the latter with t artificially intercalated
(inserted) just to differentiate (dissimilate) with the former, an already existing
word, and note that humans probably realized the savageness of nature earlier than
any saving or salvage activity. True or not, use that as a mnemonic. Examples,
animaux / baies sauvages (“wild animals / berries”); les sauvages sont cannibales
(“the savage people are cannibals”).

semblable similar (cognate), like; something similar. semblant seeming. Also

cognate with semblance, with the root of resemble. The word semblant is almost
always used in faire semblant de faire (“to pretend to do”), e.g. il fait semblant de
ne pas voir (“he pretends to not see”, literally “he makes seeming to not see”).

allure appearance, look; speed. From aller (“to go”) + -ure (suffix to change a
verb to a noun). Originally the word meant “gait” or “way of walking” and it can
still mean that although it more commonly refers to “appearance” in general. The
sense of “speed” is also related to “to go”. Note this word is absolutely unrelated to
English allure, which may be translated as séduire (“to seduce”), attire (“to

96
attract”). If you use English allure as a mnemonic for “appearance”, remember to
drop the vicious connotation, unless the context clearly suggests so. Examples, il a
belle allure / il a de l’allure (“he looks good”); à toute allure (“at top speed”).

mine mine (place where ores are excavated), mine (hidden explosive device);
pencil lead; appearance, face, (facial) expression. The second sense, “pencil lead”,
is derived from the first. But the third, “appearance”, is of a different word that
happens to be spelled the same. Several origins of it are proposed and none is
helpful to us. But English mien (“appearance”, “facial expression”) was influenced
by it. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “a mime actor has an interesting face”.
Examples, une mine de charbon (“a coal mine”); un démineur désactive une mine
(“a minesweeper deactivates a mine”); avoir bonne / mauvaise mine (to look well /
not well”, literally “to have a good / bad face”); mine de rien (“you may not
notice”, “contrary to what you may think”, or “as if nothing had happened”,
“casually”, but literally “appearance of nothing”).

parfum perfume; flavor (of ice cream, etc.). Note the second meaning, which is
not in English perfume. Isn’t this evidence that the French people are more likely
subject to synesthesia, a perception in which one sensory pathway leads to another?

égard consideration, regard. The root -gard is cognate with the root of regard.
This word is mostly used in phrases shown in the Examples. Not to be confused
with écart (“gap”, “difference”). Examples, à l’égard de (“with regard to”,
“toward”); à cet égard (“in this repect”)

normal normal; normal (related to a teaching school). normalement normally; as

planned, if everything goes well, in theory ... should, unless something happens.
An English-speaking person understands a normal school as a teacher’s school or
college, but the word normal in this sense is much more common in French (as in
école normale). Also note the second meaning of French normalement, which is
common and does not exist in English; think of it as “according to the norm or
what makes good sense”. Examples, ce n’est pas normal (“that’s not right”);
normalement, il doit être à Paris maintenant (“if everything goes well, he should
be in Paris now”).

magasin shop, store; magazine (firearm ammunition cartridge). The original

meaning in its Arabic origin means “storehouse”, a sense taken by Romance

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languages. The sense of “magazine” in English was developed probably because a
printed list of store items was published, or because, figuratively, the publication
contained a “storehouse” of information, according to etymonline.com. If that
stretches your memory too far, think of a firearm magazine as a storage place. Not
to be confused with magazine (“magazine”, periodical publication). Examples, un
grand magasin (“a department store”); faire les magasins (“to go shopping”, faire
les courses).

soupirer to sigh. soupir sign (n.). Cognate with suspire (“to breathe”; “to sigh”).
The root is cognate with spirit (originally related to “breath of a god”), with the
root of aspire (originally “to breathe onto”), conspire (originally “to breathe
together”), inspire (“to breathe in”), etc. Consider the prefix sou- (cognate with
sub-) as meaning “small or weak” (breathing). These words are unrelated to
English superior or soup. Example, j’ai soupiré de soulagement en entendant la
bonne nouvelle (“I sighed with relief when I heard the good news”).

avaler to swallow, to gulp. English avalanche is from French avalanche, which is

related according to one theory. From à (“toward”) + val (“valley”) + -er (verb
suffix), literally “(to go) toward the valley”. Either an avalanche or water gushing
downstream toward a valley has the sense of “taking a lot of water (or something
alike)”.

avis opinion. Cognate with advice. The root is cognate with vision. In spite of
cognation, this word does not really mean “advice”, which would be conseil in
French. Note that avis is both singular and plural; the form *avi does not exist.
Alternatively, you may use a mnemonic to help memorize the word, as in “Avis
Car Rental always asks for your opinion after you use their service.” Examples, à
mon (humble) avis (“in my (humble) opinion”); il a changé d’avis (“he changed his
mind”).

membre member; limb. Note the second meaning. English has dismember; it now
ends with -er not -re.

franchir to cross, to pass, to get over. Cognate with franchise. From Latin franc
(“free”), hence French franc (“free”; “frank”), cognate with frank. When the
Franks invaded modern-day France in the 5th century, the local people Gauls were
enslaved and Franks of course were free. To free implies to clear (space), which

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can be done by going across it, hence French franchir. Granting freedom extends
to granting authorization to conduct business, hence English franchise. But this
semantic connection may be too remote to be helpful. Instead, progressively think
of frank, clearing of conscience, clearing of space, and then crossing of space.
Example, franchir une étape importante (“to take an important step”). See also
franchement (“frankly”).

goutte drop (of liquid); gout (cognate). Cognate with gutter. According to
etymonline.com, the arthritic gout “disease was thought to be caused by drops of
viscous humors seeping from the blood into the joints”. Alternatively, use gutter, a
real cognate rather than a made-up mnemonic, to help you remember the word:
“Water drops from the gutter.” Not be confused with masc. noun goût (“taste”; t is
silent) or goûter (“to taste”). Examples, une goutte d’eau (“a drop of water”);
goutte à goutte (“drop by drop”).

interrompre to interrupt (cognate). rompre to break. Rompre is cognate with the

root of interrupt, erupt, disrupt, etc., and may be easily remembered after
remembering interrompre. Examples, rompre une promesse (“to break a promise”);
Emma a rompu avec son copain (“Emma broke up with her boyfriend”).

lueur glow (n.), glimmer, gleam, flash. Cognate with lucid (“clear”), lucent
(“emitting light”). From Latin lucem (“light”), where -c- gradually softened and
eventually dropped. Suffix -eur is a marker for an abstract noun. Alternatively, use
a mnemonic such as “Some fish have a glowing organ that lures its prey.” See also
luire (“to shine”).

flotter to float (cognate if traced to Proto-Germanic); (flag or window in wind) to

flutter (cognate if traced to Proto-Germanic). Example, une feuille flotte sur l’eau
(“a leaf floats on the water”).

billet ticket; banknote. Cognate with English bull (“document from the Pope”),
billet (“short informal letter”; “civilian place to temporarily lodge soldiers”). From
Latin bulla (“bubble”; “round object”). The sense of “ticket” may be from a seal of
certificate, which is round in shape. Alternatively, use bill as a mnemonic, because
it’s also a piece of paper, except it doesn’t entitle you to anything but instead
represents the opposite, an obligation. Example, un billet de train pour Paris s’il
vous plait / svp (“a train ticket to Paris please”).

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paupière eyelid, palpebra (“eyelid”) (cognate). Cognate with palpitate. Latin al
sometimes changed to au in French. The eyelids move, or close and open, quickly,
as if they palpitate. This word is unrelated to pauper (“poor person”). But as a
mnemonic, you can imagine seeing the eyelids of a pauper on the street.

étaler to spread out, to lay out, to show. étalage display (n.), showcase. Cognate
with stall (“market booth”) if traced to Proto-Germanic. A merchant spreads out
his merchandise at a stall in order to sell it. When you see ét-, think of est- and st-,
one of which usually helps you map the word to an English word. Alternatively,
use a mnemonic such as “we travelled to Italy and we saw lots of small markets
where sellers laid out their products in their booths”.

étude study (n.) (cognate). Change é- to s- to see the cognation; ét- came from st-.
This word has entered English vocabulary alternatively written as etude, meaning
“a musical piece for practice”.

lait milk. Cognate with lactic, lactate. Latin -ct- always changed to French -it- (c
went through g to j to i). The phrase au lait is common in English, e.g. café au lait
(“coffee mixed with milk”, also called, perhaps incorrectly, “white coffee”).

remuer to move (many senses, including “to physically move”, “to stir”, “to
emotionally move”). The root is cognate with mutate, but not move, which
nevertheless sounds like a perfect mnemonic. Note the prefix re- is an intensifier
and does not mean “back” or “repeating”, and this word is not related to remove.
Examples, le vent remue les branches dans les arbres (“the wind is shaking /
moving the tree branches”); remuer vigoureusement avec une spatule (“to stir
vigorously with a spatula”).

marché market (cognate); contract, deal. Examples, aller au marché (“to go to

market”); un marché public (“a public service constract”; “a public market”; which
meaning it takes depending on the context); bon marché (“cheap”, “inexpensive”,
pas cher, literally “good deal” used as an adj.).

mademoiselle miss. From ma (“my”) + demoiselle (“damsel”, “little miss”). This

word, literally “my little lady”, has entered English vocabulary. The second
element of the word is cognate with damsel, dame, with the second element of
madame or madam. The word damsel is commonly used in the phrase damsel in

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distress, a literary theme in which a young woman in a predicament is rescued by a
powerful young man through a heroic act. Suffix -elle for a feminine noun is
diminutive.

allée path (in a park etc.); driveway (leading to the garage); feminine singular of
the past participle of aller (“to go”). Cognate with English alley. In spite of
cognation, this is a false friend of alley, which in French would be ruelle (literally
“little road”).

assister (followed by à) to attend, to be present (at), to witness; to assist, to aid.

assistance attendance, audience; assistance. Note the first meanings, “to attend”
and “attendance”, respectively, which have become obsolete in English. This is to
attend a specific event; to say “to attend school”, say aller à l’école (“to go to
school”) instead. Example, leurs parents ont assisté à leur mariage (“their parents
attended their wedding”).

société society; company (business), entreprise, compagnie. Note the second

meaning. English society can also refer to an organization (as in Society for
Neuroscience), except it’s generally non-profit, and in French it’s often called
association.

couverture cover (n.), coverage (cognate); blanket. Equivalent to couvrir (“to

cover”) + -ture. Unrelated to couver (“to hatch”, “to brood”). Examples, une
couverture du livre (“a book cover”); couverture de l’assurance (“insurance
coverage”).

excuser to excuse, to forgive, to pardon; (reflexive) to apologize. Note the second

usage; it does not mean finding an excuse to avoid a sincere apology. French word
apologie does exist but it means “apology” in the sense of defending a doctrine,
such as a religious one. Examples, excusez-moi de vous déranger (“sorry to bother
you”); il s’est excusé auprès d’elle (“he apologized to her”); je m’excuse d’être en
retard (“I apologize for being late”).

parcourir to go through, to go all over; to browse, to skim. From par- (“through”)

+ courir (“to run”, cognate with courier). English parkour (“a sport of moving
rapidly through an area with obstacles”) is from this French word. Example, il a

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parcouru l’Europe et le monde (“he travelled all over Europe and the world”; note
parcourir is a transitive verb, not followed by a preposition).

gosse (colloquial) child, kid. Cognate with goose. English goose as a noun used
informally means “a silly person”, especially in silly goose as referring to a child.
As a mnemonic, imagine a child as a goose, walking unsteadily. This word can be
either masculine or feminine.

entendu understood, OK, fine. As the past participle of entendre (“to hear”), this
word is very commonly used and serves as a standalone word. To intensify the
meaning, you can say bien entendu (“of course”, “absolutely”).

veste jacket. Although English vest is from this French word, they are false friends.
Une veste is a jacket in general. English vest is gilet in French.

briser to break, casser. Cognate with burst, bust, if traced to Proto-Germanic. But
due to the switch of the second and third letters (metathesis), the etymology may
not be helpful. Luckily, English debris is from French débris, whose root is
cognate with this word. Not to be confused with English breeze, French brise
(“breeze”), which also happens to be a conjugated form of briser. Alternatively,
use break as a mnemonic. Or imagine a breeze blows something brittle such as a
vase down to the floor and it breaks. See also brise.

vache cow. Cognate with vaccine (due to use of cowpox virus against smallpox).
Examples, vache qui rit (“laughing cow”, a type of cheese, literally “cow that
laughs”); vache à lait (“milking cow”).

cave cellar. caverne cave, cavern. Note that French cave is a false friend of
English cave, in spite of their common Latin origin.

net clear, clean; net (“pure”, “remaining after deduction”, as in net weight, net
profit) (cognate). nettoyer to clean, to clear. Cognate with neat, net (as in net
profit, net result). Unrelated to English net as in fishing net. Verb suffix -oyer
implies “to make”, “to cause”, semantically equivalent to English prefix en-.
Examples, une nette différence / amélioration (“a clear / marked difference /
improvement”); refuser net / catégoriquement (“to refuse flatly / categorically”).

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boule ball (in general); bowl (as in various types of bowling games) (cognate).
This word is not cognate with ball, which nevertheless serves as a perfect
mnemonic. While cognate with bowl, it does not refer to a bowl for food, which
would be bol in French. Example, boule de neige (“snowball”).

souci worry (n.), care (n.), concern. soucier to worry; (reflexive) to feel worried.
Cognate with the root of insouciant (“carefree”, “unconcerned”), with solicit
(which used to mean “to disturb”), where sol- corresponds to sou-. If you use
soothe as a mnemonic, you need to remember to reverse its meaning from “to calm”
to “worry”. Not to be confused with sourcil (“eyebrow”). Example, je me soucie de
vous / toi (“I worry about you”, “I care for you”).

soutenir to support; (followed by que) to maintain (that). soutien support (n.).

Cognate with sustain. Examples, quatre colonnes soutiennent le toit (“four
columns support the roof”); cette organisation soutient les familles des victimes
(“this organization supports the victims’ families”); le président soutient que les
libertés civiles doivent être respectées (“the president maintains / asserts that civil
liberties must be respected”).

môme (colloquial) kid. Onomatopoeia imitating an infant’s utterance of first sound.

This word can be of either gender. In spite of the imitative origin, this word is
completely unrelated to English mom (“mother”), which would be maman in
French.

tapis carpet, mat, rug. Cognate with tapestry. This word remains the same form
regardless singular or plural. Examples, le tapis rouge (“the red carpet”); tapis de
bain (“bathmat”); tapis roulant (“conveyor belt”, literally “rolling carpet”).

printemps spring (season). The first element, prin-, is cognate with prime,
meaning “first” and the second, temps, means “time” or “season”. Spring is the
first season of a year. Example, au printemps (“in spring”; note au, not en as in
front of the names of the other three seasons).

remplacer to replace, to change, to substitute. The root is cognate with place.

Prefix em- (the form of en- when in front of b or p) is English in-, as in in place of.
Example, remplacer / changer l’huile de moteur (“to change / replace engine oil”).

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aile wing (of a bird, aircraft, building, etc.). Cognate with aisle (“path through
rows or between shelves”). Alternatively, since the word is pronounced the same
as English letter L, as a mnemonic, imagine the delta wing of a fighter jet as L-
shaped instead.

but aim, goal, target. According to one theory, this word is cognate with butt, with
the root of abut (literally “to touch the end of something”). Imagine a larger end of
something sticking up and serving as a target you aim and shoot at. This word is
not related to English but and they are false friends. Example, il faut avoir un but
dans la vie (“one / we must have a goal in the life”).

sueur sweat (cognate), perspiration. If you must use a mnemonic, think of sweat as
sewage of the human body which must be discharged. Example, je suis en sueur /
je transpire (“I’m sweating”).

révéler to reveal (cognate), to give away. Also cognate with revelation. This word
is easy but note it’s unrelated to English revel (“to take delight in a lively and noisy
way”), nor to French réveil (“alarm clock”) or réveiller (“to wake”).

exiger to demand, to require. Cognate with exigency (“urgent need or demand”).

carré square (adj.; n.). carreau square (n.); tile (on floor or wall, not on roof).
From Latin quadra (“square”), where qu changed to c and dr to rr. Cognate with
the root of square, i.e. -quare. Note that a tile on the roof is tuile (cognate with
English tile). Examples, 10 mètres carrés (“10 square meters”); See also carrefour
(“crossroad”); une forme carrée (“a square shape”); papier à carreaux (“checkered
paper”).

menton chin. From Latin mentum (“chin”), a word still used in anatomy in English.
If traced to Proto-Indo-European (where the word meant “to stand out”, “to
project”), cognate with mandible (“lower jaw”) or even mouth, moutain, with the
root of prominent, eminent. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “men’s voice
has a lower tone because men have bigger chins”. Or imagine people with mental
problems have an odd-looking chin.

étouffer to choke, to suffocate. The root is cognate with typhus, a disease which
causes fever and reduced consciousness. Imagine the state of mind when choked.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “She ate tofu and got choked”. Treat it as a

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mnemonic only since tofu is soft, and choking, if it happens at all, won’t last. Or
use stuff as a mnemonic as if é changed to s (by way of es which later lost e).
Example, il s’est étouffé en mangeant (“he choked while eating”; note se when said
of oneself).

manche sleeve (fem. n.); handle (of a tool, etc.) (masc. n.). Cognate with manual,
with the first element of manicure, mani- meaning “hand”. Doublet with main
(“hand”). Literally “something to cover the hand”, or “something held by the
hand”. From Latin manica or manicum, depending on which sense this word takes
(“sleeve”, “handle”, respectively); both -ca and -cum readily changed to French -
che. To remember which gender takes which meaning, as a mnemonic, imagine a
woman cares more about clothing (which has sleeves) while a man enjoys working
with a tool (which has a handle). Examples, une chemise à manches courtes (“a
short-sleeved shirt”); la Manche (“the English Channel”, due to its shape of a
sleeve; “Manche Department”, an administrative division in northwest France);
outre-Manche (“across the Channel”, “in the UK”); une pelle à long manche (“a
long-handled shovel”; note masc. long, not fem. longue). See also poignée for
more about “handle”.

crâne skull, cranium (cognate). This word is a false friend of crane (which would
be grue in French, in both senses, of the bird or the machine). Example, avoir mal
au crâne (“to have a headache”, informal, the same as avoir mal à la tête).

épouser to marry. Cognate with spouse. Change é- to s- to see the cognation.

gars guy, guys. The same form is for both singular and plural. This word,
pronounced /gɑ/ or /ga/, is related to garçon (“boy”; “waiter”), which has entered
English vocabulary meaning “waiter”. Note this word is not related to English guy,
which nevertheless may be used as a mnemonic because they sound alike.

ennuyer to bore, (reflexive) to be bored; to annoy, to bother. ennui boredom,

listlessness; (preceded by avoir) trouble, problem. The etymology is known but
unhelpful to us. Use annoy as a mnemonic for its similar pronunciation. Ennui has
entered English vocabulary especially as a literary word (and the second syllable
consonant changes to /w/). Examples, son discours m’ennuie (“his speech is boring
to me”, literally “his speech bores me”); on s’ennuie ici (“it’s boring / we’re bored

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here”; note the reflexive se); il a beaucoup d’ennuis (“he is getting into / has a lot
of problems / troubles”).

sort fate, destiny, lot. Cognate with sorcery, sort (originally “what is allotted to
one by fate”, an obsolete sense in this English word). Not to be confused with
French sortir (“to exit”, whose third-person singular form is sort), sortie (“exit”).
This is a false friend of English sort (which would be genre or type in French).
Example, tirer au sort (“to draw lots”, “to randomly choose”).

expérience experience (cognate); experiment. Note this word also has the meaning
of “experiment”. In fact, English experiment, experience and French expérience
can all be traced to the same Latin word experior (“to experience”). Latin -mentum
and so English and French -ment denote an instrument or medium. Example, faire
une expérience de chimie (“to do a chemistry experiment”).

palais palace (cognate); palate (roof of the mouth); courthouse, palais de justice.
Note the second and third meanings. French palace does exist but it means “luxury
hotel”, not “palace”.

rang row; rank (cognate). rangée row. In addition to rank, you may also use rung
(“a horizontal support on a ladder”) as a mnemonic. The two words are almost
synonymous but each is used more frequently in its set phrases. Examples, au
cinquième rang (“in the fifth row”; note preposition à, not dans); formez les rangs!
/ mettez-vous en rang! (“line up!”); une rangée de maisons / d’arbres (“a row of
houses / trees”; when speaking of a row of things but not a specific row, it’s better
to use rangée).

dégager to disengage, to free, to clear. The root is the same as that of disengage,
engage. Change é- to es- as usual or in general, but is- specifically here, to see the
cognation. Example, dégager l’homme du tas de pierres (“to free the man from the
pile of rocks”).

humeur humor, mood. This word is easy but note that English humor primarily
refers to something funny (comique or drôlerie in French), while French humeur
only means “mood” (especially “bad mood”), a sense somewhat outdated or
literary in English. Example, être de bonne / mauvaise humeur (“to be in good /

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bad mood”); le mouvement d’humeur (“fit of temper”); je ne suis pas d’humeur à
faire ça (“I’m not in the mood to do that”).

aveugle blind; blind person (of either gender). The av- part is from ab-
(“removing”) and -eugle is from Latin oculus (“eye”), from which derives English
ocular (“of eyes”). If you can’t associate the second part with “eye”, as a
mnemonic, think of eagle for the bird’s sharp eyes, or ogle for improper or
unwanted staring. But you still need to convert av- to ab- for the semantic negation.

siège seat; head office, headquarters; siege (cognate). Example, le siège avant /
arrière dans la voiture (“the front / back seat in the car”; note siège is masc.).

élève schoolchild, pupil; conjugated form of élever. Cognate with elevate. This
word can be of any gender. A pupil is a person that is brought up or “elevated” in
education. Not to be confused with élevé (“high”). See also élevé.

aube dawn, sunrise. Cognate with albino (“white”, as the skin color of the people
suffering from lack of pigment), album (“blank i.e. white writing tablet”). The
early morning sky may appear as white to some people. The opposite is crépuscule
(“dusk”). Example, à l’aube (“at dawn”).

envahir to invade (cognate). From Latin invadere. Latin medial d often disappears
in French. Letter h is intercalated to separate the sounds. Example, le 1er septembre
1939, l'Allemagne envahit la Pologne (“On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded
Poland”).

constater to note, to notice; to ascertain, to record. The root is cognate with state
(“to declare in words”). Prefix con- (which is from Latin cum “together”) may be
considered an intensifier; according to F.E.J. Valpy, “Cum in composition
increases the force of the simple verb... If one thing is put (cum) with another, that
other thing is increased.” This word is completely unrelated to English constant.

figurer to appear, to be included (in a list); (reflexive) to imagine. Cognate with

figure. A form or figure becomes visible or appears.

meuble furniture. meubler to furnish. Cognate with mobile. A piece of furniture is

moveable or mobile. Note meuble is a countable noun. Examples, un meuble (“a
piece of furniture”; you can’t omit piece in English); des meubles (“(multiple

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pieces of / some) furniture”); une chambre meublée (“a furnished room”). See also
immeuble (“building”).

abri shelter. abriter to shelter. Unhelpful and debatable etymology. Use umbrella
as a mnemonic and pronounce the third syllable lightly. Or “When the tornado
came, we sought shelter under a bridge.” Example, se mettre à l’abri (“to take
shelter”); à l’abri de (“sheltered from”; “safe from”); sans abri (“homeless”,
lterally “without shelter”).

assiette dish (of food), plat; dish (tableware). This word has entered English
vocabulary meaning “hors d’oeuvres or cold cuts served on one plate”. Doublet
with asseoir (“to sit”). Remotely cognate with sit, seat. A dish or plate of food is
placed at where the guest sits, according to A. Brachet, an etymologist. Examples,
c’est une bonne assiette / un bon plat (“this is a good dish”); puis-je avoir une
autre assiette? (“can I have another plate?”). See also asseoir.

chaussure shoe. From Latin calx (“heel”) plus a noun suffix. Cognate with calque
(“word-for-word translation of a compound word or a phrase”). A calque is formed
by “tracing” each component of the full word or phrase in translation (e.g., French
gratte-ciel “scrapes-sky” and English skyscraper), where the sense of “tracing” is
developed from the literal foot tracing. Unfortunately, this etymology may not help
because calque is not a common word to most people and it doesn’t sound like
chaussure anyway. If you know Geoffrey Chaucer, the Father of English literature
and the author of The Canterbury Tales, use “Chaucer’s shoe” as a mnemonic. Or
consider that a chaser, a person that chases, needs good shoes. See also chaussette
(“sock”).

fournir to provide, to furnish (cognate).

récit story, narrative, story-telling, account. Although English recital does have the
same meaning as this French word, it more commonly means “music performance”
or “enumeration of related things” and is generally more formal. Consider them
false friends. Example, il nous a fait le récit de son voyage (“he told us about his
travel”).

rayon ray (cognate), beam of light; shelf; section of a department store. The last
two senses are of a different word that happens to be spelled the same and its

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etymology is unhelpful. But as a mnemonic, imagine that the long shelves in a big
supermarket are like light rays, or that Mr. Ryan is the store’s manager, or imagine
crayons on a shelf. Examples, rayon X (“X-ray”, said of the radiation as studied in
physics); rayon des fruits de mer du supermarché (“supermarket seafood section /
shelves / aisle”; “aisle” is obviously not a literal translation).

fusil rifle; fusil (a light flintlock musket) (cognate). fusiller to shoot (especially
with a rifle). Also cognate with focus, from Latin focus (“fireplace”), where cu
changed to ci then si. But it may not be easy to think of that etymology. Use a
mnemonic such as “Firing a rifle is like lighting a fuse”, or “Terrorists shoot
people in the fuselage of the airplane”. Note the letter l in this word is silent.

sourd deaf; deaf person. Cognate with surd (“voiceless consonant”; “irrational
number in math”, literally “deaf to reason”), which forms the root of absurd. Try
associating deafness with absurdity; if you’re deaf, you may be out of reason.
Example, faire la sourde oreille (“to turn a deaf ear”; in a figurative phrase, adj.
tends to go before n.).

colline hill. Cognate with hill if traced to Proto-Indo-European. But that hardly
helps due to initial consonant change. Use a mnemonic such as “Cauliflowers grow
on the hill.”, or “a hill of coal”, or associate a person whose name is Colin (e.g.
Colin Powell, or your friend or coworker) with a hill.

attraper to catch. rattraper to catch up with, to make up for. The root is cognate
with trap. Imagine catching an animal with a trap. But attraper can also be used in
an unwanted catching, e.g., “to catch cold” (attraper froid). Prefix re- in rattraper
can be interpreted as “again”, as catching up with someone is like catching up with
him again while they were probably together earlier. The sense “to make up for”
(as in rattraper le temps perdu, “to make up for the time lost”) is derived.

éveiller to awake; to arouse. éveil awakening; arousal, creation (of a feeling).

These two words have lower frequencies than réveiller and réveil, respectively,
and are often used figuratively or poetically. Example, l’éveil de la classe ouvrière
(“awakening of the working class”).

puissance power (cognate). puissant powerful, strong. impuissant powerless,

helpless, impotent. From verb pouvoir (“to be able to”, “can”, cognate with power),

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whose archaic first person singular form is puis, which nowadays is only used in
starting a formal question sentence, puis-je, “may I”. These words have entered
English vocabulary. Example, un moteur de forte puissance (“a high-power
engine”).

vieillard old man. From vieil (“old”, a form of vieux) + -ard (suffix indicating a
person, as that in drunkard). See also vieux (“old”).

tort fault, wrong (n.). Cognate with torque, torsion (“twisting”), with the root of
contort, distort. Literally “twist” (n.). Something twisted is likened to something
wrong. Examples, tu as tort (de faire ça) (“you are wrong (to do that)”; note verb
avoir, not être, because tort is a noun); à tort ou à raison (“right or wrong”; note
the different word order; in most languages, the right is said before the wrong).

radio radio; X-ray (as in medical diagnosis), radiography. This word is feminine,
in spite of -o ending. Note the second meaning, where it’s an abbreviation for
radiographie; it refers to an X-ray exam in a hospital or at a medical imaging
center. Say rayon X if you refer to the X-ray as studied by physicists. Examples, il
a entendu la nouvelle à la radio (“he heard the news on the radio”); passer / faire
une radio / radiographie (“to take an X-ray”; as in many cases, if you don’t
remember the verb, just say faire).

essuyer to wipe. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “I wipe clean
my notepad to write an essay.” or “He sweeps.” Not to be confused with essayer
(“to try”). Examples, essuie-glace (“windshield wiper”); essuie-tout (“paper towel”,
literally “wipe-all” because paper towel is multi-purpose).

gras fat (adj.; n.). Cognate with grease. The carnival Mardi Gras, which literally
means “Fat Tuesday”, encourage people to eat fatty food to prepare for the
upcoming fasting during Lenten. Note French gras is a false friend of English
grass. Examples, matière grasse (“fat”, literally “fat matter”, said of the food
nutrient); foie gras (“fat liver”; a specialty food made of a duck or goose’s liver);
une peau grasse (“oily skin”). See also graisse (“fat”).

marchand merchant (cognate), seller, dealer. Unrelated to English march or

French marcher (“to walk”), whose present participle marchant is pronounced the
same.

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détourner to hijack; to divert. English detour is from French détour, which is from
this word. Note that the core meaning of this word is “to divert”, “to turn aside /
away”. When said of an airplane, it may or may not be about hijacking although
that sense is quite common. Examples, l’avion a été détourné (“the plane was
hijacked / diverted”; which sense is correct depends on the context); détourner son
attention / les yeux (“to divert his attention / to look away”).

recherche research (n.) (cognate). rechercher to search, to try hard or persistently

looking for. From re- (intensifier) + chercher (“to search”). The intensifier prefix,
not related to re- meaning “again” or “repeatedly”, turns the verb into a more
serious action. Although rechercher can be interpreted as “to research”, it may be
more common to use the noun in a phrase such as faire des recherches (literally “to
do some research”). Example, je suis à la recherche d’un emploi / je (re)cherche
un emploi (“I’m looking for a job”). See also chercher.

accueillir to welcome, to host, to receive, to greet. accueil reception; homepage of

a website. The root is cognate with collect. It may be easier to use accommodate as
a mnemonic. Examples, la page d’accueil du web (“the website homepage”,
literally “welcome page”); Centres d’accueil et d’orientation (“The Reception and
Orientation Center”, a French government program for asylum seekers). See also
recueillir (“to collect”).

rapprocher to bring together or closer. It may be better to consider the prefix re-
an action intensifier. If you interpret it as “again”, think of repeated actions of
approaching. Or think of it as “to make or enable” or faire, as in case of rappeler
(“to recall”, “to remind”). Examples, je rapproche la chaise de la table (“I move
the chair closer to the table”; note preposition de for this verb); les diplomates ont
tenté de rapprocher les deux pays (“the diplomats tried to bring the two countries
together”).

plateau plateau, flat area; tray (flat surface container). Note the second meaning,
as in un plateau repas (“a food tray”, literally “a meal tray”).

lecture reading. lecteur reader (person reading a book); reader (teacher at a British
university). Cognate with lecture, lector. Note that French lecture is a false friend
of English lecture, which would be conférence in French (which does have the
sense of “conference” in addition to “lecture” or “talk”). But the senses “reading”

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and “lecture” are indeed connected; you read aloud at a lecture in front of the
audience, although French lecture does not imply “aloud” at all. Examples, faire de
la lecture (“to do some reading”); See also conférence.

remercier to thank. Prefix re- has no meaning or is an intensifier, combined with

suffix -er to turn merci (“thanks”; “mercy”) into a verb. Example, remercier Jean
pour l’aide / de nous avoir aidé (“to thank Jean for the help / for having helped
us”); note the prepositions, pour + n. vs. de + v.).

poisson fish. Cognate with Pisces (zodiac sign for the Fish). From Latin pisces,
where i changed to oi in French. This is a false friend of English poison (which
would still be poison in French, with one s, pronounced differently from ss), which
nevertheless can be used in a mnemonic such as “a poisonous fish”. Examples,
poisson rouge (“gold fish”, literally “red fish”); poisson d’avril (“April fool”; on
this day people pin a paper fish on someone’s back as a joke).

interdire to forbid, to prohibit, to interdict (cognate). Examples, entrée interdite

(“no entry”); il est interdit de fumer dans les chambres (“smoking is prohibited in
the rooms”).

jadis formerly, a long time ago, once. The ja- element means “already” as in the
second element of déjà (“already”, which is often seen in déjà vu in English). The -
dis element means “day” (but English day is not a cognate). Think of “time or day
already passed”. Note that the final s is pronounced /s/, not silent.

régler to adjust, to settle, to regulate (cognate), to sort out (a problem); to pay (a

bill etc.), payer. Examples, régler / ajuster la hauteur (“to adjust the height”);
régler un procès (“to settle a lawsuit”).

efforcer (reflexive, followed by de) to strive (to), to make an effort (to). Cognate
with effort. The root is cognate with force. Example, le pilote s’est efforcé de
redémarrer le moteur (“the pilot tried hard to restart the engine”; note se; may be
literally understood as “... forced himself to ...”).

canon canon (cognate); cannon (cognate), big gun, barrel of firearm. This word
looks easy but note that it can also mean “cannon”. In the first sense “canon”, the
Latin source is simply canon. In the second sense “cannon”, the Latin source gave
rise to not only French canon, English cannon (through Old French), but also

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English cane, French canne (“cane”); the barrel of a cannon was likened to a cane.
The form cannon is not a French word. Examples, boulet de canon (“cannonball”);
chair à canon (“cannon fodder”, literally “cannon flesh”).

coude elbow. Cognate with cubit (“measurement of length”, “length of elbow”,

used in ancient times). Even if you know this word, this cognation doesn’t help
much. Use a mnemonic such as “The elbow forms a curve.” or “The two lovers
cuddle together, elbows on each other’s shoulder.”

aise, aisance ease (cognate). Examples, être à l’aise (“to be at ease”, “to be
comfortable”); une famille aisée (“a wealthy family”, “a family with a comfortable
life / no need to worry about anything”).

verser to pour; to pay, to transfer (money). Cognate with the root of reverse, revert,
inverse, invert, i.e. -vert or -verse, which means “to turn”. If you turn a container
with water in it, you pour the water out. You turn a coin jar upside down to pour
money out for payment. Example, le serveur m’a versé une tasse de jus (“the
waiter poured a cup of juice for me”).

maîtresse mistress (the other woman in an extramarital relationship); elementary

school teacher (female); owner of house (female). This is the feminine form of
maître (cognate with master). In the sense of “teacher” (which is not as common as
the first sense, “mistress”), it’s synonymous with institutrice. Not to be confused
with maîtrise (“mastery”, “control”) in spite of the same origin.

arrêt stop (n.); arrest (n.) (cognate). Note the primary meaning is “stop” including
“stopping” and “place to stop” (but stop in non-stop train / flight uses a different
word, escale, cognate with scale). Examples, un arrêt de bus (“a bus stop”); l’arrêt
est interdit dans cette rue (“stopping on this street is prohibited”).

succès success. Note that the plural of this word is also succès, while English
success can have its plural successes.

subir to undergo, to suffer, to sustain or endure. From sub- (“under”) + ire (“to go”
in Latin), so literally “undergo”. While Latin ire (“to go”) may not sound familiar
unless you know a little Spanish, it’s actually doublet with French aller, and is the
root of English transit (from trans- + Latin ire). (If you know Spanish, note the
meaning of this French word is very different from that in Spanish.) Note that the

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second syllable in many conjugated forms of subir ends with s in spelling, e.g. je
subis, etc. Also, subir is always a transitive verb, unlike English suffer, which may
be followed by from. Examples, ils subissent les conséquences de cet accident
(“they suffer from the consequences of this accident”); il a subi l’opération (“he
went through / underwent an operation / surgery”).

boue mud, dirt. boueux muddy. Possibly cognate with the root of imbrue (“to
stain”, unrelated to imbue), -brue, which went through metathesis transposing u
and r. Or use a mnemonic such as “a boorish farmer with mud and dirt all over his
pants”. (English boorish means “rough in manners”.) Or imagine someone says
“Boo!” and throws mud at whoever he says Boo to. Examples, garde-boue
(“mudguard”); bain de boue (“mud bath”).

fameux famous, notorious; very good, first-rate. While English famous is

exclusively used on something good, fameux can refer to something bad, and in
some cases simply means “good” or “great”. Examples, le fameux Prix Nobel (“the
famous Nobel Prize”); c’est / ce n’est pas un plat fameux (“this is an excellent /
this is not a very good dish”).

déchirer to tear, to tear up, to tear off, to rip up. déchirant heartbreaking,
agonizing. déchirure tear (n.). The root -chir- is cognate with shear. Prefix dé-
means “off”. Suffix -ant forms present participle, like English -ing. The word
déchirure somewhat resembles but is not related to chirurgie (“surgery”); the two
words nevertheless can be used as mnemonics for each other if you think surgery
tears off flesh. Examples, déchirer du papier / une page (“to tear paper / to tear out
a page”); il a déchiré sa veste (“he tore his jacket”; veste does not mean “vest”); un
déchirement familial (“a family breakup / rift”).

héros hero. Note that both the singular and the plural forms end with s (silent in
French). It’s interesting that although this word in all Romance languages derived
from Latin heros, only French inherited the trailing s. The feminine form, héroïne,
means “heroine” but also means “heroin”, as in most other Romance languages.

santé health. Cognate with sanity. Examples, être en bonne / mauvaise santé (“to
be in good / bad health”); santé! / à votre santé! / à la vôtre! (“cheers!”; just say
santé! to ignore minor differences among the various forms). See also sain
(“healthy”).

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couteau knife. Cognate with colter or coulter (“knife or cutter attached to the
beam of a plow”, a word obscure to modern-day city dwellers), cutlass (a type of
sword). Use a mnemonic such as “a cute little knife”, or imagine u in cutter is
pronounced like oo. Example, couteau de cuisine / de chasse / à pain (“kitchen /
hunting / bread knife”).

haine hatred. haïr to hate, détester. Cognate with hate if traced to Proto-Germanic.
Suffix -ine of haine forms a feminine noun (just like English -ine as in heroine).
Vowel ï of haïr with a diacritic mark is pronounced by itself, not together with its
preceding vowel a. If we use the rule that a vowel with a diacritic mark signifies a
missing consonant (e.g. é can often be replaced with es-), the consonant here need
be added back before, not after, ï. Try different consonant letters and you find that t
makes the substituted word sound like hate (although etymologically, this word in
Old French was hadir, not hatir). Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “I hate
my hair.” Example, je te hais (“I hate you”; note that hais is one syllable because
in this conjugation it’s ai not aï, and that at least in France, you don’t say je t’hais).

détruire to destroy (cognate). Modern French dé- derives from Old French des-.

défense defense; prohibition, no (smoking etc.). English defense is from this

French word. Note the second meaning, which is missing in English defense. In the
sense of “thesis / dissertation defense”, use the word soutenance. Examples,
défense de fumer (“no smoking”; you may think of “defense from other people’s
smoking”, absolutely not “defending right to smoking”);

mentir to lie, to tell a lie. mensonge lie (n.), falsehood. menteur liar. Cognate
with mind, mania if traced to Proto-Indo-European. The meaning of “to lie” exists
in all major Romance languages but not in Germanic languages. Think of a
“creative” or “inventive” mind that goes too far. That’s how a lie may come about.
The word mensonge defies a good explanation of its morphological change from
the Latin source; surperficially, ti appears to have changed to s. But it’s also
possible songer (“to dream”) influenced the formation of this second syllable, and
a dream is obviously not true. False friends alert: menteur is not English mentor
and mensonge is not message (still spelled mentor and message, respectively, in
French). Also note the irregular conjugation of mentir. Examples, je mens / tu mens

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/ il ment (“I’m / you’re / he’s lying”); j’ai / il as / tu a menti (“I / he / you lied”).
See also songer.

curé parish priest. Cognate with curate (“assistant to parish priest”), curator
(“person who manages a museum”), cure. A priest’s job is to cure people’s souls.
In spite of cognation, this word does not mean “cure” (which would be guérir). In
comparison, curé is more specific (only for a parish) while prêtre (“priest”) is
more general.

mode fashion (fem. n.); method, means, mode (masc. n.). Note the different
genders and meanings, which are easy to remember with this as a hint: women like
fashion. Examples, à la mode / passé de mode (“in fashion / out of fashion”); mode
d’emploi (“user manual”, literally “method of use”).

génie genius; genie (a spirit in Arabian folklore). Note the first meaning, in which
the word has an adjective génial (“of genius”, “ingenious”, but not “genial” or
“friendly”). See also génial.

soie silk. Cognate with seta (“rough hairs”, a biological term derived from the
Latin word for bristle). The etymology may sound strange because silk is fine,
delicate, weaving material. But in medieval times, silk is imported as strings. This
word is not from sī, the Chinese word for silk, which originated in China.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “Ladies wear silk dresses at a soirée (formal
evening party).” Or use moiré as a mnemonic since it’s easy to form a moiré
pattern on silk. Examples, papier de soie (“silk paper”, “wrapping tissue”; this is
not tissue paper for personal hygiene); route de la soie (“Silk Road”).

grimper to climb. Cognate with grip. Letter m was inserted probably under the
influence of another word with a similar sense, ramper (“to crawl”). In order to
climb, one needs to grip something. Examples (the former of the pair is more
common), grimper à / dans un arbre (“to climb a tree”); grimper l’échelle / à
l’échelle (“to climb a ladder”).

guetter to watch, to watch out for; to loom over, to appear in a threatening way to.
Cognate with guard and watch if traced to Proto-Indo-European; when Old French
inherited from Frankish, w- changed to g-. (Think of the first letter in guarantee
and warranty, guard and ward.) If guard does not help, use a mnemonic such as

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“Watch out for a big sale and get it as soon as it’s available.” or “The owner of the
out-of-the-way restaurant watches for a guest to come in.” Examples, le chat guette
la souris (“the cat is watching out for the mouse”; you can use get as a mnemonic
in this example); la pénurie de vaccins guette les vingt-sept (“vaccine shortage
looms large over / threatens the twenty-seven (countries of the EU)”).

dissimuler to hide, to conceal, to dissimulate (cognate), to disguise. This word is

much more frequent than English dissimulate (“to practice deception by
concealment”) and is not a simple action of hiding (cacher). Prefix dis- is an
intensifer (not, as usual, to negate) so the word literally means “to make a big
effort to make look alike”.

nuque nape, back of neck. Etymology hardly helps unless you know the
anatomical term nucha (“nape”). Use neck as a mnemonic.

cadeau gift, present. One theory traces its origin to Latin catena, from which the
root of English concatenate (“to connect”) is derived. Originally the word referred
to the ornamentation or flourish in old-style calligraphy. As a mnemonic, think of
giving cattle as a huge gift (which is possible in ancient times). Or imagine two
lovers that exchange gifts and then cuddle each other. Or think of gâteau (“cake”)
as a gift but in doing so do not get confused with that word. Example, il m’a fait
(un) cadeau (“he gave me a gift”; faire (un) cadeau means “to give a gift”).

vierge virgin (cognate). Completely unrelated to English verge (“edge”), which

would be bord, bordure in French. Be careful not to pronounce or write this word
by mistake as verge. Examples, la Vierge Marie (“Virgin Mary”); l’huile d’olive
extra vierge (“extra-virgin olive oil”; vierge or virgin simply means pure and
unrefined).

abattre to bring down, to tear down, to shoot down, to demolish, to kill (a person),
to slaughter (an animal). Cognate with abate (“to become less intense”). The root
is cognate with batter, battery (in the sense of “beating”), with the root of combat,
debate. This word literally means “to beat”, “to strike” without the sense of
“down”, which, as a mnemonic only, you may associate with bas (“low”).
Example, un homme avec un couteau a été abattu par la police (“a man with a
knife was shot dead by the police”). See also rabattre (“to lower”).

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doré golden. dorer to gild; to make (meat or vegetables) brown in cooking.
Cognate with dorado (a fish for its golden scales, also known as mahi-mahi).
Letter d is shortened from de (“of”); so dorer is from de + or (“gold”) + -er. In the
US, it’s likely you have seen the name Dorado or Eldorado (as in Cadillac
Eldorado, where el is like the of English). See also or.

moquer (reflexive, followed by de) to mock (cognate); (reflexive, used with en) to
not care, to be indifferent. Examples, tout le monde se moque de moi (“everybody
laughs at me”); je m’en moque / je m’en fiche (“I don’t care”).

plafond ceiling. From plat (“flat”, cognate with plate) + fond (“bottom”, cognate
with foundation). While the ceiling is understandably flat, it’s not clear why it is
related to the bottom. Just look at your house upside down. Note that this word
does not mean “platform” (plate-forme in French) nor “profound” or “very deep”
(profond in French).

navire ship. Cognate with navy, naval.

plier to fold. pli fold (n.), pleat. replier to fold; to re-fold. déplier to unfold. Plier
and pli are cognate with pliant, pliable, pliers. Note that replier does not mean “to
reply”, nor “replier” or “person that replies” (in spite of cognation); in the sense of
“to fold”, re- is an intensifier. English reply is répondre or répliquer in French.
Example, plier en deux (“to fold in half”).

frotter to scrub, to rub. Cognate with friction. But the change of i (in Latin) to o in
French cannot be explained and may be difficult to think of. English word frottage
(“rubbing”, a term in art or sexology) or frot is from this French word.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “Scrub the floor with detergent till you get
froth.” Not to be confused with flotter (“to float”). Example, il se frotte les yeux
(“he rubs his eyes; se is used since a person does this to himself).

œuf, oeuf egg. Cognate with oval. From Latin ovum, where v changed to French f,
and o to œu. (According to etymologist A. Brachet, the change of o to œu was done
by the copyists such as church clergy who simply combined oe with eu to bypass
the dilemma as to which of the two is better.) Examples, oeufs brouillés
(“scrambled eggs”); jaune d’œuf (“egg yolk”);

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colonne column (all senses) (cognate). Not to be confused with English colony
(colonie in French) or colon (côlon or deux-points in French depending on the
sense of the word). Example, lignes et colonnes d’un tableau (“rows and columns
of a table”); colonne vertébrale (“vertebral column”, “spine”).

incliner to tilt, to incline; (reflexive) to bow, to yield or accept defeat.

outre as well as, besides, in addition to, apart from. Cognate with ultra, in relation
to which, think of “further”, “more”. English outrage (from Old French) is related,
but the word is supposed to just mean “excess”, with no implication of anger. Not
to be confused with outré (“outraged”), autre (“other”, cognate with alternate,
beginning with a, not o). You may use autre as a mnemonic and think of
something additional.

seuil threshold; doorstep. The word is a blend of a Latin word which has
descendants as French sol (“ground”) and English soil, with a Latin word which
has English sole (“bottom of foot or shoe”) as a descendant. Another theory states
that only the latter Latin word is its etymon. With either sol, soil or sole, consider
that you must watch your step in crossing a doorstep, of which a threshold is an
abstraction. Or use sill as a mnemonic; even though a sill is for a window while a
doorstep is for a door, they kind of look alike. Not to be confused with seul (“only”,
“sole”). Examples, seuil de pauvreté (“poverty line”); seuil de la douleur (“pain
threshold”); au seuil du paradis (“on the doorstep of paradise”); franchir le seuil
(“to cross the threshold”).

adresse address (of a place) (cognate); adroitness (cognate), skill. Note the second
meaning, which English address obviously does not have. English adroit is from
French. An important source of French oi is Latin e. Examples, quelle est ton
adresse? (“what’s your address?”); l’artisan a réalisé cette figurine avec beaucoup
d’adresse (“the craftsman made this figurine with great skill”). See also
maladresse (“clumsiness”).

emplir to fill. Cognate with implement. The root part -plir is cognate with plenary
(“fully attended”, said of a meeting). English implement originally meant “to
supply a want”, “to fill up a need”. This word is more literary and less used than
remplir (“to fill”). Not to be confused with English employ (French employer). If
you use empty as a mnemonic, remember to reverse the meaning. See also remplir.

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os bone. Cognate with ossify (“to turn into bone”), ossuary (“container of dead
persons’ bones”), with the prefix of osteo-arthritis, osteo-porosis. Note the plural
of os is still os, and s is pronounced /s/ in singular but generally silent in plural.
Example, j’ai vu M. Bernard en chair et en os (“I saw Mr. Bernard in person / in
the flesh”).

pente slope. Cognate with pending (literally “hanging”), with the root of suspend,
depend, append. The sense of the original Latin word somehow changed from “to
hang” to “to lean”, “to tilt” (as in penchant), hence the French meaning “slope”.

août August (cognate). Sometimes medial (in-word) g was lost going from Latin to
French, just as in Latin ligare (hence English ligament) > French lier (“to link”),
leger (hence English legible) > lire (“to read”). Examples, en août (“in August”);
au mois d’août (“in the month of August”; note preposition à instead of en).

jupe skirt. Arabic origin. But jumper, a kind of loose jacket, may be related.

réclamer to claim, to demand, to call for, to protest, to complain. Cognate with

reclaim. In spite of the cognation, this word is not quite the same as English
reclaim, which may be translated as récupérer. The root -clamer literally means
“to shout” while ré- is an intensifier. This word literally means “to shout strongly
or loud”, as in calling to someone in demanding something. Example, une
manifestation pour réclamer plus de liberté politique (“a demonstration to demand
more political freedom”).

talon heel (of foot or shoe). Cognate with talon (“claw”). Think of the sharp heel
of a high-heel shoe as the sharp claw of an animal. Example, talon d’Achille
(“Achilles heel”).

dossier file, record; dossier; back of chair; (figuratively) issue, legal or

administrative case. Cognate with dorsal, with the root of endorse. Hence the
meaning of “back of something such as a chair”. The sense of “file” or “bundle of
papers” is due to labels on their back. English dossier is from this word. Examples,
dossiers médicaux (“medical records”); le dossier d’une chaise (“the back of a
chair”).

débarrasser to get rid of, to clear. débarras storeroom, junk room; clearing,
riddance. The root is cognate with bar. Literally, débarrasser means “to remove

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(dé-) a bar”. Think of opening a barred storage shed and clearing the junk inside.
Examples, bon débarras! (“good riddance!”; the English and French words exactly
match in meaning and structure; did Shakespeare coin this phrase as a calque from
French?); comment se débarrasser des vieux téléphones portables? (“how do we
get rid of old cell phones?”; se indicates “to rid oneself of”).

muet mute (cognate). Note that mute does exist in French, as a conjugated form of
muter (“to mutate”), unrelated to muet. Example, film muet (“silent film”).

lutter to fight. lutte fight (n.). Cognate with the root of reluctant, which has an
obsolete meaning of “to struggle against”, with the root of ineluctable (-luct-),
which literally means “unable to fight / struggle out”. As a mnemonic, imagine the
scene of loot, where the looters fight each other for treasures. Example, la lutte
contre / pour (“the fight against / for”).

moral morale (n.); moral (adj.). This word looks easy but note that as a noun, it
means “morale” (“team members’ spirit”, esprit de corps), not “moral” (in the
sense of “morality”, “ethics”), which, confusingly, would be morale in French. In
short, when used as nouns, moral and morale are switched between English and
French to match their meanings. Examples, remonter le moral (“to cheer (someone)
up”); je n’ai pas le moral (“I’m feeling really down”; note this does not mean “I
don’t have morals”, and note French moral can refer to one person’s spirit while
English morale is generally said of a team). See also morale.

clé, clef key. Cognate with clef (“a key symbol in music staff”), clavier (“keyboard
instrument”), clave (“a percussion instrument”), with the first element of
clavichord (“an early keyboard instrument”), with the root of conclave (“a closed-
door meeting in a secret place which you have to enter with a key”). These two
words and their plurals are homophones (pronounced the same); letter f in French
clef is silent. The two words are interchangeable but clé is more common than clef
in recent decades. Example, la clé de la porte (“the key to the door”; note
preposition de, not à).

chagrin sorrow, grief, sadness, unhappiness. Note that while English chagrin is
from French, it means “distress due to failure, disgrace, embarrassment, etc.”. The
French word does not imply humiliation or disgrace and refers to a mental state not
necessarily related to a specific event. Examples, il exprimé son immense chagrin

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après le décès de son ami (“he expressed his immense grief after the death of his
friend”); chagrin d’amour (“lovesickness”, “unrequited love”).

mordre to bite. English mordant (“biting”) is from French mordant.

voile veil (masc. n.) (cognate); sail, sailing (fem. n.). voiler to veil, to cover. From
Latin velum; Latin long e often changed to oi in French. Voile in its first sense has
entered English vocabulary (“thin, translucent fabric”). Not to be confused with
veille (“eve”; “vigil”). To explain the gender-meaning differences: voile meaning
“sail” went through vela, plural of velum (just like curricula for curriculum), the -a
ending probably making the French word more prone to be feminine. If a
mnemonic is needed for the gender, you really have to reverse the thinking because
a veil is more likely associated with a woman. Examples, planche à voile
(“sailboard”); lever le voile (“to unveil”, “to reveal”).

coûter to cost (cognate). Medial (in-word) s in st often disappeared in the

development of French, and the preceding vowel was accented with a diacritic
mark. Examples, combien ça coûte? (“how much is it?”, “how much does it
cost?”); ça coûte cher (“it’s expensive”, “it costs dearly”).

quarante forty. This word is interesting because English quarantine, which can be
considered a cognate, literally means “forty”. It used to mean that the crew of a
ship from a plague-ridden country must be kept at the port for forty days before
they can debark, or a widow can stay in her dead husband’s house for forty days.

blessé injured (adj.); injured person, casualty. blesser to injure, to wound. blessure
injury. Possibly cognate with bleach. The connection to a wound may be through
the pale color of wounded skin. Note this word is a false friend of English bless,
which would be bénir in French (cognate with benediction); getting injured is not a
blessing. Example, tu t’es blessé? (“you hurt yourself?”).

entreprendre to undertake. The root -prendre means “to take”, “to catch”. While
English says under-take, French literally says inter-take. English entrepreneur is
borrowed from French, where it is formed by entreprendre + -eur (“-er”, “-or”).
Think of an entrepreneur as an undertaker, although in modern English we only
refer to one working in funeral business as such.

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montre watch (device to show time); conjugated form of montrer (“to show”). A
watch is an example of something that shows, i.e., showing time. Cognate with the
root of demonstrate. To emphasize it’s a wristwatch, you can say montre-bracelet.
See also montrer.

sourcil eyebrow. From Latin supercilium, where super- (“above”) changed to

French sour- and cilium (“eyelid”; “eyelash”) to -cil. This Latin word has entered
English vocabulary meaning “eyebrow”, or “eyebrow region, including a feature
on certain birds”. Cognate with supercilious (“arrogant”, literally “up eyebrow”).
Not to be confused with souci (“worry”, “concern”), which nevertheless can be
used as a mnemonic; when one worries, he frowns and squeezes eyebrows. Or
imagine someone squeezes his eyebrows when eating something sour. See also cil
(“eyelash”).

réel real (cognate). This word is easy but note it should not be confused with réal,
a French word that does exist and refers to a currency used in Brazil or former
Spain.

gonfler to inflate, to puff up. From Latin conflare, con- (“together”) + flare (“to
breathe”, “to blow”). Cognate with conflate (“to mix together”). The root is the
same as the root of souffler (“to breathe”). Alternatively, use flare or flare-up
(“sudden outburst”) as a mnemonic. The opposite of gonfler is dégonfler (“to
deflate”). Example, gonfler un pneu / ballon / sac de couchage (“to inflate a tire /
balloon / sleeping bag”). See also souffler.

juillet July (cognate). From Old French juignet (literally “little June”; juin is “June”
in both Old and Modern French). July is like the tapering end of an unending
month i.e. June. The female name Juliet is related if traced to its Latin origin.

fabriquer to make, to manufacture. Cognate with fabricate. fabrique factory.

Note that fabrique is not fabric, which would be tissu in French. But a more
common word for “factory” is usine. Example, fabriqué en France (“made in
France”).

écrier (reflexive) to cry, to exclaim. The root is cognate with cry and prefix é-,
originally es-, means “out”. Not to be confused with écrire (“to write”).

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envers toward; inverse (n.) (cognate). The root means “to turn”. French vers also
means “toward”, literally “turning (to)”. À l'envers means “upside down”.

linge laundry, clothes to wash; linen (cognate), cloth. From Latin lineus, where eu
changed to iu, ju and geu. Examples, étendre le linge (“to hang out the washed
clothes”); mettre le linge dans la machine (à laver) (“to put laundry / clothes to
wash in the washing machine”).

fouiller to search; to rummage, to dig. Cognate with fossil (originally “anything

dug up”). Use a mnemonic such as “Animals forage for food” (where forage
means “to search”), or “Animals rummage for food in the foliage”.

volant steering wheel; flywheel; present participle of voler (“to fly”; “to steal”). A
flywheel does not touch ground or, in fact, any surface (because it’s solely used to
store mechanical energy). Literally it means “a wheel flying up”. To remember this
French word, remember voler (“to fly”) first. A steering wheel takes the form of a
flywheel. Example, Jean est au volant (“Jean is driving”, literally “Jean is at the
steering wheel”). See also voler.

mouche fly (insect) (n.). From Latin musca (“fly”). English mosquito is from the
diminutive of mosca. So, think of a mosquito as a small fly. There are many
examples of Latin ca changing to French che, e.g., caballus (whence cavalry) to
cheval (“horse”). Not to be confused with moche (“ugly”), which nevertheless you
can make up a mnemonic with. Or imagine a fly perching on a man’s moustache. If
you think of mush or moosh or a somewhat liquid mess, imagine a fly in it.

fleuve river that flows into sea. Cognate with fluvial (“about river”). Note that flow
is not a cognate but can be used as a mnemonic. See also rivière (“river”).

déplacer to move, bouger, mouvoir; to travel. déplacement trip, travel (n.),

journey; movement, displacement. In the sense of “to move”, mouvoir is no longer
a common word according to Google Ngram. Note the sense of “travel” especially
for the noun déplacement. Examples, déplacer un objet / un meuble (“to move an
object / a piece of furniture”); il est en déplacement professionnel / voyage
d’affaires à Paris (“he’s on a business trip to Paris”).

grandir to grow. Cognate with grand. To grow means to grow big or bigger.
Example, mon fils a grandi (“my son has grown / grew up”).

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époux husband, male spouse, mari; spouse (cognate). Change é- to s- to see the
cognation. A female spouse is épouse. The masculine plural is still époux and the
feminine plural is épouses.

paille straw. Cognate with palea (“husk of grass”, a botanical term), pallet (“straw
mattress”). As a mnemonic, imagine a bundle of straws in a pail. Or use a
mnemonic such as “The straw is pale in color”, or “Drinking water through a straw
hurts my palate.” Examples, une paille pour boire (“a drinking straw”); un homme
de paille (“a straw man”, “a figurehead”). See also palier (“staircase landing”).

retard delay (n.). False friend of English retard. Someone said of his coworker
who came from France to the US, “he came late to the meeting and said he was
retarded; we all paused a second and laughed”. This noun has a higher frequency
than the verb retarder. Examples, je suis en retard (“I’m late”); j’ai deux minutes
de retard (“I’m two minutes late”; note preposition de, not en); excusez mon retard
(“excuse me for being late”, literally “excuse my lateness / delay”); prendre du
retard (“to fall behind schedule”).

entretenir to maintain (a building, car, etc.), to keep, to look after. From entre-
(“in”) + tenir (“to hold”). Literally the word means “to hold in”. If you hold or
keep something in a stable state, you maintain what it is and have to keep fixing
anything that broke. In spite of cognation, this word does not mean “to entertain”
(which would be divertir in French). See also entretien (“upkeep”; “interview”).

quotidien quotidian (cognate), commonplace, daily, everyday (in the sense of

“common”). The quot- part means “as often (as)” and -dien means “day”. This
word is much more frequent than English quotidian. Example, la vie quotidienne
(“daily life”).

raide stiff (arm, leg, etc.). raidir to stiffen, to make stiff or tense. From Latin
rigidus, where the first i changed to oi and then ai, and gi was lost. Doublet with
rigide (“rigid”). Cognate with rigid. Not to be confused with English raid. But you
can make up a mnemonic with it as in “The quick police raid stunned and
immobilized the suspect as if his body became stiff.” Examples, une épaule raide
(“a stiff shoulder”); une pente raide (“a steep slope”).

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rive bank (of a river). rivage seashore. Cognate with river, with the root of arrive
(literally “to shore”, “to arrive at shore”). The common Latin source really means
“riverbank” originally, a sense retained in most Romance languages. Note this
word is unrelated to English rive (“to split”, “to tear apart”). Example, sur la rive
gauche de la Seine (“on the left bank of the Seine”; left or right is when you face
downstream).

plaque sheet (or metal), plate, plaque; plaque (on teeth); slab (marble, chocolate,
etc.). plaquer to plate (to coat with gold, etc.); (colloquial) to break up with
someone, to dump (in relationship). English plaque is from French. Examples,
plaque d’immatriculation, “license plate”, literally “plaque of registration”);
plaqué or / argent (“gold- / silver-plated”).

poignée handful (n.); handle; handshake, poignée de main. From poing (“fist”) + -
ée (suffix indicating something contained in). A handful of stuff is held in a fist. In
the sense of “handle”, this word refers to the handle of a door or drawer, while
manche is for a knife, a tool, and anse for a cup, a basket, etc. If you prefer a
mnemonic, note that the door or drawer handle is like a point, while a tool handle
is long so a more general word related to hand (manche) is used. Examples, une
poignée de soldats (“a handful of soldiers”); la poignée de porte (“the door
handle”). See also poing, manche.

lier to link, to bind. relier to connect, to link, to bind. Lier is cognate and doublet
with ligature, ligament, liaison, lien. Medial (in-word) g in Latin is sometimes lost
in French, just as in Latin augustus (hence English August) > French août, leger
(hence English legible) > lire (“to read”). Although English rely was derived from
Old French relier, it has taken a more figurative meaning (which can be translated
as compter in French), while French relier remains literal. French lier more or less
implies something more inherent than relier. Examples, les pierres de cette maison
sont liées avec du ciment (“the stones of this house are bonded with cement”); ils
se sont liés d’amitié avec leurs nouveaux voisins (“they befriended their new
neighbors”); les terminaux sont reliés par des trains (“the terminals are linked by
trains”).

témoin witness; best man (meilleur homme) at wedding. témoigner to be a witness,

to testify. Cognate with testimony. Accented e indicates loss of s. From Latin

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testimonium, which went through loss of i, then t, and s. Try to pronounce
testimony in a very sloppy way, which is how the Latin word came into French.
Example, le musée témoigne de l’histoire de l'industrie automobile (“the museum
bears witness to the history of the automotive industry”).

flot flood (cognate if traced to Proto-Germanic), wave, stream, tide. Also cognate
with float, flotsam (if traced to Proto-Germanic). But the meaning is “flood”, not
“float” (which is flotte, flotter in French), except in phrase à flot (“afloat”,
“floating”).

cracher to spit. Cognate with retch (“to make the sound of vomiting”, originally
“to spit”). Ultimately an onomatopoeia. To spit, one may make a sound somewhat
like the sound of this word (minus the verb ending -er). Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “The driver crashed his car and spit blood.” Examples, il a
craché au sol (“he spat on the ground”); portrait craché (“spitting image”, “exact
likeness (of someone)”; literally “spat portrait”).

toilette cleaning and dressing oneself, personal grooming; dress (n.), clothes, outfit.
toilettes toilet (cognate). Note that the word toilette as a singular noun does not
mean “toilet” in its modern sense i.e. “restroom” or “washroom”, which has to be
the plural toilettes (Belgian French may be an exception). Examples, eau de toilette
(a lightly scented cologne used as a skin freshener, literally “water of toilet”); va
faire ta toilette! (“go do some washing / dress-up / wash yourself!”; in case of
washing off dirt, say va te laver instead); aller aux toilettes (“to go to the toilet /
bathroom”; note plural).

ongle nail (on finger or toe). Cognate with ungula (“claw”), ungulate (“hoffed
mammal”), ungual (“of nail, claw or hoof”), with onyx (a type of gem that looks
like fingernail) if traced back to Proto-Indo-European. Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “My nail grows into an angle.” or “My uncle has long nails.” or
imagine an eagle whose paws are like nails.

prêtre priest (cognate). Also cognate with presbyter. The diacritic mark of ê
indicates an omitted s. Not to be confused with prêter (“to lend”) or prêt
(“lending”; “ready”). For your convenience, the catholic hierarchy is: pape
(“pope”), cardinal, archevêque (“archbishop”), évêque (“bishop”), prêtre.

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hâte haste (cognate), hurry (n.), impatience. hâter to hasten. Change â to as to see
the cognation; Latin -st- after a vowel, when inherited by French, often drops s and
adds a diacritical mark to the preceding vowel indicating the drop. These words are
false friends of English hate and hater, respectively. Example, il est parti à la hâte
(“he left in a hurry”); j’ai trop hâte de commencer (“I can’t wait to get started”, “I
eagerly look forward to getting started”; avoir hâte, literally “to have haste”).

fesse buttock. Cognate with fissure. The analogy is self-explanatory.

atelier workshop, (art) studio. One theory considers it derived from a Latin word
which means “a place or workshop to make planks” and which relates to axis,
hence “workshop” in general in later development. Another theory relates it to art
with suffix -ier. English artillery also has these two theories of origin. Use either
art or artillery to aid memory. If the latter, think of a workshop for weaponry
instead of art. Or imagine you see an impressive painting of an athlete in an art
studio. This word has entered English.

viande meat. Cognate with viand (“tasty dish or food”), vivid (whose medial v was
weakened and later lost). Originally the word meant “things needed for life” and
later changed to only “meat”. Examples, la viande fumée / rouge / séchée
(“smoked / red / dried meat”).

salaud bastard. From sale (“dirty”) + -aud (suffix with a pejorative connotation).
This suffix is cognate with English -ard as well as doublet with French -ard.
English words with this suffix are e.g. bastard, coward, drunkard. See also sale,
salope (“dirty woman”).

user to wear out, to wear down; (followed by de) to use. Cognate with use. The
word does not primarily mean “to use”, which would be utiliser in French.
Examples, mes chaussures s’usent rapidement (“my shoes wear out quickly”);
eaux usées (“wastewater”; not “used water”).

botte boot (cognate); bundle (of flowers, hay, etc.). The second meaning, or rather
the meaning of the second word spelled the same, has a Germanic origin, which is
not helpful to us. But as a mnemonic, note botte somewhat sounds like bundle and
think of “a bundle of flowers”. Or say you bought a bundle of flowers. Not to be
confused for bottle (bouteille in French), though you may imagine a bundle of

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flowers in a bottle. Examples, des bottes en / de cuir (“leather boots”); sous la
botte du régime nazi (“under the boot of the Nazi regime”); une botte de foin (“a
haystack”).

gamin kid (especially a mischievous one), urchin. Unhelpful etymology. Use a

mnemonic such as “The kids love gaming (playing games).” This word has entered
English vocabulary.

thé tea (cognate). The intercalation of h may be an explicit indication of aspiration

in the southern Chinese word for tea, which is a convention in romanization of
Chinese words by the early missionaries and sinologists in translating Chinese to a
language with weak aspirations. (Another convention for aspiration is to use an
apostrophe instead of h.) Examples, un salon de thé (“a teahouse”); une tasse de
thé (“a cup of tea”); une tasse à thé (“a teacup”).

dizaine about ten. From dix (“ten”) + -aine (equivalent to informal English suffix -
ish). Example, une dizaine de (“about ten of”).

élan momentum, impetus, spirit. The root is cognate with lance. Prefix é- means
“away”. First there was the verb élancer, which was deverbalized to élan. Lancing
forward both requires and creates a momentum. This word has entered English
vocabulary. See also élancer.

tiède tepid (cognate), lukewarm, half-hearted. tiédeur tepidity, lukewarmness.

From Latin tepidus. English dropped the last syllable while French, as usual,
dropped the medial consonant of the second syllable. Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “She didn’t greet us warmly because she was tired.” Examples,
dans l’eau tiède (“in warm / lukewarm water”); un vent tiède (“warm wind”).

appareil apparatus, appliance, device, machine; camera, appareil photo. From

pareil (“the same”, cognate with pair, originally “pair”). The sense development is
“pairing up” to “preparation” to “apparatus”. It may be easier to simply use
apparatus as a mnemonic. Just don’t confuse it with English appearance
(apparence in French) or apparent (the same spelling in French). See also pareil.

tâche task (cognate). tâcher to try, to attempt, to strive, essayer. From Latin tasca
(“task”). To see the cognation, change â to as (the diacritic of â implies a dropped
s), and -che to -ca; many words went through the latter change, such as caballus >

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cheval (“horse”). If you can’t think of it, at least try pronouncing che like k as in
chemical or ache to help you memorize these words. To understand the verb tâcher,
think of a challenging task you must make an effort to complete, hence “to strive”.
Its usage frequency is lower than that of essayer. Not to be confused with tache
(“stain”). Also see §7 of the Notes of this book.

loup wolf. Cognate with lupine (“about wolf”), lupus (“a chronic autoimmune
disease”). One theory about the name of this disease is that the rash on skin
resembles the fur on a wolf’s face. The common Spanish surname López, cognate
with loup, originally meant “wolf”. Loup and wolf are also cognates if traced to
Proto-Indo-European. As a mnemonic, imagine a wolf running in a loop (but
remember p in French loup is silent). Note the feminine of loup is louve; imagine a
she-wolf in the Louvre Museum. Examples, avoir une faim de loup (“to be very
hungry”); crier au loup (“to cry wolf”; au i.e. à le means “in the style of”).

répandre to spread, to spill, to scatter. répandu widespread, spread-out; past

participle of répandre. Cognate with expand. Latin ex- changed to French es-, then
é-, and prefixed with intensifier re-. In spite of cognation, this French word does
not mean exactly the same as expand (for which étendre or dilater in French may
be a better translation). See also épanouir (“to bloom”, “to cheer up”).

environ about, close to. environs surrounding area, vicinity. environnement

environment. Think of environ as to mean “around”. Note double n in
environnement. Example, environ 10 mètres (“about / around 10 meters”).

dépit spite, resentment. Cognate with despite. This word is very commonly used in
en dépit de (“in spite of”, “despite”, malgré). English spite is a shortening of
despite during the Middle English period. While English has both in spite of and
despite, French only has en dépit de (as if it was a merger of the two, in despite of)
and these phrases literally and originally meant “in defiance or contempt of” but
now mean “irrespective of” or “notwithstanding”.

déranger to bother, to disturb, to disrupt. English derange is from this word. Think
of the opposite of arrange. Examples, ne pas déranger (“do not disturb”); excusez-
moi de vous déranger (“excuse me for bothering you”).

cheminée chimney (cognate); fireplace, hearth.

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raser to shave; to raze (cognate); to light touch, to almost hit. ras short (hair, fur);
flat, even, level (adj.). Also cognate with the root of erase. Examples, se raser la
barbe / les jambes (“to shave off beard / shave the legs”; one’s own beard or legs);
raser la barbe à quelqu’un (“to shave someone’s beard”); j’en ai ras le bol (“I’m
fed up with it”; avoir ras le bol literally means “to have the bowl full i.e. flush with
the bowl rim”); couper les cheveux ras / courts (“to cut hair short”; masc. plural of
ras is still ras); au ras / au niveau du sol (“at ground level”).

rivière river (cognate). In general, rivière is a tributary of another river while

fleuve is the last river flowing into the sea or ocean. If you need a mnemonic to
remember which is which, associate fleuve with flow; the river flowing into sea has
a higher flow rate than any tributary. Also note rivière is fem. while fleuve is masc.;
as a mnemonic, masculine implies bigger size than feminine. See also fleuve.

gendarme gendarmerie (a military body charged with police duties). From gens
d'armes (literally “people of arms”). The word gendarmerie has entered English.

faillir to almost do; to fail (cognate). In spite of cognation, this word primarily
means “to almost do something”. E.g. faillir tomber means “almost fall”, literally
“almost do falling”; but the word is often used for a past action (in the imperfect
tense), as in j’ai failli tomber / rater le vol (“I almost fell / missed the flight”);
Sylvester Stallone et Richard Gere ont failli se battre pour la princesse Diana
(“Richard Gere and Sylvester Stallone almost fought each other / had a fight for
princess Diana”). Although English fail has a similar sense (e.g. fail to do
something), faillir does not imply an intention to do it; it makes no sense to say I
failed to miss the flight.

jaillir to gush, to spurt out, to squirt out. One theory considers it cognate with the
root of ejaculate, whose Latin origin (jaculare) went through -cul- to -cl- to -il-.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “During the prison break, the inmates
rushed out and the jailer couldn’t stop them.” But obviously French jaillir and
English jailer are pronounced differently. Example, l’eau a jailli (“the water
gushed out”).

affreux awful, terrible, horrible, frightful, dreadful, hideous. It may not be cognate
with afraid, which nevertheless can serve as a good mnemonic. Or use awful or
fear. Example, affreusement embarrassé (“terribly embarrassed”).

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afin de in order to. afin que in order that. Afin is from à + fin, literally “to end (of /
that)”, but should not be understood literally, while the fully spelled-out à la fin (de)
does literally mean “at the end (of)”. English end can also mean “purpose”, “goal”.
Example, afin de résoudre le problème (“in order to solve the problem”).

usine factory. Cognate with use (with addition of in) or office. Think of the double
meanings of employ, “to use” and “to employ or hire (people for work)”. Example,
magasin d’usine / sortie d’usine (“factory outlet (store)”).

alcool alcohol (cognate). Arabic origin. Letter h of the third syllable was omitted
because it became silent.

cadre frameword (basic structure underlying a system or concept); frame (of door,
picture, etc.); cadre (a special group of people in politics or the military). encadrer
to frame; to supervise. From Italian quadro (“square”), where qua- changed to ca-.
The primary meaning of cadre may be the first one, used figuratively. Example,
dans le cadre de (“within the framework of”, “within the scope of”, “in the context
of”, “as part of”).

poignet wrist. empoigner to (suddenly) grab, to grasp. Poignet is from poing

(“fist”) + -et (diminutive suffix). Think of the wrist as the small end of the fist.
Empoigner or grabbing obviously is a movement of the wrist and fist. Example, il
s’est blessé au poignet (“he injured his wrist”). See also poing, poignée (“handle”;
“handful” (n.); almost a homophone with poignet, whose -gnet is supposed to be
pronounced with a slightly more open mouth).

veuf widower. veuve widow (cognate when traced to Proto-Indo-European). From

Latin viduus, where du changed to dv and lost d (when two consonants are together,
the first one tends to drop in French), and v can change to f. Alternatively, if you
know vieux (“old”), use a mnemonic such as un vieux veuf (“an old widower”). To
remember which is “widow” and which is “widower”, note the e-ending word is
feminine.

inscrire to enroll, to sign up; to inscribe (cognate). Note the primary meaning is
“to enroll”. Imagine you write (écrire in Modern, escrire in Middle and Old French)
your name in (in-) an application form. In the sense of “to inscribe”, it can mean
“to engrave on a hard surface” as English inscribe, but can also mean “to write

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down” in general. Example, il s’est / il m’a inscrit à l’examen (“he registered (me)
for the exam”; remember to use the reflexive pronoun for oneself).

priver to deprive. privé private (adj.) (cognate); past participle of priver. Prefix
de- of English deprive further emphasize the removing action. While English privy
(“sharing in knowledge of a secret”) is from Old French privé, it doesn’t have the
sense of “to deprive” or “deprived”. Examples, un jet privé (“a private jet”); en
privé (“in private”); les vents ont privé d’électricité de nombreux foyers (“wind
knocked out power to many homes”; literally “the winds have deprived many
homes of electricity”).

brume mist, fog. From Latin bruma (“winter solstice”), shortening of brevissima
(“shortest”, literally “briefest”, cognate with brief), describing the shortest day of
the year. According to Wikipedia, “(t)he fog season is usually based in the cooler
months (late autumn, winter and early spring).” This word has entered English
vocabulary as a literary word. Brumaire refers to the second month of the French
Republican Calendar used after the French Revolution, i.e. from late October to
late November; Napoleon Bonaparte staged a Coup of 18 Brumaire on November
9, 1799. If you prefer a mnemonic, imagine that out of the mist, a witch rides a
broom, or that the fog is a bright fume, or say the flowers bloom in the mist.

ange angel (cognate). Examples, ange gardien (“guardian angel “); archange
(“archangel”).

millier thousand. Note that unlike mille as a numeral meaning exactly “thousand”,
which is invariable, millier as a noun is often approximate and can be in plural, e.g.
quelques milliers de dollars (“a few thousand dollars”). Not to be confused with
million (the same spelling in English and French) or milieu (“middle”;
“environment”, “milieu”).

roue wheel. Cognate with rotate, which lost its intervocalic consonant.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “The wheel rolls.” Or if you already know
rue (“road”), think of the wheels of the cars on the road. Examples, grande roue
(“Ferris wheel”); roue de secours (“spare tire”; literally “wheel of rescues”).

coiffer to do hairdressing, to comb hair or give a haircut with a style. coiffeur

hairdresser. coiffure hairdressing, hairstyle. Possibly cognate with cuff (from a

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Latin word that originally referred to headgear in general, but its English
descendant eventually comes to refer to the covering of the wrist). The words
coiffeur and coiffure have entered English vocabulary. Note the different spellings;
suffix -eur, like English -er, indicates the agent such as a person, while -ure is a
general noun suffix. Examples, elle se coiffe (“she does her hair”; se means “to
oneself”); tu as changé de coiffure (“you changed your hairstyle”).

coupe cup (award for sports competition); cut (n.). The first sense is either a
cognate or a calque of English cup. The second is from its verb couper (“to cut”).
Example, la Coupe du monde de football (“the World Cup of football”). See also
couper.

rougir to blush. Think of rouge (“reddish pink”) and append a verb suffix -ir (not -
er).

percer to pierce (cognate), to drill. Examples, percer un trou (“to drill a hole”);
elle s’est fait percer les oreilles (“she got her ears pierced”).

ôter to remove (all senses of this word). Cognate with oust (“to expel”, “to
remove”). Change ô, a vowel with a diacritic mark, to os to see the cognation. This
word is a good example of not mistakenly associating it with e.g. English otter, if
you know the general rule of a French vowel with a diacritic. Example, ôter ma
veste / mon masque (“to take off / remove my jacket / mask”).

auteur author (cognate). Its feminine form is auteure or autrice. Note this word
has a wider scope than English author; it can refer to an inventor, or a perpetrator
of crime.

foncer (informal) to rush, to dash, to go for it, to charge; to darken. foncé dark in
color. Cognate with foundation, with the root of profound. Going down (to the
foundation or bottom) is fast, and it becomes darker. As a mnemonic, imagine you
suddenly jump to the bottom of a pit. Example, il a foncé vers la porte (“he dashed
to the door”). See also enfoncer (“to push”).

trouble trouble (n.), (disease) disorder; dim, cloudy, opaque. This word is easy but
note the second meaning as an adjective, which is missing in English trouble, but
preserved in the cognate turbid. Think of trouble as disturb; disturbed water may

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be cloudy or turbid. Examples, trouble bipolaire (“bipolar disorder”); pêcher en
eau trouble (“to fish in troubled waters”).

maréchal marshal. English marshal is from this word by dropping the second
syllable vowel.

auparavant previously (adv.). From au + par + avant (“before”). Examples, il y

travaillait auparavant (“he previously worked there”); je n’ai jamais vu ça
auparavant (“I’ve never seen that before”).

revanche revenge (n.) (cognate); (sport) rematch. In French, an is pronounced the

same as en, so the original Latin spelling (in) could be spelled en in some French
words and an in some others. But note the phrase en revanche means “in contrast”
or “on the other hand”, not “in revenge”.

planche board, plank (cognate). plancher floor. From Latin *planca. Latin ca
regularly changed to French che (e.g. caballus > cheval “horse”, etc.). Suffix -er
generally has many meanings but here in plancher probably indicates a receptacle;
a floor takes many boards. Examples, planche à voile (“sailboard”; “windsurfing”;
note voile is “sail”); planche à découper (“cutting board”; couper is “to cut”, de-
“off”); pied au plancher (“at full speed”, literally “foot (pressing the gas pedal) to
the floor”).

volet shutter. From voler (“to fly”). A window shutter looks like the wing of a bird.
See also voler.

trahir to betray. traître traitor (cognate). trahison treason (cognate), betrayal. The
noun traître is alternatively spelled traitre after the 1990 French spelling reforms
and should not be confused with traiter (“to treat”). The verb trahir is cognate with
traitor. Medial (consonant between two vowels) d in Latin regularly lost in French
(e.g. crudelis > cruel, videre > voir, etc.). Letter h was inserted to separate a and i
sounds.

comptoir counter (at a store, bank, etc.) (cognate). Also cognate with compute,
count. A counter is where money is counted.

ménager household (adj.); to treat or handle gently or tactfully. ménage household

(n.); housework. Doublet with maison (“house”), cognate with mansion. Note these

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words are not cognate with manage or manager (which are from Latin mano
“hand”, cognate with manual). But you can use it in a mnemonic such as “Even a
manager in office does house chores at home.” Examples, les tâches ménagères /
travaux ménagers (“the house work”); fais le ménage (“to do housework”); une
femme de ménage (“a cleaning lady”, “a housekeeper”, “a maid”).

filet fillet; net. English fillet (which is from Old French) in the sense of “boneless
cut of meat” can also be spelled filet, but the word is only spelled filet in French so
the second syllable is pronounced /lɛ/. Example, un filet de poisson (“a fish fillet”);
un filet de pêche (“a fishing net”); filet de sécurité (“safety net”).

chinois Chinese. From Chine (“China”) + -ois (“-ese”). The -ois converts a noun
that denotes a place to an adjective, e.g. gaulois (“Gaulish”), suédois (“Swedish”),
québécois (“of Quebec”, “Quebecian”).

enfer hell. Cognate with inferno (“hell”; “large fire”).

barque small rowing boat. Cognate with barge, with the root of embark.

chute fall (n.), drop, falling. English parachute is from French, from para-
(“protect against”, cognate with parry, “to avoid”, “to deflect”) + chute (“fall”).
This word is cognate with chance, from the sense of “falling of dice”, with
cadence, which in music refers to the melody at the end of a section. This word has
entered English vocabulary. If you don’t know it, use parachute to remember it.
Examples, une chute fatale / libre (“a fatal / free fall”); des chutes du Niagara
(“the Niagara Falls”).

aspect aspect; appearance. Note the second meaning. When the word was in Latin,
it meant “appearance”, “look”. Example, d’un aspect bizarre (“strange-looking”).

sou (colloquial, used in plural, which is also sou) money. From Latin solidus (gold
coin used in the Roman Empire; it’s solid, and is money). Not to be confused with
preposition sous (“under”). As a mnemonic, imagine some cash covered under
something. Example, sans le sou (“penniless”); une machine à sous (“a slot
machine”); tu peux me prêter des sous / de l’argent? (“can you lend me some
money?”).

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hocher to nod; to shake. Cognate with hustle (“to rush”, originally “to shake back
and forth”). This word often occurs in hocher la tête, which usually means “to nod
one’s head” suggesting approval, but occasionally means “to shake one’s head”
suggesting disapproval, depending on the context. You can use a mnemonic such
as “Oh yeah!”, or the opposite “Oh shit!”

piste track (n.); runway (for aircraft etc.); (dance) floor. Cognate with piston,
coming from the sense of “pounding”, “beating”. A track or path is formed by
repeated beating or treading. This word has entered English vocabulary meaning
“skiing trail”. If you prefer a mnemonic and don’t mind a little vulgarity, try
“Some animals pissed on this track.” Examples, piste cyclable (“bike path”; in
France, a bike path is exclusively for bikes, unlike a bike lane, bande cyclable);
piste de danse (“dance floor”); la police est sur sa piste (“the police are on his
trail”).

noyer to drown; walnut, walnut tree. In the first sense, the word is cognate with the
root of internecine (“mutually destructive”), of pernicious (“causing harm or
death”), and noxious if traced to Proto-Indo-European. Think of drowning as
harmful or noxious. Or use a mnemonic such as “animals entered Noah’s Arc to
avoid drowning”. Or associate it with nager (“to swim”) if you already know the
word. The second sense “walnut” is actually of a different word, which is doublet
with noix (“nut”). Example, il s’est noyé / est mort noyé / meurt noyé (“he
drowned”; in French, you can add the word for “dead” or “died” to make it clear,
“drowned and died”; remember to use se if drowning oneself). See noix.

percevoir to perceive, to sense; to collect (money, tax, etc.), to levy. Note the
second meaning, which does not exist in English perceive. Similarly, French
perception can also mean “tax or money collection” in addition to “perception”.
The original Latin word percipere, the root of which is the origin of English
capture, can mean both “to seize” and “to perceive”. But French apercevoir only
means “to perceive”.

onze eleven. The on- part corresponds to Latin unus (“one”) and -ze to decem
(“ten”). Not to be confused with English once or ounce.

méchant evil, wicked, nasty, vicious, bad. Prefix mé- is cognate with mis- (“bad”),
while -chant (cognate with chance, originally meaning “happening”), is related to

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chute (“fall”, which is part of parachute). Obviously this word is unrelated to
mechanic (which would be mécanicien in French) or merchant (marchande in
French). But you can make a mnemonic with them such as “a bad, dishonest
merchant”. Examples, attention, chien méchant (“be aware of dog”, literally
“attention: mean dog”); il est toujours méchant avec moi (“he’s always mean to
me”).

bibliothèque library; bookcase. This word looks easy but it’s worth knowing that
French librairie means “bookstore” in English. The phrase rat de bibliothèque,
literally “library rat”, means “bookworm”. See also librairie.

secours aid, rescue, relief, succor (“assistance and support in times of hardship”)
(cognate). This word is not related to secure, which nevertheless can be used as a
mnemonic. Examples, une sortie de secours (“an emergency exit”); au secours!
(“help!”, à l’aide!); roue de secours (“spare tire”, literally “wheel of rescue”).

putain (vulgar) whore, bitch, prostitute; (vulgar) fuck (interj.), bloody hell.
Spanish puta (“prostitute”), a possible cognate, has entered English vocabulary.
Also possibly cognate with putrid (“rotten”, “stinky”), putrefy (“to rot”), which can
sure be used as mnemonics. This word is absolutely unrelated to Russian president,
commonly Latinized as Putin, and the French transliteration of his name has to be
manually adjusted to Poutine to avoid confusion as well as for phonological
reasons (see www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/magazine/putinpoutine.html). Also
unrelated to poutine (a type of Canadian food). Example, j’ai passé un putain de
bon moment (“I had a fucking good time”). See also pute (“whore”).

étirer to stretch, étendre. From é- (“away”) + tirer (“to pull”).

siffler to whistle; to hiss, to boo. sifflet whistle (n.). Cognate with sibilate (“to
hiss”), sibilant (phonetic sounds when pronouncing s, sh etc. in English). While in
Latin, b, v and f are often confused. The -fler ending sounds like passing air in the
mouth or nose, as in souffler (“to blow”), ronfler (“to snore”), gonfler (“to inflate”),
renifler (“to sniff”). So use that analogy plus the si- sound which mimics hissing or
whistling as a mnemonic. For the connection of sound to meaning in a word, refer
to Wikipedia or other sources on phonestheme or ideophone. Example, l’arbitre a
sifflé la mi-temps (“the referee blew the half-time whistle”).

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retraite retirement (cognate); pension (money); (military) retreat (n.) (cognate).
Literally “pulling back”. Examples, je suis à la retraite (“I’m retired”); je vais
bientôt prendre ma retraite (“I’m going to retire soon”); maison de retraite
(“retirement home”).

rocher high and steep rock, cliff, boulder. roche rock. rocheux rocky. English
rock is etymologically related. To help remember the difference between rocher
and roche but only as a mnemonic, note that rocher is masculine while roche,
which ends with a vowel, is feminine and refers to a smaller rock. Example, le
rocher de Sisyphe (“Sisyphus’ rock / boulder”); le cristal de roche (“quartz”).

évidence obviousness, clearness, obvious fact, something self-evident. This word

is a false friend of English evidence, which would be preuve, témoignage in French.
Think of the word as the noun of English evident, or evidentness. Examples, à
l’évidence / de toute évidence (“obviously”, “clearly”); mettre en évidence (“to
highlight”, literally “to put in clearness”).

don gift (both “present” and “talent”); donation (cognate). This word is not related
to English don (“to put on clothes”) or Spanish Don (title given to a man, or
historically a nobleman). Examples, il a un don pour les langues (“he has a gift for
languages”); il fait un don à la Croix-Rouge (“he donates / makes a donation to the
Red Cross”); don du ciel (“godsend”, “gift from heaven”).

régime regime, government; diet. English regime is from this word. Note the
second meaning. English regimen, which is a cognate, but not regime, can refer to
a diet as well as exercise or medical treatment. Examples, Ancien Régime (French
aristocratic system, overthrown by the 1789 French Revolution); ancien régime
(“former government”; note lower-case); au régime (“on a diet”); je fais un régime
sans sel (“I’m on a salt-free diet”).

brave nice, good, honest; brave. English brave is from French. But note that the
primary meaning of this word is “nice”, “honest”. English brave is better translated
as courageux in French. Italian bravo, which has entered English and French as an
expression for a good performance, is related.

dérouler to unwind, to unroll (cognate), to unfold; (reflexive) (event) to take place,

to occur. Example, l’évènement s’est bien déroulé / passé (“the event went well”).

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emparer (reflexive, followed by de) to seize, to get hold of, to take possession of.
Cognate with empire. The root, meaning “to prepare”, “to arrange” in Latin, is
actually the same as in English prepare, repair, French rempart (English rampart),
parer (“to adorn”) etc. but may be too diverse to be helpful. Use empire as a
mnemonic. Example, un grand empire est formé en s’emparant des territoires de
nombreux petits pays (“a big empire is formed by seizing the territories of many
small countries”).

aîné elder, eldest (both n. and adj.). From Latin ante (“before”, “earlier”) + natus
(né, “born”), literally “born before”. Although the change of ante to aî- is not easy
to recognize, the latter part né is easy, which is also a standalone word and has
entered English vocabulary. Not to be confused with âne (“donkey”, “ass”).
Examples, mon frère aîné (“my older / oldest brother”); leur fille aînée (“their
elder / eldest daughter”).

sécurité security; safety. This word is easy but note that in French (as well as other
Romance languages), this word can also mean “safety”. Examples, pour votre
sécurité (“for your safety”); la sécurité routière (“road safety”); nous sommes en
sécurité (“we are safe”); la sécurité de l’emploi (“job security”). See also sûreté
(“safety”; “security”).

heurter to hit, to strike, to knock, to bump, to collide. Cognate with hurt. If you hit
something, it hurts. Note that English hurt in the sense of “to injure” is better
translated as blesser in French. Example, la voiture a heurté un arbre (“the car hit
a tree”).

ouais yeah, yup. From oui (“yes”). Just like a sloppy pronunciation of yes tends to
open the mouth more to become yeah, a more open utterance of oui makes an
ouais (pronounced like weh, i.e. /wɛ/ in International Phonetic Symbols).

mouiller to make or (used reflexively) get wet. mouillé wet. Cognate with mollify
(“to pacify”, “to appease anger”, literally “to soften”), mollusc (a soft-bodied
invertebrate animal). If you pronounce molli- in a very sloppy way, it sounds like
moyi, which is close to what this French word sounds. When this word was in
Latin, it meant “to soften by soaking”, thus related to “wet”. Alternatively, imagine
a cow with a wet body mooing in rain. See also mou (“soft”), mol (“soft”).

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sensible sensitive (cognate). insensible insensitive (cognate). Also cognate with
sensible, insensible. In spite of cognation, these French (as well as Spanish by the
way) words do not mean the same as English sensible and insensible, which would
be raisonnable (“reasonable”) and déraisonnable (“unreasonable”), respectively.
To help remember the difference, note that French sensible, meaning “able to sense
or feel (something minute or fine)”, is more literal while the English word is more
figurative or indirect. Examples, une personne / un sujet très sensible (“a very
sensitive person / topic”); le matériau est sensible à la température (“the material
is temperature sensitive”).

lycée high school, secondary school. lycéen high school or secondary school
student. The suffix in lycéen (but abbreviated) is probably -ien, equivalent to
English -ian, indicating a person’s profession or group he belongs to (e.g.
electrician). The word lycée has entered English vocabulary.

boulot (colloquial) work; job. One theory about its origin is that the birch tree
(bouleau in French) grows fast and is hard to work on, thus related to work in
general. Unless you know bouleau, it may be better to use a mnemonic such as
“Now with a job, he bought lots of stuff he needed.” or “You need a job to fill your
bowl with food.” Or imagine you work at a bakery, boulangerie in French. If you
know the concept of French verlan (e.g. céfran for français), switch the two
syllables and use labor as a mnemonic. Examples, j’ai trop de boulot à faire (“I
got too much work to do”); il cherche du / un boulot (“he’s looking for a job”).

casquette cap. casque helmet; headphones. From Spanish casco (“helmet”). Suffix
-ette is diminutive; think of a cap as a small helmet. Casquette has entered English
vocabulary primarily referring to the cap worn by cyclists, although nowadays
they’re required to wear helmets instead. (Spanish casco is cognate with quash, an
etymology that hardly helps us, though.) Not to be confused with cask (“barrel to
store wine”), casket (“coffin”; “box for jewelry etc.”). Use a mnemonic such as
“Costco sells caps” or “Costco sells helmets”. Examples, une casquette de baseball
(“a baseball cap”); un casque audio (“headphones”, casque de musique; literally
“an audio helmet”; note a singular in French refers to a pair).

redouter to fear, to dread, craindre. redoutable formidable, frightening,

redoubtable. From re- (intensifier prefix) + douter (“to doubt”). English doubt used

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to have the sense of “to fear”. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “The king’s
doubt about his bodyguard’s loyalty causes great fear.” These words should not be
confused with English redoubt (“strong fortification”; note the extra letter b).
Perhaps confusingly, French redoute is one form of two words, one meaning
“redoubt” or “fortification”, the other being a conjugated form of redouter. French
redoutable was spelled redoubtable in Middle French times, which entered English.

caillou pebble, small stone. Possibly related to callus (“hardened skin”), whose
Latin source means “hard substance”. You may have seen or heard of the
children’s TV show Caillou, named for its main character, a boy with a large round
head. Example, un caillou dans la chaussure (“a thorn in someone’s side / in the
flesh”, literally “a pebble in the shoe”, something that is small but makes you feel
uncomfortable).

gratter to scratch, to scrape, to scrub. English grate (“to shred foodstuffs with a
grater”) is from French and is related. Examples, un gratte-ciel (“a skyscraper”); il
se gratte le bras (“he scratches his arm”; note se for an action done to oneself).

défaut fault, defect, flaw, shortcoming; default (in computing) (cognate). In spite
of cognation, this word used alone primarily means “defect”. Examples, par défaut
(“by default”); à défaut de (“for want of”, “failing”, “in the absence of”).

tordre to twist, to bend. tordu twisted; weird, crooked. Cognate with torque, with
the root of contort, distort. Examples, il s’est tordu le bras (“he twisted / bent his
arm”; note se for an action done to oneself); un esprit tordu (“a twisted mind”).

chrétien Christian (cognate). From Latin Christianus. When you see é, change it to
es, then in this case, is. (Latin i followed by two consonants except for gutturals
and nasals readily changes to French e, e.g. illa > elle, firmum > ferme, a fact that
may be only interesting to those curious.)

exposer to show, to exhibit, to explain; to expose (cognate). exposé presentation,

statement, account, exhibition; exposed, past participle of exposer. French exposer
looks easy but note the first and primary meaning. When used reflexively, it
absolutely does not mean “to expose oneself”, i.e., “to expose one’s own body”;
instead it may be an artist simply exhibiting his / her work or someone expressing
his / her ideas. French exposé is not a reporter’s exposé of a scandal of the

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government or a celebrity. Example, je vais faire un exposé sur le changement
climatique (“I’m going to give a presentation on climate change”). See also
exhiber (“to show off”).

fondre to melt. English foundry is from French and is related. You may know the
dish, fondue, which “is a Swiss melted cheese dish served in a communal pot”
(Wikipedia); the word is the feminine past participle of fondre. Not to be confused
with fonder (“to found”). Examples, la neige a fondu / est fondue (“the snow has /
is melted”; note the feminine adj. fondue); fondre en larmes (“to burst into tears”,
literally “to melt in tears”).

huile oil (cognate). To see the cognation, drop the silent initial h. Example, huile
d’olive (“olive oil”).

intime intimate (cognate). Note this word is not related to English in time (which
would be à l’heure, à temps in French). Example, un ami / une amie intime (“an
intimate friend”); un journal intime (“a diary”, literally “an intimate journal”).

manifester to show, to manifest (cognate), to demonstrate; to protest, to

demonstrate. English manifest is not as common as this French word, and does not
have the sense of “to protest”. See also démontrer (“to show”, “to demonstrate”).

prise catch (n.), hold (n.), grip (n.); (electrical) socket, power outlet, prise de
courant. From prendre (“to take”), whose past participle is pris. A socket catches
or holds the plug. One way to remember this word is to analyze English surprise,
which literally means “to over-take”, or use a phrase “Catch you by surprise!”.
Note that prise does not mean “price” or “prize”, both of which are prix in French
(final x is silent). Maybe confusingly, prise happens to be a conjugated form of
priser (“to price”; “to prize”). Examples, faire une prise de sang (“to do / take a
blood test”); la prise de la Bastille (“the storming of the Bastille”). See also prix.

cloche bell; bell-shaped covering. clocher bell tower. Cognate with clock. In the
old days, a bell was used as a clock. Think of suffix -er as to mean “receptacle” or
“holder”, also seen in plancher (“floor”) vs. planche (“board”). Cloche has entered
English meaning “bell-shaped covering”. Example, sonner la cloche (“to ring the
bell”).

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virer to turn, to veer (cognate), to change direction; to transfer (money); to turn
into, to become; (colloquial) to fire, to terminate employment of. Not to be
confused for French or English virus, viral.

infirmier (male) nurse. infirmière (female) nurse. Cognate with infirmity

(“physical or mental weakness”). Think of en- (“in-“) as negation and -firm- as
“firm” or “strong”. But note these words do not refer to a patient (“sick person”),
which would simply be patient / patiente in French, nor a disabled or handicapped
person, which would be infirme. Suffix -ier, which has various other senses,
indicates a job or trade here, as in épicier (“grocer”), brigadier (“officer
commanding a brigade”), chocolatier (“maker of chocolate”). Not to be confused
with infime (“tiny”). See also infirme (“disabled”; “disabled person”).

avertir to warn; to inform, to notify. avertissement warning. Cognate with avert

(“to turn aside”, “to ward off”). Not to be confused with advertise or advertisement,
which would be annoncer (or faire de la publicité) and publicité, respectively.
Example, avertissement: entrée interdite (“warning: no entry”).

portée range, reach (n.), scope. From porter (“to carry”). How far you can carry
something is the range. Examples, à la portée (“within the range (of voice, gunshot,
etc.)”); hors de portée (“out of reach / the range”); à portée de main (“at one’s
fingertips”, “within easy reach”).

dévorer to devour (cognate); to consume, to read avidly. Not to be confused with

divorce, also spelled divorce (n.) in French or divorcer (v.). And English devote is
consacrer (“to consecrate”) or dévouer in French.

avocat lawyer; avocado. In the first sense (or rather, the meaning of the first of the
two words spelled the same), cognate with advocate and doublet with avouer (“to
confess”, cognate with avow). It may not be easy to associate a lawyer with an
advocate as in “an advocate of peace”, especially when you consider the generally
negative image of the former and the positive or neutral image of the latter. But an
advocate is indeed a type of person in legal profession in many countries other than
the US. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “A lawyer eats avocados.”

drapeau flag. Cognate with drape, drapery. What’s common to a flag and a drape
or curtain is that both are (originally) made of cloth. Note this word does not mean

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“drapery”, which would be draperie in French. As a mnemonic, you can imagine a
flag that hangs on a pole but drops down because there’s no wind. Example, le
drapeau français est bleu blanc rouge (“the French flag is blue white red”). See
also drap (“sheet”).

tailler to cut, couper. Cognate with tailor. If you prefer a mnemonic instead,
imagine cutting the rear section of a tailcoat into a swallow-tail. Note: to say
cutting into pieces, use couper instead. Examples, tailler / couper les arbres (“to
cut short / prune the trees”); tailler en pièces (“to tear to pieces”, literally “to cut in
pieces”). See also taille (“size”; “cutting”).

soumettre to submit (cognate). Prefix sou- means sub-. Example, il ne se soumet

pas à l’autorité (“he does not submit to the authority”).

tendu tense, tight; past participle of tendre (“to tighten”; “to stretch”).

émouvoir to move emotionally. émouvant moving (causing emotion), touching;

present participle of émouvoir. ému (emotionally) moved, affected, touched; past
participle of émouvoir. The root is cognate with move. English emotion is from this
French word (via an intermediate form). Note the past participle ému has no accent
mark on u, unlike mû, the past participle of mouvoir (“to move”).

samedi Saturday. From Latin Sabbati dies (“Sabbath day”). One theory about the -
me- part is that there was influence of the Old French equivalent of -ième (“-th” in
English). Regardless, as a mnemonic, it may be better to note that of all seven days
of week in French, samedi is the only one that starts with sa (or even s), and in
English, obviously Saturday is the only one that starts with Sa. Also note that e in
this word is silent in popular pronunciation. Examples, samedi prochain / dernier
(“next / last Saturday”); fermé le samedi (“closed on Saturday”).

balayer to sweep; to sweep away, to brush aside. balai broom. Unhelpful

etymology. As a mnemonic, imagine a witch’s broom dancing a ballet as in a
children’s movie. Examples, balayer le sol (“to sweep the floor”); balayer la
maison / cuisine (“to sweep the house floor / kitchen floor”; le sol is implied);
manche à balai (“broomstick”; “joystick”).

luire to gleam, to glimmer, to shine. luisant gleaming, shining; present participle

of luire. Cognate with lucent (“shining”). Doublet with lueur (“glimmer” n.). From

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Latin lucere, by way of luc’re, then luire, where the cr-ir change is quite common,
as in fac’re > faire, etc; to make use of this knowledge, remember to change ir of
this French word back to cr to cer. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “Some
deep-sea fish emit light to lure their preys.” The adjective or present participle
luisant is closer to lucent in pronunciation. See also lueur.

langage language. This word is masculine in grammatical gender in spite of the e

ending. Note that in French, the language as a linguistic term is a different word, la
langue (e.g., la langue française, “the French language”; une langue étrangère, “a
foreign language”; la langue maternelle, “the mother tongue”; un langage de
programmation, “a programming language; la langue de Molière, “Molière’s
language”, “French”), while the wording or style of speaking or writing is le
langage (e.g., le langage commercial, “the business language”; le langage
administratif , “administrative language”). To remember which is which, consider
that langage is derived from langue with suffix -age and not the other way around;
only after we have a human language in its linguistic sense can we build on top of
it and develop various styles of using the language. Also, langue can also mean
“tongue”. See also langue (“tongue”; “language”).

culotte pants, knickers, shorts. From cul (“bottom”) + -ot (diminutive suffix).
English cul-de-sac (“dead end street”, literally “bottom of sack”) is from French.
This word has entered English vocabulary, usually in plural culottes. Note petite
culotte means “panties”, “undies”, or “knickers”. See also cul.

sien his, her; his own, her own. From son (“his”, “her”), by way of sen, a softened
form of son. The word is often preceded by the definite article. Not to be confused
with sein (“breast”, “bosom”). Example, le livre / la voiture est à Martin, c’est le
sien / la sienne (“the book / car is Martin’s, it is his”; note le sien for le livre and la
sienne for la voiture). See also mien (“mine”).

tiroir drawer. From tirer (“to draw”, “to pull”) + -oir (suffix to form a noun).

lame blade, thin plate; lamina (“thin layer of material”) (cognate); wave. The sense
of “wave” (as in lame de fond, “ground swell”) is due to the analogy that the wave
extends as if in a sheet on the surface of water. This word is a false friend of
English lame (which would be boiteux in French). Example, la lame du couteau
(“the blade of the knife”).

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laine wool. Cognate with lanolin (a fatty substance found naturally on sheep’s
wool), with wool if traced to Proto-Indo-European, with Spanish and Italian lana.
It may be better to use a mnemonic such as “Elaine is wearing a wool sweater”
(Élaine porte un pull en laine).

résoudre to solve (a problem); (reflexive) to resolve (to do something) (cognate).

Examples, résoudre un problème (“to solve a problem”); il s’est résolu à trouver
une solution au problème (“he was determined / resolved / made up his mind to
find a solution to the problem”).

gémir to moan, to groan. gémissement moan (n.), groan. Etymology doesn’t help.
Use a mnemonic such as “Jimmy is an unhappy boy and moans a lot” (Jimmy est
un garçon malheureux et gémit beaucoup), or imagine someone is bored and
grumpy, saying je m’ennuie (“I’m bored”).

brouillard fog, mist, smog, brume (which may be lighter than brouillard).
brouiller to blur, to mix up; to scramble. Cognate with broil (in the sense of “to
embroil”, not in the sense of “to cook”), with the root of embroil. Cognate with
broth (“water flavored with vegetables and meat”; “soup”) if traced to Proto-
Germanic. Consider a broth to be an unclear mixture of various kinds of food.
Although bouillon (“broth”), a French word that has entered English vocabulary, is
not etymologically related, you may use it as a mnemonic. Examples, un épais
brouillard (“heavy fog”, un brouillard épais); oeufs brouillés (“scrambled eggs”).
See also débrouiller (“to manage”).

bâtiment building; construction industry. bâtir to build, construire. English

bastion is from French and is related to bâtiment . To see the cognation, change â
to as, then try different noun suffixes and you find -tion makes a good word. Bâtir
is cognate with baste (“to make quick, temporary stitching in sewing”, tack),
although that connection won’t help a person with no knowledge of sewing. Note
that bâtiment does not mean “basement”, which would be sous-sol (literally
“under-floor” or “under-ground”). But as a mnemonic, you can think of the
basement of a building when you see this word. Examples, un bâtiment rouge (“a
red building”); l’industrie du bâtiment souffre de le manque de matériaux (“the
construction industry suffers from lack of materials”); Napoleon a bâti un grand
empire (“Napoleon built a great empire”).

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mien mine, my own. From mon. See also sien (“his”, “her”).

sentier path, trail. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “the scent of
a fox on this trail”, “something is sent down this path”, or “there’s a sentry at the
start of this path”. Note the word is a noun in spite of -er ending. Not to be
confused with sentir (“to feel”; “to smell”). Example, les sentiers battus (“the
beaten path”; its singular le sentier battu is less used).

tronc trunk (either part of body or of tree) (cognate). Note c is silent, unlike that in
donc.

mépris contempt, disdain, scorn (n.). mépriser to despise , to hate. From mé-
(“bad”, “mis-”) + priser (“to set a price”; “to prize”). The root priser is cognate
with price and prize. Contempt is likened to setting a bad price or giving a bad
assessment. (The form mépris is also the past participle of an unrelated, much less
frequent word, méprendre, “to make a mistake”.) Example, au mépris de (“in
defiance of”, “with no regard for”).

reprise re-run (n.), repeat (n.), resumption; (plural) times, fois (due to re-, reprise
has to be at least twice, but fois can be once); (music) reprise. From re- + prise
(“taking”). This word has entered English vocabulary. Examples, il l’a fait
plusieurs fois (“He did it multiple times”); la reprise du travail après la tempête
(“resuming the work after the storm”); la reprise des cours (“start of next class”;
“start of new semester”).

pote buddy, mate, pal, mec. Shortened from French poteau (“post”, “pole”;
“buddy”). Think of a post, which can be supportive, just as a friend or buddy can.
Alternatively, as a mnemonic, imagine you call your fat buddy sitting on a couch
watching TV a couch potato. Or imagine his belly as a pot. See also poteau.

écrouler (reflexive) to collapse, effondrer. According to one theory, this word is

related to rouler (“to roll”) (cognate with roll), and according to another, to croûte
(“crust”) (cognate with crust). Imagine a building collapses with many pieces
rolling down and over. Example, le bâtiment s’est écroulé (“the building
collapsed”).

cuivre copper (cognate). Both cuivre and copper are from Late Latin cuprum.
Latin p may change to b or v in French. Note this word does not mean “curve”,

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which would be courbe in French. But you can use curve to make a mnemonic
such as “a curved copper tubing”.

gant glove. Cognate with gauntlet. Examples, une paire de gants (“a pair of
gloves”); la boîte à gants (“the glove box (in a car)”);

méfier (reflexive) to mistrust, to distrust, to be wary of, to watch out for. méfiance
mistrust (n.), distrust. From mé- (“bad”, “mis-“) + fier (“to trust”) and fiance
(“trust”). The sense “to be wary of” is obviously derived from “to not trust”.
Example, on se méfie de le nouveau président (“we distrust the new president”;
note se and de). See also fier.

réaliser to realize, to make real, to fulfill, to achieve, to carry out; to realize, to

become aware. This word is easy but note that the second meaning, which is from
English, may be criticized by French language purists, who prefer se rendre
compte. Example, réaliser un rêve (“to realize a dream”, “to make a dream come
true”).

poète poet. Note this word is masculine, in spite of the -e ending. Its feminine form
is poétesse (“poetess”; note the different accent mark and ideally a more closed
vowel sound).

carrefour crossroads, junction, intersection. The carre- element means “four” and
-four element means “fork”, related to fourche (“fork”) but unrelated to French
word four (“oven”). A crossroad is like a fork with four prongs extending in four
directions. The French retailer Carrefour opened its first store in 1960 near a
crossroads. See also carré (“square”), fourche (“fork”).

pouce thumb; inch. Cognate with pollical (“about the thumb”, a medical term).
Etymology doesn’t help unless you know another Romance language. Use a
mnemonic such as “Push with the thumb”. Not to be confused with puce (“flea”) if
you know that word. (And if you do, as a mnemonic, imagine pressing on a flea
with your thumb to kill it.) The sense of “inch” is due to the length of a thumb.
Examples, j’ai mal au pouce (“my thumb hurts”); un coup de pouce (“a helping
hand”, “help”, un coup de main; literally “a stroke of thumb”).

velours velvet (cognate). From Latin villus (“hair”). The second v in English velvet
was u in Latin villus.

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las tired, weary, fatigué. Cognate with lassitude (“weariness”, “fatigue”), with late
if traced to Proto-Indo-European. Related to lasser (“to make tired”, “to tire”).
Note s of las is silent (but the fem. form lasse ends with /s/ sound). Alternatively,
use a mnemonic such as “Are you really tired or just lazy?” or “Relax if you’re
tired.” See also lasser.

soulier shoe, chaussure. Nowadays chaussure is much more commonly used.

Etymology doesn’t help. As a mnemonic, think of under-lier, where sou- is for
sub- or under-, and -lier is the thing that lies down. A shoe lies at the bottom of a
person.

messe Mass (church service) (cognate). Not to be confused with English mess
(which would be désordre in French).

lisse smooth. If traced to Proto-Indo-European, probably cognate with slick, slime.

Etymology hardly helps unless you know another Romance language. You can
also use glisser (“to slide”) as a mnemonic. Or imagine the dog leash is smooth.

soif thirst. Etymology does not help. Use a mnemonic such as “soft drinks quench
thirst”. Examples, j’ai soif (“I’m thirsty”); boire jusqu’à plus soif (“to drink one’s
fill”; plus here may be considered short for ne plus, “no more”).

toutefois however, cependant, pourtant, néanmoins, mais. Literally or superficially

it means “all times”. In some languages, all may be used in a concessive sense; it
concedes or acknowledges a fact, followed by a turn in the sentence. Concessive
functional words in English are although, even if, while, and less commonly, for all,
as in “for all our efforts, the project failed”. At least as a mnemonic, think of
toutefois as “for all that”.

paume palm (cognate) of hand. From Latin palma. Au and al sound alike. In fact,
al sometimes did change to au. This word is doublet with palme, which means
“palm tree or its leaf”. There’s no good explanation why it’s the word for the palm
of the hand not the tree that changed al of Latin palma to au. As a mnemonic,
imagine the l of palme as the upward-pointing tree trunk, which paume does not
have. See also palme.

orage thunderstorm, storm, tempête. Cognate with aura (“air”, “atmosphere”,

“quality of a thing or person”). The Latin source aura literally means “breeze”,

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“breath of air”. If the air blows faster than a breeze, it’s typical of a storm.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “O, rage, the storm!”, “The storm is God’s
outrage”, or use hurricane (which is ouragan in French). Note English orange is
also orange in French, and is obviously unrelated to orage, but you can make up an
association as a mnemonic if you wish.

bondir to leap, to pounce. bond jump (n.), leap, pounce. Cognate with bound in an
outdated sense of “bounce”, with the root of rebound. English bounce is not a
cognate but serves as a good mnemonic (but bounce may imply “back”, which
bondir does not). Note this word is not related to English bond (which would be
liaison, lier in French). Example, faire un bond (“to make a leap / jump”).

veine vein (cognate); (informal) luck. The second meaning of “luck” (as in avoir
de la veine, “to be lucky”), probably came from the fact that a good or bad vein
signifies good or bad health therefore luck, or that the ore of gold or diamond is
found in veins of mineral rocks.

mémé (child talk) grandma, granny. It is a repeat of the second element of grand-
mère (“grandma”). Example, pépé et mémé (“grandpa and grandma”).

aigu keen, acute (cognate). aiguille needle (of many things), hand (of clock).
aiguiser to sharpen (a knife), to whet (appetite). Cognate with acute, with the first
element of acupuncture. Examples, un sens aigu de l’odorat (“a keen sense of
smell”); un besoin aigu d’eau (“a desperate need of water”); accent aigu (“acute
accent”, as the diacritic of é); une aiguille à coudre (“a sewing needle”); aiguiser
le couteau (“to sharpen the knife”). See also pointu (“sharp”) for the meaning of
suffix -u.

digne worthy; dignified. indigne unworthy, lacking value or merit; disgraceful.

Note the first and so more common meaning of these words; a dignified thing or
person is a worthy one. Cognate with dignity and indignity, respectively; indigne is
also cognate with English indignation (“anger due to indignity”). The second
meaning of indigne “disgraceful” may be related to indignity, but the word
definitely does not imply “anger” or “angry” as in indignation. Examples, digne de
ce nom (“worthy of the name”); digne de foi (“trustworthy” , “worthy of trust”).

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ceinture belt. Cognate with cincture (“girdle”, “belt”). Example, ceinture de
sécurité (“safety belt”, “seatbelt”).

serviette towel, napkin. From servir (“to serve”) + -ette (diminutive suffix). A
small thing to serve. Although the literal meaning may be too generic, consider the
fact that a napkin or towel is used frequently and may need to be changed
frequently by a waiter or waitress or hotel maid. This word has entered English
vocabulary. Examples, une serviette de bain / de toilette (“a bath towel”, “a
bathroom towel”); une serviette de table (“table napkin”).

sud south (n. and adj.) (cognate if traced to Old English). French sud and English
south are both derived from Old English suþ (where letter þ, called thorn, is
pronounced like th in thin), just as French nord and English north both came from
Old English norþ. You can see that English changed its vowel to get south while
French changed the ending consonant (thorn) to get sud. Examples, le sud de la
France (“southern France”); le vent du sud (“south wind”); le côté sud (“south
side”); la côte sud (“south coast”).

coupable guilty, culpable (cognate); culprit (n., masc. and fem.). Also cognate
with the first element of culprit (cul-). If English culpable doesn’t ring a bell,
remember mea culpa means “my fault”. Note this word does not mean “capable”
(capable or compétent in French), and is not related to coup (“hit”).

tombe grave, tomb (cognate); conjugated form of tomber (“to fall”). tombeau
tomb. In English, grave makes you think of the hole in the ground while tomb the
burial place with an erected structure such as a monument. Not everyone follows
this distinction, but if you do, grave better matches French tombe and tomb
matches tombeau. Note tombe (ending with -e) is fem. while tombeau masc., and
they are unrelated to tomber (“to fall”). Example, le tombeau du roi Tut (“the tomb
of King Tut / Tutankhamun”).

moine monk (cognate). Not to be confused with moins (“less”; “least”). As a

mnemonic, you can think of a monk as one living on less necessities of life than a
nonreligious person. This word is masculine in spite of e ending, as a monk is male.
A nun is religieuse, or (less frequently) nonne, or (colloquially) bonne sœur (“good
sister”) in French.

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local local (adj.); room, premises, building. Note the second meaning, which is
missing in English local. Think of English locale (“a place where something
happens”), which is from French. Examples, 18h30 heure locale (“6:30 PM local
time”; note the 24-hour time format, and heure, not temps); dans les locaux de
l’école (“on school premises”; note plural locaux)

trésor treasure (cognate).

soupçonner to suspect (cognate), se douter. soupçon suspicion; a little bit. From

Latin suspicionem, where sp changed to p (as often happened in French) and the
unstressed vowel after p was lost. Examples, je soupçonne / me doute que Jean l’a
fait (“I suspect Jean did it”); ajoute un soupçon de lait (“to add a little bit of milk”;
this sense of soupçon has entered English). See also douter.

mouchoir handkerchief; tissue. Cognate with mucus. Tissue paper or formerly a

handkerchief is used to wipe or blow the nose to clear the mucus. See also
moucher (“to wipe nose”).

mou, mol soft (literally or figuratively), weak, pansy, spineless. Cognate with
mollify (“to pacify”, “to appease anger”, literally “to soften”). Mol is only used in
the masculine singular before a vowel sound. Example, le lit est trop mou (“the bed
is too soft”). See also mouiller (“to make or get wet”).

supplier to beg, to implore, to beseech, to supplicate (cognate). Although

etymologically related, this word is a false friend of English supply (which would
be fournir in French) or supplier (fournisseur in French). Example, elle l’a supplié
de rester (“she begged him to stay”).

bousculer to push, to jostle, to shove, to bump, to knock (over). There’s no

convincing theory about its origin. Use a mnemonic such as “push (to) corner” or
“push the cooler”. Not to be confused with basculer (“to toggle”).

acier steel. From Latin acies (“sharp edge”). Cognate with acrid (“sharp”),
acrimony (“sharp, bitter hatred”), acrimonious, acetic, with the root of exacerbate,
with the first element of acrylic. Or as a mnemonic, imagine an Acer computer is
made of steel. Example, acier inoxydable (“stainless steel”, literally “oxidizable
steel”).

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féminin female; feminine. Note that this word can mean either “female” or
“feminine” depending on the context. The word femelle does exist but it means
“female” (adj. or n.) about a species, often in the context of animals or plants. In
referring to a woman directly, say femme (e.g. femme officier de police). Examples,
les vêtements féminins (“women’s clothes”; note féminins is masc. plural); la
presse féminine (“women’s magazines”, literally “women’s press”). See also
masculin (“male”; “masculine”).

placard cupboard, cabinet, closet; placard. Note that the second meaning as in
English placard is not common, and affiche (“placard”, “poster”) is often used
instead.

chuchoter to whisper. Onomatopoeia or imitative. You may use shush as a

mnemonic, as in a theater where even speaking in a whisper would make other
people ask for silence.

débarquer to disembark, to land, to unload, to offload. Prefix dé- exactly matches

prefix dis- of disembark. While the opposite is embarquer (“to embark”),
débarquer does not have -em- as in English disembark. See also barque (“small
boat”).

traduire to translate. traduction translation. Tra- is trans- (“across”), and -duire is

cognate with duct and with the root of introduce. The Italian expression traduttore,
traditore (“translator, traitor”, implying a translator changes the meaning of the
original text) may help you remember these words. Alternatively, use a mnemonic
such as “introduce a foreign language book by translating it”. Example, il a traduit
le livre du français à l’anglais (“he translated the book from French into English”).

canne cane (cognate), stick, rod (for fishing etc.). The French city of Cannes,
famous for the annual Cannes Film Festival, was probably named after Latin canna
meaning “reed”, “cane”. Examples, canne à sucre (“sugar cane”); canne à pêche
(“fishing rod”).

formidable fantastic, great. Cognate with formidable (“fearsome”). In spite of

cognation, this word does not mean “formidable” and is one of the most popular
false friends. Although it could mean “formidable” as late as a century ago, the
sense of “fantastic” or “extraordinary” started to take over even in Balzac’s time.

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English formidable may be translated into French as redoutable or simply terrible.
Example, le film était formidable (“the movie was fantastic”).

équipe team. équipage crew. Cognate with equip, with ship if traced to Old
English or Proto-Germanic. The original meaning was “to fit out or provide
necessary equipment”, then extended to “to provide for the crew or team”.
Examples, esprit d’équipe (“team spirit”); équipage de conduite (“flight crew”,
literally “conducting crew”).

cogner to bump, to bang (head etc.), heurter. Cognate with cuneate (“wedge-
shaped”, said of a leaf). Use a mnemonic such as “I was so drunk after I drank
Cognac that I banged my head on the wall.” Unrelated to English cognate.
Example, fais attention! ne te cogne / vous cognez pas la tête contre la porte (“be
careful! don’t bump your head on the door”; note the reflexive pronoun when said
of one’s own body part).

bagnole (informal) car. Uncertain or unhelpful etymology. As a mnemonic, think

of a car loaded with bags of nails. Or imagine a big luxury car equipped with a
baño (Spanish for “bathroom”).

exprès on purpose, intentionnellement; express (adj.). The meaning “on purpose”

probably developed from “expressly”. Example, il l’a / il a fait exprès (“he did it
on purpose”; faire exprès means “to do on purpose” and sans faire exprès
“unintentionally”).

bonhomme fellow, chap. Literally it means “good man”, which is what a chap is.
(But when you do mean to say “a good man”, say un homme bon instead.) This
word also occurs in the phrase bonhomme de neige (“snowman”).

repasser to iron (clothes); to pass by or drop by again (at a place); to re-take (an
exam). French passer has more meanings than English pass, but “to iron” and “to
pass by again” of repasser may be guessed because re- can indicate repetition of
an action or movement. The sense of “to re-take” or “re-sit” an exam needs
attention; repasser does not mean “to pass (an exam) again”, because passer un
examen means “to take, not to pass, an exam”. See also reçu (“admitted”,
“received”; “receipt”) related to this caution. Examples, repasser une chemise (“to

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iron a shirt”); une planche à repasser (“an ironing board”); je repasserai demain
(“I’ll drop by again tomorrow”).

tasse cup. Arabic origin, probably by way of Italian tazza. Cognate with English
tazza (“a wide shallow cup or bowl”). Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “taste
the water in the cup”. Not to be confused with tas (“heap”). Examples, une tasse de
thé (“a cup of tea”); une tasse à thé (“a teacup”; à, a more ambiguous preposition
than de, roughly means “for” here).

cravate necktie. English cravat (“a short, wide strip of fabric worn by men around
the neck”) is from this word. Originally it referred to the scarf worn by Croatian
soldiers or horsemen. Hence the name. The consonant v was intercalated to
separate two otherwise adjacent vowels for euphonic reasons. This word is a
doublet of Croate (“Croat”, “person of Croatia”). As a mnemonic, imagine you
very much want or crave for a necktie, or think of the two strips of the necktie
down from the knot as a split or crevice.

rein kidney. Cognate with renal (“of kidney”), from Latin ren (“kidney”). Latin e
and a before a nasal such as n usually changed to French ei and ai, respectively.
Sometimes people say avoir mal aux reins, literally “to have pain at kidneys”, but
in fact they mean “to have back pain” (mal au dos). Not to be confused with reine
(“queen”).

liquide liquid (n. and adj.); cash, espèces. Note the second meaning, as in payer en
liquide (“to pay in cash”). In English, a liquid asset is cash on hand or an asset that
can be turned into cash quickly.

vitrine shop window, showcase, display; shopping; glass-paneled cabinet, vitrine.

English vitrine is from French. This word occurs much more frequently in French
and mostly refers to shop windows. Related to English vitreous (“glass-like”).

rigoler to laugh, rire; to joke. rigolade laugh (n.); joke. rigolo funny, drôle. The
ri- part is from rire (“to laugh”) and -goler is cognate with the root of regale in the
sense of “to give pleasure or amusement”. (English regale, which means “to amuse”
or “to provide plenty of food”, is from French régaler whose prefix ré- is from this
ri-.) Example, je rigolais (“I was joking”). See also rire.

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animer to animate; to host (a show), to moderate. Note the second meaning.
Example, une discussion animée par M. X (“a discussion hosted by Mr. X”).

pourvoir to provide (cognate), to fill. From Latin provideo, where r and o are
transposed (metathesis), probably related to the fact that confusion of Latin pro-
and per- resulted in a single French prefix pour-. Unrelated to pour voir (“to see”),
or pouvoir (“to be able to”), which nevertheless can be used as a mnemonic; an
able person provides food for his family.

reine queen. Cognate with reign since both can be traced to Latin rex (“king”). Or
use a mnemonic such as “England prospered under the reign of Queen Elizabeth
(la reine Elizabeth)”. Not to be confused with rein (“kidney”), which is
pronounced quite differently. As a mnemonic to help remember which is which,
consider that a queen is female so reine is feminine (and rein is masculine).

tranchée (military) trench (cognate). May also be related to truncate. Although

this form is also the feminine singular of the past participle of trancher (“to slice”;
“to decide”), it should not be confused with that word.

oreiller pillow. From oreille (“ear”). It’s not clear why “pillow” is related to “ear”,
presumably because lateral sleep position is the most common (according to sleep
researchers) and when you sleep on one side, the pillow takes in an ear; suffix -er
generally has many meanings but in oreiller probably indicates a receptacle.
Contrast it with Spanish idiom planchar oreja, literally “to iron (one’s) ear”, which
means “to sleep”. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “O’Reilly Auto Parts
sells car seat cushions that can be used as pillows.” See also oreille.

échec failure, defeat, setback; check (in playing chess) (cognate); (plural) chess.
This is a rare case where the French and English words are both from the same
Persian word, from which shah (“Persian or Iranian king”) is also derived. Check
or checkmate literally means “the king is dead”. Hence “failure” for échec. The
name of the game, plural échecs (“chess”; pronounced the same as singular échec),
is from the check action. Examples, faire échec au trafic illicite de drogues (“to
defeat / thwart / counter illegal drug trafficking”; faire échec literally means “to
make failure”); jouer aux échecs (“to play chess”).

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brique brick (cognate); carton (for food). Note the second meaning; a carton is like
a brick in shape. Example, une brique de lait (“a milk carton”; “a carton of milk”).

abbé abbot (head of an abbey) (cognate). A female abbot is abbesse.

déboucher to unblock, to uncork (a bottle), to open; (followed by sur) to lead into,

to culminate in. boucher to plug, to clog, to block; butcher (cognate). bouchon
cork, plug (n.), stopper; traffic jam. Boucher in the sense of “to cork” may be from
Latin bosca (“bush”, “wood”) and so related to French bois (“wood”) and English
bush, bouquet. The meaning changed from “bush”, to “bundle of branches or
foliage”, to “plug”. Possibly in the old times such a bundle was used as a plug or
stopper. The meaning of déboucher is simply the opposite, and in the figurative
sense, “to let water flow” or “to lead into”. Some dictionaries, however, relate
boucher to bouche (“mouth”), which is probably a mistake. When boucher means
“butcher”, it is a different word. Examples, se boucher le nez (“to hold one’s nose”;
se means doing this to oneself); pousser le bouchon (un peu loin) (“to go too far”,
“to cross the line”; because if you push the cork too far, it will fall into the bottle or
wine container). See also boucher (“butcher”).

orgueil pride. Cognate with an outdated word orgulous (“haughty”, “proud”), with
Spanish orgullo (“pride”). If you don’t know this English word, etymology doesn’t
help. Its pronunciation is somewhat similar to that of ego or arrogant/arrogance,
so use one of those as a mnemonic. Or use a mnemonic “I’m proud of being part of
this organization”. But note orgueil often has a negative connotation, unlike fierté
(“pride”). Example, Orgueil et Préjugés (“Pride and Prejudice”).

merveilleux marvelous (cognate), wonderful. merveille wonder, marvel (cognate).

émerveiller to amaze; (reflexive) to marvel (cognate). Although English marvel
may not be frequently used, its adjective marvelous is. Example, à merveille
(“perfectly”, “wonderfully”).

Mme abbreviation for madame, Mrs.

sel salt. Cognate with salt if traced to Proto-Indo-European. Note that English salty
is salé in French. Example, peux tu me passer le sel s’il te plaît? (“can you pass me
the salt please?”). See also salé, saler (“to salt”).

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panier basket. English pannier (“basket, especially one of a pair hung on a bicycle
or pack animal”) is from this word. Related to French pain (“bread”). A pannier is
originally a bread-basket. See also pain.

aborder to tackle (a problem), to address; to approach, to reach. From a- (entering

a specific state) + border (“to border”).

figer to freeze, to congeal. Cognate with fix (“to hold in place”). To freeze is to fix
or make unmovable. Alternatively, use frigid as a mnemonic. Or think of a person
that fidgets as if shivering in freezing cold. Or imagine sticking your finger in ice.
But to say “water freezes in cold” use geler instead. Examples, expression figée
(“set phrase”, “idiom”, literally “fixed expression”); figer / libérer des lignes /
colonnes dans une feuille de calcul (“to freeze / unfreeze the rows / columns in a
spreadsheet”); mon écran d’ordinateur se fige (“my computer screen freezes”).

chiffre figure, number; digit (0 through 9); cipher (cognate). déchiffrer to

decipher (cognate). Examples, un numéro à 3 chiffres (“a 3-digit number”); chiffre
d’affaires (“sales”, “turnover”, “revenue”; French affaires means “business”).

épuiser to exhaust, to deplete, to wear out, to drain energy, to lose steam. épuisé
exhausted; out of print. The root is from puits (“well”, ground hole to fetch water
from). Épuiser literally means “to take (water) out of the well”. Alternatively, use a
mnemonic based on puissance (“power”), as if power has exited (é-). The word
puissance is from pouvoir (“can”) so it should be easy. In any case, épuiser or
épuisé should not be confused with époux (“husband”; “spouse”), although a clever
mnemonic can be made out of it. Example, je suis épuisé (“I’m exhausted”). See
also puits (“well”), puissance.

bouffer (informal) to eat, manger. bouffée puff (n.). Onomatopoeia, just like
English puff is from a word that was originally of imitative origin; the way your
mouth blows air is how you pronounce these words. To remember the meaning of
bouffer (“to eat”), you either think of the stuffed belly as puffed up, or use buffet as
a mnemonic, since the main thing you focus on when eating a buffet is to eat. With
any of these images in mind, you know bouffer is a word much more informal than
manger. Examples, il a tout bouffé / mangé (“he ate it all”); une bouffée d’air frais
(“a breath of fresh air”).

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vase vase, container for flowers (masc. n.); mud, silt, slime (fem. n.), boue. Note
the second meaning, or rather, the meaning of a different word in this form; it’s
cognate with ooze in the sense of “soft mud” or “pelagic sediment” (muddy
sediment on the ocean floor). Alternatively, use waste as a mnemonic, or imagine
at the bottom of a vase there’s mud on which a flower is planted.

démarche gait, walk (n.), step. Prefix dé- (“off”, “apart”) can be understood as
“starting off from the original position”. This word has entered English vocabulary
referring to a diplomatic maneuver, which could be accurately defined by a
government. Example, juger quelqu’un par sa première démarche / par son
premier pas (“to judge someone by his first step”).

niveau level (cognate). Its Latin origin starts with l. It’s not uncommon to see l-n
(liquid consonant) interchange in Romance languages. Examples, au même niveau
(“at the same level”); niveau de vie (“standard of living”, literally “level of life /
living”).

sucre sugar (cognate). Examples, canne à sucre (“sugar cane”); sucre en poudre
(“granulated sugar”); sucre glace (“icing sugar”); jus d’orange sans sucre (“sugar-
free orange juice”).

boucher butcher (n.) (cognate); to cork, to block. These two senses are actually
from two words that happen to be spelled the same. In the first sense, it literally or
originally means “person that kills bucks”, from bouc (“buck”, “male goat”),
which is cognate with buck if traced to Proto-Germanic. Later the sense is
generalized to “person that kills any animal”. See also boucher (“to plug”, “to
clog”).

joindre to join (cognate); to meet with, to contact, to find and get in touch with.
The second meaning is an extension of the first. Examples, je n’ai pas pu le joindre
(“I couldn’t reach / get hold of / contact him”); les mains jointes (“hands together /
clasped”); joindre les deux bouts (“to make ends meet”, “to get by financially”).

défiler to parade, to march, to pass, to pass and go. file a line of objects (such as a
queue). File is from fil (“thread”) and is a line of things arranged like a thread.
Défiler is from dé- + file + -er. Note that English file is fichier or dossier in French,
unrelated to French file. Examples, le chef de file (“the leader”); la file d’attente

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(“the waiting line”, “the queue”); les visiteurs défilent toute la journée (“the
visitors come and go / come one after another all day long”). See also fil.

marrer (informal) (reflexive) to have a great time, to laugh, rigoler, rire. marrant
funny. This word came into existence in the late 19th century but has an uncertain
origin. It may be cognate with mar (“to spoil”, “to damage”) if traced to Proto-
Germanic. Another source links it to Spanish marear (“to get sea-sick”), hence the
sense “annoying”. “To laugh” or “to be amused” is said to be from the act of
laughing at an annoying person. So the first part of the word, mar-, is cognate with
marine, maritime. Neither etymology is straightforward. Use a mnemonic such as
“they’re having a great time after they get married”. Unrelated to marier (“to
marry”) or démarrer (“to start”). Example, ils se sont marrés / ils ont ri pendant
dix minutes (“they laughed for ten minutes”).

proie prey (n.) (cognate). Also cognate with predator. Examples, en proie à (“prey
to”, “plagued by”, “in the grip of”); un oiseau de proie (“a bird of prey”).

pré meadow. Doublet with prairie, which has entered English vocabulary. It’s
easy to mix up short words in learning them. For example, this word should not be
confused with prêt (“ready”; t is silent), prier (“to pray”), or prefix pré- (English
pre-), and it does not mean “prey” (which would be proie in French). Example, il y
a des vaches et des chevaux dans le pré (“there are cows and horses in the
meadow”).

nouer to tie, to knot, to bind, to fasten. Cognate with node, noose, and if traced to
Proto-Indo-European, with knot. From Latin nodare. Latin medial (in the middle of
a word) d almost always disappeared in French. If you know dénouement or
commonly in English denouement (“final part of a story”, literally “untying”), you
can analyze that word to know nouer. See also dénouer (“to untie”).

pile battery, pile électrique; pile (cognate); tail of a coin; (colloquial) exactly, on
the dot, sharp. Note the multitude of the meanings. Alessandro Volta invented the
battery that looks like a pile of plates; Getty Images holds a well-known painting
titled Alessandro Volta demonstrating his pile (battery) to Napoleon. To remember
the sense of “tail (of a coin)”, imagine a pile of plates stacked vertically, where the
upper-side is called face (head in English) and the under-side is (somehow) named
after the whole pile. It’s not clear how this word acquired the colloquial sense of

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“exactly”. Examples, une pile de livres (“a pile of books”); pile ou face (“heads or
tails”; in English we say head first and more commonly in plural); il est 10 heures
pile / précises (“it’s 10 o’oclock sharp”).

lapin rabbit. Probably related to Latin lepus (“hare”), which is also the name of a
constellation in astronomy and Orion’s hare in mythology. Another theory (not
convincing though) relates the word to lop (“to hang downward”), lopsided, which
historically was also spelled lapsided; a rabbit’s ear can lop or hang down loosely.
As a mnemonic, simply change the pronunciation a bit, l to r and p to b, so lapin is
close to rabbit. Or imagine a rabbit that is near or is climbing a pine, which is pin
in French, even though pin is a masculine noun so you say le pin, not la pin.
Example, lapin à la moutarde (“rabbit with mustard”, a dish popular in France and
Italy).

index index (alphabetic list); index finger, forefinger. This word is easy but note
that its plural is still index, not indexes or indices as in English. Also note an index
in the sense of “sign” or “indicator” is indice. See also indice.

foyer home; fireplace; lobby, waiting room. From Latin focus (“hearth”). Doublet
with feu (“fire”). The second syllable consonant c of focus was dropped (in some
cases, this c changes to g, j, or i). This word has entered English vocabulary but
only takes the sense of “lobby”, not “home” or “fireplace”. Examples, une femme
au foyer (“a housewife”, literally “a woman at home”); rester au foyer / à la
maison (“to stay at home”).

séance session (cognate), meeting. From Latin sedentem (“seating”), from which
we have sedentary. The medial (in-word) d was dropped, which probably caused
the preceding vowel to have a diacritic mark. A meeting is normally held when
people sit down. Examples, une séance photo (“a photo shoot (session)”); séance
de travail (“working session”).

hanche hip. Cognate with haunch (“buttock and thigh”). Alternatively use a
mnemonic such as “He got a hump on his back after he injured his hip.” Example,
j’ai mal à la hanche (“I have a hip pain”; “my hip hurts”).

pavé cobblestone; pavement; paved (adj. or past participle of paver); (figurative)

street. English pavement is from French. Cobblestone is good for road pavement.

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défaire to undo. Prefix dé- negates faire (“to do”). Cognate with defeat. But
English defeat is translated into French as défaite (n.) and battre or vaincre (v.),
better than défaire.

tremper to soak; to temper (metal), to harden. Cognate with temper (“to

moderate”). Steel is tempered by soaking it in water when red hot. Alternatively,
use a mnemonic such as “I tremble when soaked in cold water”. Don’t confuse this
word with trembler (“to tremble”) or tromper (“to deceive”). Example, faire
tremper les légumes pour les nettoyer et les laver (“to soak vegetables to clean and
wash them”, literally “to have the vegetables soaked ...”).

gâteau cake. This word has entered English vocabulary, possibly written as gateau.
Etymology doesn’t help. If you know another Romance language, imagine a gato
(“cat” in Spanish and Portuguese) or gatto (in Italian) eating a cake. Or think of a
cake as a gift (cadeau) if you know that word (but don’t get confused with that
word). Or imagine a cake shop is behind a gate. Lorayne and Lucas The Memory
Book suggests a mnemonic “a gigantic birthday cake has got you by the toe”.
Examples, un gâteau au chocolat (“a chocolate cake”); un morceau de gâteau (“a
piece / slice of cake”; this expression does not imply something easy as in English).

racine root (literally or figuratively). Cognate with radical, radish. From Latin
radix, which is also an English word meaning “root”. The -di- was reduced to -d-
and later dropped. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “ginseng radix as
medicine”, or “a racist often forgets his own genetic and cultural root”. Examples,
prendre racine (“to take root”); racine carrée (“square root”).

manivelle crank (n.). Possibly cognate with manacle (“shackles”), manual. The -
velle part does not have an independent meaning, but it sounds like wheel. As a
mnemonic, think of a mechanical system in which the hand (mani-) cranks a wheel.
If you already know vélo (“bicycle”), think of cranking a hand-operated bicycle.

tenue outfit, dress; manners, behavior; holding, keeping. From tenir. This word
has many meanings. The three listed here may be the most common. To remember
them all, you use a link mnemonic such as “this young professor wears a different
outfit and seems to have a different behavior today, maybe because he just got a
tenured position, which means he can keep this job indefinitely”. Example, elle est
en tenue de soirée / fête (“she’s in party outfit”).

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carnet, cahier notebook. Cognate with quaternary (“fourth in order”). These two
words are a pair of doublets, but a carnet is smaller and may be called a booklet (-
et is a diminutive suffix). Originally this is a piece of paper folded four times, or a
book with four leaves. The words have both entered English vocabulary. If you
prefer a mnemonic, think of a notebook as related to cards. Examples, un carnet
d’adresses (“an address book”); carnet de notes (“notebook”; “school report card”);
un cahier d’étudiant / d’élève (“a student notebook”); cahier des charges (“scope
statement (in project management)”, “specifications”).

pascal paschal, of Passover, of Easter; pascal (unit of pressure). English paschal is

from Old French paschal. English Passover was coined by William Tyndale, the
first translator of the Bible into English; the word has the same origin as French
pascal if both are traced back to Hebrew. As a mnemonic, if you know the 17th
century French scientist and mathematician Pascal, imagine him celebrating the
Passover holiday.

poule hen. poulet chicken. Cognate with poultry. While suffix -et is diminutive,
poulet mostly refers to the chicken meat. Note chicken as a young chick is poussin,
rooster is coq (i.e. cock), and hen is poule. Examples, poulet frit à l'américaine
(“American fried chicken”); avoid la chair de poule (“to have goosebumps”,
literally “to have the flesh of hen”).

obus bomb shell, artillery shell. Cognate with howitzer (“a short gun for firing
shells”). To use this etymology, prepend the silent h- and change b to w. Or as a
mnemonic, think of the oblong shape of a bomb shell. Or imagine an oboe as a
small bomb, or a bomb in a bus or autobus. Use only one of these as your own
mnemonic.

échelle ladder; scale (cognate), proportion. English echelon (“a social level or
rank”) is from French échelon (“rung of a ladder”; “grade”, “level”), from échelle
+ -on (diminutive suffix). From Latin scala, where c changed to ch (as in caballus >
cheval), s to es to é (as in école), a to e (as in caballus > cheval). Examples, monter
sur une échelle (“to climb a ladder”); à grande échelle (“on a large scale”).

concours competition, contest. Literally it would mean “together run”. English

concourse (“a large open area inside or in front of a public building”) and concur
(“to agree”) are cognates but are not very helpful. Examples, concours d’entrée

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(“entrance exam”, examen d’entrée); concours de beauté (“beauty pageant”,
“beauty contest”).

ressortir (auxiliary is être) to go or come back out (again); (auxiliary is avoir) to

bring or take out (again); to stand out. ressort spring (coiled device). Prefix re- can
either mean “again”, “back” or serve as an intensifier. A spring bounces back after
you compress and let go. Cognate with English resort (note only one s); a resort is
a place people go out to for recreation. Examples, il est entré dans la maison et en
est ressorti plus tard (“he entered the house and came back out later”); comprimer
et tendre un ressort (“to compress and stretch a spring”). See also sortir (“to exit”).

déborder to overflow, to overfill. Prefix dé- means “off”. The root is obviously
cognate with border. Example, le vendeur est débordé de commandes (“the seller
is overfilled / overwhelmed with orders”).

dommage damage (cognate), injury, loss; pity, shame. Note the second meaning.
Examples, le séisme a causé beaucoup des dommages (“the earthquake caused a
lot of damage”; unlike English damage, dommage is often in plural); quel
dommage! (“what a shame / pity!”); c’est dommage que ... (“it’s a shame / pity
that ...”).

phare headlight (of a car); lighthouse, beacon; leading, signature (adj.), key. From
Latin, from Ancient Greek, ultimately from Egyptian, but it has nothing to do with
pharaoh (“ancient Egyptian king”). On the small island named Pharos near
Alexandria, a tower was built under the reign of two Ptolemy kings in the 3rd
century B.C. The word is thus from the island. Alternatively, use a mnemonic to
aid memory such as “I see a lighthouse in the far distance”. The meanings of
“headlight” and “leading” are implied. Examples, allumer les phares (“to turn on
the headlights”); faire un appel / des appels de phares (“to flash the headlight”);
produit phare (“flagship product”); un principe phare (“a guiding principle”).

mars March (cognate). Note -s is pronounced /s/, not /z/. With initial capital letter,
Mars (pronounced the same) means “Mars” (the planet or Roman god). Examples,
en mars (“in March”); au mois de mars (“in the month of March”).

amer bitter. amertume bitterness. Etymology doesn’t help unless you know one
other Romance language where you’ll find amargo in Spanish, amaro in Italian,

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etc., which you may have seen in the menu in respective cuisine. As a mnemonic,
think of amour or love as a bitter-sweet experience, or pretend the word is made up
of a- (“not”) + mercy, or “American food is bitter”, which I wish it was true. Suffix
-tume is cognate with English -itude, used to form an abstract noun. Note the
feminine is amère (with an accent mark).

recueillir to collect, to gather. cueillir to pick (fruit or flower), to pluck, to gather.

Cueillir is cognate with collect. But note that recueillir does not mean “to recollect”
because re- serves as an intensifier instead of signifying “back” as in English
recollect (which, meaning “to recall”, would be se rappeler in French). Examples,
les abeilles recueillent le pollen (“the bees collect pollen”); cueillir / ramasser des
pommes au jardin (“to pick apples in the garden”). See also accueillir (“to
welcome”).

grogner to grunt, to grumble, to growl, to snarl. From a Latin word which

ultimately comes from an onomatopoeia, grrr. Possibly cognate with grunt.
Examples, le cochon grogne (“the pig grunts”).

seize sixteen. Pronounced /sɛz/, this word should not be confused with English
seize, which would be saisir in French. Examples, à seize heures (“at 4 PM”); seize
heures est l’heure limite (“4 PM is the deadline”; note est, not sont).

basculer to toggle, to topple, to tip, to switch, to swing. From bas (“low”) + cul
(“bottom”) + -er (to form a verb). English cul-de-sac (“dead end street”, literally
“bottom of sack”) is from French. To topple something is to bring it down to the
bottom. The noun bascule has entered English; a bascule bridge is a type of
drawbridge. (Think of the children’s song “London bridge is falling down”.) Not to
be confused with bousculer (“to push”, “to shove”). Examples, la chaise a basculé
et il est tombé (“the chair tipped over and he fell”); basculer l’interrupteur (“to flip
/ toggle the switch”); balançoire à bascule (“seesaw”, bascule); fauteuil à bascule
(“rocking chair”).

clore to close (cognate). This word is less frequent than fermer (“to close”) and is
primarily used in an abstract sense, e.g. clore une discussion (“to close a
discussion”), or in set phrases or words, e.g. mi-clos (“half-closed”). This verb is
defective, i.e. missing certain conjugated forms.

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emprunter to borrow; to take (a road, route). Etymology doesn’t help, except for -
pru- which is from pro- (“advanced” as in “an advanced loan”). Use a mnemonic
such as “A loan record in print is needed to make sure a borrowed item will be
returned.” Example, emprunter un livre à la bibliothèque (“to borrow a book from
the library”).

tempête storm, tempest (cognate). Change ê to es to see the cognation.

Shakespeare wrote a play Tempest, literally “storm”. This word can also be
considered cognate with temper if we trace them to Latin tempus (“time”). Thus, as
a mnemonic, a short temper may be likened to a storm. Example, une tempête de
neige / sable (“a snow storm / sandstorm”).

repérer to spot, to locate, to mark; (informal) to find. repère mark, marker, bench-
mark. From Latin reperire (“to find”). The word has the same origin as répertoire,
commonly spelled repertoire in English; a repertoire is an inventory of the works
of an artist or performing arts company, and an inventory is a list you look up or
find an item in. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “the carpenter made a mark
on the furniture in order to do repair work”. Examples, un point de repère (“a
landmark”); j’ai repéré / trouvé des erreurs dans cet article (“I found some errors
in this article”); sa voiture immergée a été repéré dans une mare (“his submerged
car was spotted in a pond”; in 2019, a man missing for 22 years was found through
Google Maps, which shows a blurry image of a car in the shallow water).

motif pattern, motif; reason, ground, motive. Note the second meaning. Examples,
licenciement pour motif économique (“layoff for economic reasons”, licenciement
économique; note licenciement means “termination of job”, not “licensing”); au
motif que (“for the reason that”, pour la raison que).

délivrer to free, to liberate; to deliver. Note that this word does not primarily mean
“to deliver (a message, a parcel, etc.)”, which would be livrer instead. Similarly,
their nouns délivrance and livraison have this distinction, too. English deliver and
deliverance do have the sense of “to liberate”, “liberation”, but it is used in a
literary or religious context. See also livrer (“to deliver”).

pêche peach (cognate); fishing (n.). pêcheur fisher. pêcher to fish; peach tree.
There are two different words here. Pêche as “fishing”, pêcheur, and pêcher are
cognate with Pisces, a constellation in astronomy or a zodiac in astrology. As to

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pêche as “peach”, many European languages have cognates referring to this fruit
because ancient Romans thought the fruit came from Persia, hence the name. Not
to be confused with péché (“sin”), pécheur (“sinner”; “sinful”); try opening mouth
a little more when pronouncing ê than pronouncing é. Examples, une canne à
pêche (“a fishing rod”); aller à la pêche / aller pêcher (“to go fishing”).

mélange mixture (cognate). mélanger to mix. Also cognate with miscellaneous.

Mélange has entered English vocabulary commonly spelled melange. Example,
j’ai mélangé leurs noms (“I mixed up their names”).

critique criticism (fem. n.); critic (masc. or fem. n.); critical (adj.). Note that in the
sense of “criticism”, the word is feminine. Obviously “criticism” is more abstract
than “critic” (denoting a person); see §3 of the Notes of this book. Examples, une
situation critique (“a critical situation”); la critique est aisée mais l’art est difficile
(“criticism is easy but art is difficult”; implying that it’s easy to criticize but people
are lazy or incapable of doing real work”).

mèche wick (of a candle); lock (of hair); fuse (of a bomb). Cognate with match
(used for igniting a fire). Example, Donetsk et Lougansk sont la mèche de la
invasion russe en Ucraine (“Donetsk and Luhansk are the fuse of the Russian
invasion in Ukraine”).

ralentir to slow down, to slacken. The root is lent (“slow”). The apparent prefix
ra- may be re- (intensifier) + a- (“toward”, “having the tendency”). Example, la
voiture ralentit quand elle tourne (“the car slows down when it turns”). See also
lentement (“slowly”), lent.

cerveau brain, mind, mastermind. Cognate with cerebrum, cerebral. From Latin
cerebellum, where the second syllable vowel was lost and b changed to v. This
word is related to cervix (“neck”; “neck-like organ such as part of the uterus”) or
cervical only if traced to Proto-Indo-European. Example, le cerveau d’un homme
est plus gros que celui d’un chimpanzé (“a man’s brain is bigger than a
chimpanzee’s); lavage de cerveau (“brainwashing”). See also cervelle (“brain”).

outil tool. Cognate with utensil. Utensils are not just forks and spoons to eat food
with; the word can refer to any tool. Note the ending l is silent (like that in gentil).
Example, une boîte / caisse à outils (“a toolbox”).

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banquette bench, seat. banque bank (“financial institution”, not “riverside”,
which would be rive, berge in French). Banquette is a diminutive of banc (“bench”)
and is cognate with bank, banquet. In spite of cognation, the meaning is
completely different; English bank and banquet originally meant “bench” but have
changed significantly. You can still use a mnemonic based on its original meaning
such as “a seat at the banquet”. Banque, which is doublet with banc, is easy but is
listed here in case it’s confused with banquette. Also note c in banc is silent so it
won’t be confused with banque in speech. Examples, compte en banque / compte
bancaire (“bank account”); aller à la banque (“to go to the bank”); la banquette
n’a pas un dossier (“the bench doesn’t have a backrest”).

agacer to annoy, to irritate; to tease. Formation of this word may have been
influenced by aigu (“sharp”) thus connected to English acute. It’s also related to
acid. But it may be better to use a mnemonic such as “the hostess was aghast at the
guest’s irritating behavior”; English aghast means “to be shocked or terrified”. If
you know Agatha Christie, imagine reading her detective novels is an annoying
experience. If you have a friend or coworker named Agatha or Agathe, imagine
she’s an annoying person. Example, ce bruit m’agace (“this noise is annoying to
me”).

élevé high, elevated, raised. Cognate with elevate. This word is easy but should not
be confused with the related word élève (“schoolchild”, “pupil”). To help
remember the difference, note that élevé is also the past participle of élever and is
closer in meaning to the verb, while élève is more remote in meaning. Example,
une note élevée (“a high mark / rating”). See also élève.

ricaner to sneer, to jeer, to snigger. The ri- element means “to laugh” (rire in
French) and -caner may be cognate with chin. Use a mnemonic such as “when he
sneers at someone, he looks like a smiling canine”, or “when asked if he will recant
his racist comment made earlier, the politician sneered at the reporter”.

coincer to jam, to wedge. From coin (“corner”). Example, l’enfant est coincé dans
le puits (“the child is stuck in the well”). See also coin.

comporter to include, to consist of, to have; (reflexive) to behave. Prefix com-

means “together” and porter “to bring”, “to carry”. To bring something together is
to include it. As a mnemonic, to remember the first sense, think of English

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compose or French composer. To remember “to behave”, imagine a person carries
or puts on a certain demeanor. Example, ce livre comporte de nombreuses photos
(“this book includes / has many photos”).

palier landing or flat space on a staircase. From paillasse (“straw mat”), from
paille (“straw”). A mat is normally placed on a staircase landing. Not to be
confused with pallier (“to palliate”; pronounced the same as palier), pâlir (“to
fade”, “to pale”). As a mnemonic, imagine the beautifully carved stair landings in a
palace (palais in French). Or imagine the pale white color stair landing. See also
paille.

prénom first name. The first name is placed before (pré-) the more formal family
name (nom de famille or simply nom).

baraque hut, shed, shanty; (informal) house. Cognate with barracks (“buildings to
house soldiers”). Note in spite of cognation, baraque does not mean “barracks”,
which would be caserne.

mouton sheep; mutton (meat of adult sheep). English mutton is from Old French,
by way of a Middle English word in which the first syllable vowel is pronounced
/u/. Example, un troupeau de moutons (“a flock of sheep”);

ruelle alley, back-street. From rue (“road”) + -elle (diminutive suffix). See also
rue.

nerf nerve (cognate); (figurative) force, power, energy. Note that f in this word is
silent, unlike in neuf (“nine”; “new”), chef, juif (“Jew”; “Jewish”), sauf (“except”),
or event nef (“nave”). Example, avoir du nerf (“to have force / nerve / spirit”).

crayon pencil. English crayon is from French. Note this word means “pencil”, not
“crayon”. English crayon, since at least a few decades ago, has a sense of “wax” in
it, and so may be called craie de cire (literally “chalk of wax”) in French, although
crayon de cire (literally “pencil of wax”) is fine too. Example, écrire au crayon
(“to write in pencil”). See also craie (“chalk”).

décrocher to unhook, to lift the telephone receiver, to pick up (the phone); to get
(a prize, etc.) through an effort. raccrocher to hang up (the phone). Prefix dé-
means “off” while re- (which lost e due to the vowel a) means “back”. The root is

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from French croc (“hook”), which is cognate with English crook (“bend”, “turn”,
“curve”; “a bad guy”), crochet (“needlework done with a hooked needle”).
Raccrocher literally means “to hang (it) back”. Examples, décrocher et composer
le numéro (“to pick up the phone and dial the number”); ils demandent que la
fresque soit décrochée du mur (“they demand that the fresco be taken down from
the wall”); décrocher le premier prix (“to carry off the first prize”). See also
accrocher (“to hook”, “to hang”), crochet (“hook”).

crisper (muscle) to tense, to tighten, to contort, to contract, to clench. Cognate

with crisp (“firm, dry and brittle”, but originally “to curl”), crispy. Think of the
crispy, curly-shaped, potato chips.

étudier study (cognate). Whenever you see ét-, try changing it to est- or st-. In this
case, it’s the latter. Example, les scientifiques ont étudié le mystère (“the scientists
studied the mystery”).

comble (often figuratively) summit, height, peak, pinnacle. combler to fill, remplir;
to fulfill, to satisfy. From Latin cumulus (“heap”), cognate with the root of
accumulate. Latin cumulus contracted to cum’lus, u changed to o, and ml changed
to mbl for reasons of euphony (also seen in the case of simulo > semble etc.). If this
etymology doesn’t sound helpful, use complete as a mnemonic since it has the
meaning of “to fulfill” and may be associated with the scene of reaching a summit.
Or “I was full only after I ate a combo (hamburger)”. This latter mnemonic may
help remember the verb combler better. Examples, c’est le comble du ridicule / du
luxe (“this is the height of absurdity / of luxury”); l’opportunité de combler le vide
(“the opportunity to fill the void”).

tablier apron. Cognate with table. You wear an apron to serve at the dinner table.
Suffix -ier is very versatile in semantics but cannot fully explain the sense change
from “table” to “apron”, other than “related”. Examples, mettre un tablier (de
cuisine) (“to put on an apron / a kitchen apron”).

assis sitting (adj.), seated (adj.), past participle of asseoir (“to sit”). Examples, je
suis assis (“I’m sitting / seated”); veuillez rester assis (“please remain seated”). See
also asseoir.

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poudre powder (cognate). Doublet with poussière (“dust”). English pulverize (“to
crush into powder”) is from a French word related to poudre. Examples, sucre en
poudre (“granulated sugar”, but literally “sugar in powder”); poudre à canon
(“gunpowder”). See also poussière.

guérir to cure, to heal. Cognate with garrison. Originally guérir meant “to defend”.
Curing a disease is likened to a garrison defending against enemy. Not to be
confused with guère (“hardly”), guerre (“war”). This word is an -ir ending verb,
while the other two obviously have no verb ending. Example, le médecin a guéri le
patient (“the doctor cured the patient”).

péché sin. pécheur sinner. Cognate with the root of impeccable (“not having flaws
or fault”), i.e. -pecca, with rare English words peccadillo, peccancy. Alternatively
use a mnemonic such as “the sinful people have perished”. Or imagine the apple
Adam and Eve ate (and so committed the sin) was actually not an apple, but a
peach, although peach is pêche in French, where ê is pronounced with the mouth
opened slightly wider than é. Example, péché originel (“original sin”). See also
pêche for a hint.

piège trap (n.), snare. piéger to trap. Related to pied (“foot”). Cognate with
pedestrian, pedal. A trap or snare catches one’s foot. Note the pronunciation of è is
slightly more open than é. Examples, ils lui ont tendu un piège (“they set a trap for
him”); une voiture piégée (“a car bomb”, literally “a trapped car”).

paroi inner wall, partition. Cognate with parietal (“about wall”). As a mnemonic,
consider English parapet (“low wall”), which is not a cognate. Examples, la paroi
/ le mur de la chambre (“the bedroom wall”); les parois d’un vase (“the inner
surface of a vase”).

boucle loop; buckle (fastening clasp) (cognate); ringlet. boucler to buckle

(cognate). To remember the sense of “loop” or “ring”, think of how the car seat
belt is used; when you buckle it up, the belt partially forms a ring around your
waist. Examples, veuillez boucler votre ceinture! (“please buckle up / wear your
seat belt!”); une boucle d’oreille (“an earring”).

envoler (reflexive) to fly away. From en- + voler (“to fly”). The prefix en- may be
related to Latin inde meaning “from there”. Alternatively, it could simply be an

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intensifier. Not to be confused with English involve (which would be concerner,
nécessiter, or impliquer in French). Example, l'oiseau s’est envolé (“the bird flew
away”). See also voler.

effrayer to scare, to frighten, faire peur. effroi fright, terror, peur, terreur.
Cognate with afraid, with an outdated English word affray (“to scare”;
“disturbance of peace”). To remember effroi, as a mnemonic, you can also
associate froid (“cold”) with the feeling of fear. Example, tu m’as effrayé / tu m’as
fait peur (“you scared me”).

bougie candle; spark plug (bougie d'allumage, literally “candle of ignition”). From
the name of the city Bougie (now Béjaïa) in Algeria, known for making candles.
As a mnemonic, imagine a petit bourgeois family in the old times lit up candles at
night, or “the scary bogey was holding a candle when he came out of hell”; a
bogey is a ghost or goblin.

minuit midnight. Prefix mi- is cognate with mid- but French final d (just like
medial d) easily dropped. Nuit and night are cognates if traced to Proto-Indo-
European. Not to be confused with minute, which as a unit of time is still spelled
minute in French and is feminine (unlike minut). Examples, à minuit (“at
midnight”); la messe de minuit (“the Midnight Mass”).

chauffer to warm, to heat. chauffage heating. The first element is related to chaud
(“hot”) and the second to faire (“to do”, “to make”). Not to be confused with the
etymologically connected chauffeur (“driver”), which originally referred to a
stoker or operator of a steam engine. Examples, un chauffe-eau (“a water heater”);
le chauffage central (“central heating”).

rude rough, harsh, hard. In spite of cognation, this word is a false friend of English
rude, which would be impoli or grossier in French. Example, une rude ascension
depuis la vallée (“a steep / tough climb from the valley”).

mousse foam, froth. Cognate with moss. Foam looks like the moss grass. This
word has entered English vocabulary as a food especially chocolate mousse
(mousse au chocolat in French). Not to be confused with English mouse (souris in
French). Unrelated to mousson (“monsoon”). Example, mousse à raser (“shaving

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cream”, literally “foam for shaving”; this phrase can also be used as a mnemonic if
you can associate mousse with moustache).

connerie bullshit; stupidity, stupid thing to do. Possibly cognate with con as in
con-artist.

laid ugly. Cognate with loathsome (“repulsive”, “disgusting”), loath (“unwilling”,

but originally “loathsome”) if traced to Proto-Germanic. But this etymology hardly
helps. As a mnemonic, think of either a lad or a lady that is not so pretty. Or
imagine drinking milk (le lait) turned someone ugly.

beurre butter (cognate). From Latin butyrum, contracted to but’rum, and tr

changed rr for easier pronunciation (just like that in Latin putrere “putrid” >
French pourrir “to rot”). Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “Mexican burrito
with butter” or “you’ll burp a lot if you eat too much butter”. Lorayne and Lucas
The Memory Book suggests a mnemonic “a large bar of butter is full of burrs”. Not
to be confused with bourrer (“to cram”).

encre ink (cognate). If you prefer a mnemonic instead, try “there’s encrypted text
in this ink spot”. Not to be confused with the homophone ancre (“anchor”).
Example, encre de Chine (“India ink”, “Chinese ink”; according to Wikipedia,
“India ink was first invented in China, but the English term India(n) ink was coined
due to their later trade with India”).

entrevoir to catch a glimpse of, to see briefly or imperfectly. Prefix entre-

normally means “between”, but in some compound verbs indicates a small action.
Otherwise, as a mnemonic, imagine you see (voir) something only through a small
gap between (entre-) two things. See also entrevue (“meeting”; “interview”).

canard duck; fake news, hoax. A duck’s quack sounds like this word. This word in
its second sense has entered English vocabulary. This sense is said to be from
vendre un canard à moitié (“to half-sell ducks”); the story goes, a guy sells duck at
an unreasonably low price, but only for half of other sellers’ amount, which he
indicates only in small text at the bottom of his sign. If the first sense is
remembered, the second is easy since English quack can also mean both “duck’s
sound” and “charlatan”. Example, le vilain petit canard (“the ugly duckling”;
vilain means “ugly”, not “villain”).

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cabane cabin (cognate), hut, shack. Example, Henry Thoreau a construit une
cabane à l’étang de Walden et a écrit Walden ou la Vie dans les bois (“Henry
Thoreau built a hut at the Walden Pond and wrote Walden; or, Life in the Woods”).

tempe temple (anatomical part) (cognate). Note that temple as “building for
worship” is still temple in French. Not to be confused with temporary (temporaire
in French).

louer to rent; to lease; to praise, to laud (cognate). The first two senses come from
Latin locare, from which English locate is derived, and medial c was dropped and
o changed to ou. The third sense comes from Latin laudare, from which English
laud is derived, and medial d was dropped and au changed to ou. Since it’s not
easy to think of the dropped consonant and put it back, use a mnemonic such as “a
laudable job the Louvre Museum has done”. As to “to rent or lease”, use loan or
lure as a mnemonic; a landlord lures people to be tenants. Note that the word can
mean either “to rent” as a tenant or “to lease” (or “to let” in British English) as a
property owner and you have to determine it from the context. Examples, louer une
appartement / voiture (“to rent an apartment / a car”); à louer (“for rent”, “to let”);
sous-louer (“to sublease”). See also loyer (“rent”).

apprêter to prepare, to get ready. From a- + prêt (“ready”) + -er. This word is less
used than préparer and may have a more limited scope. See also prêt.

attarder (reflexive) to linger, to stay (late). The root is cognate with tardy.

barre bar (in various senses), rod. Examples, une barre de fer / chocolat (“an iron
/ a chocolate bar”); barre d’outils (“toolbar”); point barre (“period” to end an
argument); être à la barre (“to be at the helm / in command”).

coffre chest, box; safe (fireproof cabinet), coffre-fort; trunk (of a car). Cognate
with coffer (“safe”), coffin.

ficher to plug in, to drive in; to file, to record; (reflexive) to not care; (informal) to
do. fiche index card; electric plug (relative to socket, prise). Cognate with fix
(literally or originally “to fasten”). Plugging in an electrical cord is likened to
fixing or sticking it to the socket. This original meaning later developed to many
senses. Using a link mnemonic, imagine you plug in your computer and start to
record videos of your surrounding, which is what you do as a job. The noun fiche

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in the sense of “card” or “slip of paper” is a separate word and is the second
element of microfiche (“microfilm holding historical images in a library”). The
verb ficher occurs in many colloquial expressions so learn it in the context.
Examples, ils s’en fichent / je m’en fiche (“they / I don’t care”); qu’est-ce que tu
fiches / tu fais? (“what the heck are / what are you doing?”).

démarrer to start (a car, a project, etc.). The -marrer part is cognate with moor
(“to cast anchor”) if traced to Proto-Germanic. The word literally means “to
unmoor (a boat)”. If you know Spanish, you may like to use mar (“sea”, which
would be mer in French) as a mnemonic as if the word meant “to go off to sea”.
Not related to marrer (“to laugh”), marre (“enough”). Examples, démarrer le
moteur (“to start the motor / engine”); le projet va démarre la semaine prochaine
(“the project will start next week”).

plupart main part, most of. From plus (“most”) + part. Example, la plupart des
gens dorment 8 heures par jour (“most people sleep 8 hours a day”).

jaloux jealous (cognate). jalousie jealousy (cognate).

commode convenient, easy to use; commode, chest of drawers. English commode

is from French. It is convenient to use a commode. Both this word and English
accommodate can be traced to Latin commodus (“convenient”); to accomodate is
to make (something) easy.

dalle slab, paving slab, flagstone (flag here is possibly doublet with flake, not
related to flag as in American flag). Cognate with dale (“valley”, commonly seen
in place names in the US), with dollar, which, by way of Dutch, is from the second
element of German Joachimsthal (“Joachim’s Valley”), i.e. Thal, now spelled Tal
(“valley”); Saint Joachim’s Valley, now in Czech Republic, used to be where silver
coins were minted. If you can’t associate minting dollar coins with a valley full of
slabs, as a mnemonic, think of the word as if it was short for d’aller meaning “of
going”; the slab is for people to walk on. Or “I don’t like the dull color of the slab”.

patrie homeland, fatherland, country of origin. Cognate with patriot, with the root
of repatriate, compatriot.

soulager to relieve. soulagement relief. Doublet with soulever (“to lift”). Prefix
sou- is from sub- meaning “from under”, and -lager is from Latin levare from

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which English levitate (“to lift”) is derived (Latin -va- changed to -via-, -vja-, -g-).
But the development of the word was also influenced by a Latin word from which
English solace is derived, which we can use as a good mnemonic. Example, je me
suis senti soulagé en entendant la bonne nouvelle (“I felt relieved on hearing the
good news”).

sanglot sob (n.). sangloter to sob. Cognate with singultus (a very technical
medical term for “hiccup”). The second part of the word was influenced by a Latin
word from which English glut (“excess”) is derived. But neither etymological hint
is as helpful as a pure mnemonic such as glottal or glottis (“part of larynx where
voice is produced”), or “a sob is the sound from the glottis”. The root of polyglot
(“person able to speak multiple languages”), -glot, which means “tongue” or
“language”, is not related but can also serve as a mnemonic. Paul Verlaine’s poem
Chanson d’automne begins with Les sanglots longs / Des violons / De l’automne /
Blessent mon cœur (“The long sobs / Of violins / Of autumn / Wound my heart”)
were used as a message to the French Resistance about the timing of the
forthcoming Invasion of Normandy. Example, éclater en sanglots (“to burst into
tears”, literally “to burst into sobs”).

forcément necessarily, inevitably, bound to, as an obligation, perforce. The

meaning of this word may be guessed by its association with force but is still worth
learning separately. It may help if you think of perforce, i.e. “by necessity” but
literally “by force”. Examples, pas forcément (“not necessarily”, a very common
expression); il y a forcément une raison (“there must be a reason”).

entasser to pile, empiler; to hoard. tasser to pack, to press, to squeeze. From tas
(“pile”). You may think en- of entasser implies “(squeeze) into”, but it’s the
opposite; tasser, without en-, has this connotation. Examples, entasser les
vêtements sur la table (“to pile up the clothes on the table”); tasser des vêtements
dans une valise (“to pack the clothes in a suitcase”). See also tas.

four oven. Cognate with furnace. This word is a false friend of English four.
Examples, cuire au four 15 minutes (“to bake in the oven for 15 minutes”); un four
à pain / à pizzas (“a bread / pizzas oven”); un four à micro-ondes (“a microwave
oven”).

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monnaie currency (of money); change (a small amount of money given back after
a transaction); coin, pièce de monnaie. Cognate with money. This word looks easy
but note that English money, better translated as argent in French, is a false friend
in spite of cognation. Examples, gardez la monnaie! (“keep the change!”); la
monnaie des États-Unis est le dollar américain (“the currency of the United States
is the American dollar”); je n’ai pas de monnaie (“I don’t have change”; not “...
money”, which would be ... d’argent).

cendre ash, cinder. cendrier ashtray. From Latin cinis (“ash”). Cognate with the
root of incinerate. Suffix -er implies a receptacle (as in plancher, clocher). English
cinder (as in Cinderella) is not a cognate but was influenced by Latin cinis in
spelling and meaning, and may be used as a mnemonic. Example, un phénix renaît
de ses cendres (“a phoenix rises from the ashes”).

blé wheat. Etymology is controversial and unhelpful. Use a mnemonic such as “the
sheep bleats and eats wheat”. (A sheep mostly eats grass but can be supplemented
with wheat.)

voleur thief, robber. From voler (“to steal”) + -eur (suffix for person). A female
thief is une voleuse. While voler can also mean “to fly”, voleur almost always
means “thief” instead of “person who flies”. See also voler (“to steal”; “to fly”).

réveil alarm clock, réveille-matin (literally “awakening-morning”); awakening.

See also réveiller (“to wake up”).

fendre to split, to crack. fente slit, slot, crack. Cognate with fissure, possibly
cognate with vent. Doublet with fesse (“buttock”). The problem using the cognate
fissure is that the second syllable consonants are too different; they already
differed within Latin. Using vent, consider that a crack or a slit provides for air
vent. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “to defend his city, the military leader
split the enemy into smaller parts”, or “the fender of my car cracked in the
accident”. (Note the root of defend is not related to this word.) To remember fente,
you can also think of the many slits of an air vent register or grille. Examples,
fendre la canne (“to split the cane”); fendre du bois (“to chop wood”); fentes d’une
palissade (“slots in a fence / palissade”). See also fente (“slit”, “crack”), fesse.

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enterrer to bury, to inter (cognate). The root is cognate with the first element of
territory. Note this word is not related to enter (which would be entrer in French).

vélo bike, bicycle, bicyclette. English velocipede is from French vélocipède

(literally “fast foot”), which was shortened to vélo. The first element of the word
véloci or veloci is cognate with velocity. Back in the time when the bicycle was
invented, riding a bike was considered fast. Examples, tu peux y aller en vélo (“you
can go there by bike”); faire du vélo (“to go biking”, “to ride a bike”).

malin smart, clever, cunning, sly; (of tumor etc.) malignant (cognate). Also
cognate with malign (“evil”). A smart person may be a trickster or evil-doer. Or
consider the fact that cancer cells in a malignant tumor must be smart to evade
modern sophisticated treatment. Or use a mnemonic such as “Malin is a smart girl”.
(But the female first name Malin is actually of Scandinavian origin and is unrelated
to this French word.) Example, c’est malin! (“that’s clever!”, said ironically).

ronger to gnaw, to nibble; to corrode. Cognate with ruminate (“to chew”),

influenced by a Latin word from which English rodent is derived. Rongeur
(“rodent”) has entered English vocabulary referring to the surgical tool that
gouging out bone. As a mnemonic, imagine the word is composed of rodent +
manger (“to eat”). Or just imagine the sound of gnawing. Example, se ronger les
ongles (“to bite one’s nails”).

imprimer to print. Cognate with imprint, impress. Example, imprimer un fichier

(“to print a file”).

honnête honest (cognate), respectable, decent. As usual, change ê to es to see the

cognation. This word means much more than English honest. In honnête homme,
proposed by La Rochefoucauld in the 17th century, honnête is better translated as
“cultivated”, “honorable”, “of integrity”, “with grace”.

pénombre dim-light, penumbra (cognate), twilight, darkness. Unless you know

English penumbra, it helps by analyzing pénombre, where pén- is à peine
(“hardly”, “almost”, like pen- in peninsula, penultimate) and -ombre means
“shadow” or “shade” (cognate with English umbrella). Just don’t try splitting the
word into pé- + nombre; this word is completely unrelated to nombre (“number”)
and pé- makes no sense. See also ombre.

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franchement frankly (cognate), honestly, sincerely. From franche (feminine form
of franc,“frank”) + -ment. See also franchir (“to cross”).

étoffe fabric, cloth. Cognate with stuff. Change é- to s- to see the cognation.
Imagine a pile of cloth and rags. The meaning of English stuff has been extended to
include any type of unspecified things (corresponding in meaning to trucs in
French), no longer limited to fabric. Not related to étouffer (“to choke”, “to stifle”),
which you may create a mnemonic with.

réunion meeting; reunion. This word looks easy but note that its primary meaning
is simply “meeting”, not “reunion”. Some consider it a false friend. Prefix ré-
serves as an intensifier. Example, la réunion aura lieu dans la grande salle (“the
meeting will be held in the big hall”). See also meeting (“large gathering”, “rally”).

sursauter to sudenly move on surprise, to be startled. sursaut sudden move on

surprise. Cognate with somersault. From sur- (“over”) + sauter (“to jump”). Some
dictionaries list “to start”, “to jump” for sursauter, but start here is in the rare sense
of “to suddenly move”, and jump is not necessarily a physical jump (which would
be sauter). Example, ce bruit fort soudain m’a fait sursauter (“the sudden loud
noise startled me”). See also sauter.

néanmoins nevertheless, nonetheless (cognate), however. From néant

(“nothingness”, “none”) + moins (“less”). See also néant.

sinistre sinister, evil, menacing, ominous; disaster, accident (fire, flood, etc.). The
meaning as a noun probably came from the sense of “ominous” or “unlucky”.

gré liking, will (n.). Cognate with grace (“free favor from God” in religious
context). Often used in phrases such as contre le gré (“against the will”), à son gré
(“to his liking”). Example, il a quitté l’ecole contre le gré de son père (“he quit
school against his father’s wishes”). See also malgré (“in spite of”).

ravir to ravish, to delight; to ravish, to seize by force. ravissant delightful,

ravishing. ravi delighted, thrilled. English ravish is from Old French, but has
largely lost the sense of “to seize by force”. Example, je suis ravi de vous voir
(“I’m delighted to see you”).

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concevoir to conceive (an idea or a baby), to perceive or understand or feel, to
design (a project, etc.). The meanings are more diverse than those of English
conceive and cover a wider range of mental activities.

distraire to distract (cognate); to entertain, to amuse. Note the second meaning,

which is less frequent. But which meaning to take may depend on the context.

pan piece of fabric or of a wall; (literally or figuratively, in general) piece, part.

Cognate with pane. Think of a piece of fabric, or a piece broken off from a wall,
just like one pane of glass taken out of a window. Not to be confused with pain
(“bread”) or Spanish pan (“bread”). Unrelated to English pan. Example, un pan
entier de la montagne s’est effondré (“an entire section of the mountain collapsed”).

entretien maintenance (of house, car, etc.), upkeep; interview (n.), entrevue,
discussion. From verb entretenir (“to maintain”, literally “to hold in”). The sense
of “interview” may be from “discussion”, from “holding (someone) in (an
activity)”; synonym entrevue is listed here but that word is an anglicism and used
more in Québec than France. Examples, l’entretien de la voiture (“car
maintenance”); un entretien avec le président (“an interview with the president”);
un entretien d’emploi (“a job interview”). See also entretenir.

entamer to begin, to initiate, commencer; to cut or eat into. According to one

theory, the root is cognate with the root of contaminate, i.e. -taminate, from a Latin
word that means “touch”. Use enter as a mnemonic, or “to tame a wild horse is the
first thing to do in making use of him”. Example, le Parlement européen a entamé
la réunification de l’Europe (“the European Parliament initiated reunification of
Europe”).

ivre drunk, drunken, intoxicated, inebriated. ivresse drunkenness. ivrogne

drunkard, alcoholic. Cognate with the root of inebriated, where the prefix in- does
not signify negation, but is more like “in”, “into”, “onto” (as in inflammable, which
means “flammable”, not the opposite). In French (as well as Spanish), b-v
interchange is common. Not to be confused with English ivory (ivoire in French).
But if you prefer a mnemonic, imagine a drunk man holding an ivory. Or “he got
himself drunk on Christmas Eve”.

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bouquin (colloquial) book (literally “little book”) (cognate). The -quin part is from
Middle Dutch diminutive suffix, cognate with English suffix -kin, as in napkin
(literally “little cloth”), ladykin (“little lady”), devilkin (“little devil”).

remords remorse (cognate). To explain letter d, note that the word is from
remordre (“to re-bite”), where mordre (“to bite”) is cognate with mordant
(“biting”). Feeling remorse is likened to being bitten for the second time. Example,
le tueur n’a pas éprouvé des remords envers les victimes (“the killer felt no
remorse toward the victims”). See also mordre.

flotte fleet. Cognate with flotilla (“small fleet of warships”), float. Related to fleet
if traced to Proto-Germanic. Example, la bataille entre l’Armada espagnole et la
flotte anglaise a eu lieu en 1588 (“the battle between the Spanish Armada and the
English fleet took place in 1588”).

viser to aim (at). Cognate with visual, visage, visa (part of Latin charta visa,
literally “paper that has been seen”), with the root of advise. Related to “to see”,
“to view”. You must focus your visual attention when you aim at something. Not
to be confused with verser (“to pour”). Example, des mesures visant à réduire les
accidents de la route (“measures aiming to reduce road accidents”).

char (military) tank, char de combat; (carnival) float, carriage, chariot (cognate).
This word is unrelated to character (caractère in French).

poupée doll. English puppy is from Middle French poupée. A puppy or young dog
is as adorable as a doll.

chevelure hair, cheveu. It has the same meaning as cheveu but is less frequently
used. There’s no good semantic explanation of the suffix-like ending -ure. See also
cheveu.

clou nail, spike, stud; clove (cognate). clouer to nail. A dried clove is in the shape
of a nail. Also cognate with clavicle (“collarbone”), with the first element of
clavichord (“an early keyboard instrument”). The spice clove looks like a nail,
hence the name. Unrelated to English clue (which would be indice in French). The
word for “finger nail” is ongle. Example, cloué au lit (“bedridden”, literally “nailed
to the bed”).

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habit clothing, garment. Not to be confused with English habit, which in its
common sense is habitude in French, but which does have the sense of “clothing
worn by monks or nuns”. See also habiller (“to dress”).

signaler to bring to attention, to report, to notify, to poit out, to signal. Examples,

je vous signale que ... (“I’d like to tell you / point out to you that ...”); la présence
d’un homme armé d’un couteau avait été signalée par plusieurs témoins (“the
presence of a man armed with a knife was reported by several witnesses”, literally
“... was signaled ...”).

esclave slave (cognate). esclavage slavery. English slave is actually a loan word
from Old French. These words are related to Slav because the Slavic people were
forced to be slaves in the Middle Ages. These words are completely unrelated to
escalate.

plaisanter to joke. plaisanterie joke (n.). Cognate with pleasant, please. In spite
of the cognation, note the different meanings. A joke gives pleasure and pleases the
people hearing it. Examples, il aime plaisanter (“he likes to joke”); quelle
plaisanterie! (“what a joke!”).

mou soft; (informal) pansy, spineless. Cognate with mollusc (a soft-bodied

invertebrate), mollify (“to pacify”, “to appease anger”, literally “to soften”). Note
the irregular inflections of the word, mol for masculine singular before a vowel,
molle for feminine singular, and molles for feminine plural. French mol came from
Latin mollis, and mou is a softened form of mol. Example, le ventre mou (“soft
underbelly”, literally and figuratively). See also fou (“mad”) for a similar variation
of forms.

pénible difficult, hard; annoying, painful. Cognate with painful. From peine + -ible.
Think of painful not in its literal sense (which would be douloureux in French) but
in its figurative sense. Examples, travail pénible / dur travail (“hard work”); c’est
pénible (“it’s unpleasant / annoying / painful / it’s an ordeal”); il est pénible (“he’s
being difficult”).

cochon pig. One theory claims that the word is an onomatopoeia from a pig’s
sound kosh-kosh. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “Jewish kosher food
prohibits pork” or “this guy always lies on the couch, lazy as a pig”. Note porc can

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also mean “pig” (as well as “pork”) but cochon implies a cute animal while porc
does not. Example, un cochon d’Inde (“a guinea pig”, un cobaye; literally “a pig
from India”, but in fact these cute little rodents are native to neither India nor
African Guinea).

errer to wander, to roam. Cognate with err, error, errant (“erring or deviating
from proper course”), but not errand. In spite of the cognation, this word does not
mean “error” (which would be erreur in French); note the verb ending -er.
Alternatively, use the more familiar word errand as a mnemonic since both have
the sense of going or leaving.

bourrer to stuff, to fill, to cram, to eat a lot, to force-feed. Cognate with bureau
because coarse woolen cloth, which is the meaning of their common etymon, can
be used to stuff a void space (hence French bourrer) or to cover a desk (hence an
office with this desk and bureau), and with two rare words burel or borrel (“coarse
woolen cloth used for stuffing”). Some French restaurants in the US are named
with the word bourré (“stuffed”). Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “boorish
people eat their fill whenever possible”, or “the fat man likes to stuff himself like a
wild boar”. Not to be confused with beurre (“butter”).

gueuler (slang) to yell, to scream. From gueul (“mouth”) + -er. See also gueule
(“animal’s mouth”).

dérober to steal, voler; to hide. The root is cognate with rob. Prefix dé- indicates
“off”, “away”. This word is less frequent than voler and sounds more literary. Note
it does not mean “to take off robe or clothes” and is a false friend of English
disrobe. Examples, dérober un secret (“to steal a secret”); une porte dérobée (“a
backdoor”, literally “a hidden door”).

pourri rotten. pourrir to rot. Cognate with the first element of putrefy (“to rot”),
putrefied (“rotten”). From Latin putrere, where tr later changed to dr and to rr
(also seen in the formation of beurre “butter”). So reverse by changing rr to tr.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “pour out rotten food to the trash can”.

voûte vault (cognate), arch.

emmerder to piss off, to screw, to annoy, to insult. See also merde (“shit”).

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buisson bush. Cognate with bush if traced to Proto-Germanic. The root is doublet
with bois (“bush”) and -on is either diminutive or augmentative.

bouleverser to upset, to subvert, to disrupt, to disorganize, to drastically change.

From boule (“ball”) + verser (originally or literally “to turn”; think of English
reverse). Imagine turning something upside down just like turning a ball. Example,
cet évènement a bouleversé sa vie (“this event drastically changed his life”). See
also boule.

fromage cheeze. Cognate with form. From Latin formaticum, which originally
referred to anything made in a form, and its or transposed into ro. Alternatively,
use a mnemonic such as “this foul smelly cheese is from ages ago”. Or think of
cheese foam (which is cream cheese mixed with whipped cream). Terms such as
fromage blanc (literally “white cheese”) a.k.a fromage frais (literally “fresh
cheese”) has entered English vocabulary.

bec beak (of a bird) (cognate).

marée tide. From mer (“sea”). Cognate with marine, maritime. Examples, à marée
basse (“at low tide”); un raz-de-marée (“a tidal wave”, “a tsunami”). Not to be
confused with marié(e) (“married”). Examples, la marée monte / descende (“the
tide rises / falls”); marée haute / basse (“high / low tide”). See also mer.

souris mouse (rodent or computer mouse); conjugated form of sourire (“to smile”).
In the sense of “mouse”, it may be from a Latin word (susurrus) imitating the
sound of buzz or hum. Think of a mouse making that noise. Alternatively, as a
mnemonic, imagine a mouse sitting on rice, sur riz, because he likes to eat rice.
Example, quand le chat n’est pas là, les souris dansent (“when the cat is not there,
the mice dance”).

fonctionnaire civil servant, official. A civil servant does his duty or functions.
Suffix -aire, equivalent to -ary in English, also occurs in words like millionaire.
Note this word is a noun (both masc. and fem.); it is not fonctionnel (“fuctional”,
adj.). And the first vowel is o, not u.

collège junior high school, middle school. This word is a false friend of English
college (which would simply be université). A collège in France is between an

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elementary school and a high school (lycée). But the word may be used differently
in other French-speaking countries.

conduite behavior, conduct (cognate), comportement; driving. While the French

masculine noun conduit means “conduit”, “connecting pipe”, just like English
conduit, the feminine noun conduite has more meanings, mostly of abstract nature
(see §7 of the Notes). Needless to say both are past participles of conduire (“to
drive”, “to conduct”), distinct by gender. Examples, le petit Jean a une mauvaise
conduite / un mauvais comportement (“little Jean has bad behavior”); la conduite à
gauche est une norme historique (“left-hand drive is a historical norm”).

jumeau twin. jumelle (female) twin; (in plural, jumelles) binoculars. Cognate with
Gemini (zodiac in astrology, or constellation in astronomy), geminate (“doubled”;
“to double”), gimbal (a device that allows an object such as a shipboard compass to
remain upright). Due to the unusual change of the first syllable vowel (e or i to u),
etymology is not very helpful. As a mnemonic, read jumeau as “you more”. Note
the form jumelles can refer to two twin girls or a pair of binoculars, as if each of
the two tubes were a girl; the feminine gender may be due to that of lunette (plural
of which means “glasses”).

enfouir to bury, enterrer. The root is cognate with fossil. But it may be easier to
use a mnemonic such as “enfold the dead body and bury it”. Not to be confused
with enfuir (“to escape”, “to flee”, fuir), which has a higher usage frequency. You
can make a mnemonic by thinking of a bad guy burying something and running
away. Or if you know fouiller (“to search”, “to rummage”), think of searching for
something buried. Example, l’écureuil enfouit des noisettes avant l’hiver et les
fouille après l’hiver (“the squirrel buries nuts before winter and searches for them
after winter”).

panneau sign, notice board, signpost, panel. Cognate with panel, pane. Example,
un panneau solaire (“a solar panel”).

ouverture opening, openness; (music) overture (cognate). An overture in music is

an introduction or opening to a larger piece. Examples, les heures d’ouverture de
la boutique (“the opening hours of the shop”); ouverture d’esprit (“open-
mindedness”, literally “openness of spirit”). See also ouvert (“open”).

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chœur, choeur choir (cognate), chorus (cognate). Note that this word does not
mean “chore” (corvée in French), and the pronunciation of ch is /k/, not /ʃ/ as
usually the case in French. It’s a homophone of cœur or coeur (“heart”).

cauchemar nightmare. The first element cauche- is cognate with the root of
recalcitrant (“unwilling to cooperate”, literally or originally “kicking back” said of
a horse), meaning “heel”. The second element -mar is cognate with the second
element of nightmare, i.e. mare, originally “evil spirit”. The word literally means
“an evil spirit tramples or treads (on one’s chest)”. If it’s not easy to remember the
first element, use a mnemonic such as “a couch nightmare” or “a nightmare when
sleeping on a couch”. Example, j’ai fait un cauchemar la nuit dernière (“I had a
nightmare last night”; note faire, not avoir).

pin pine (cognate). This word is a false friend of English pin (which would be
épingle in French). Example, une pomme de pin (“a pine cone”, literally “an apple
of pine”, quite different from a pineapple as called in English).

écouler (reflexive, said of time) to pass, to elapse; (reflexive, said of liquid) to

flow, to run; to sell off, to get rid of. The root is cognate with colander (“a
perforated bowl used to strain off liquid from food”, “strainer”). From the basic
meaning of “to flow out (é-)” are derived other meanings. See also couler (“to
flow”).

malaise discomfort, uneasiness. From mal- (“bad”) + aise (“ease”). This word has
entered English vocabulary, with pronunciation of both vowels changed or
anglicized. Not to be confused with molasses (mélasse in French). Examples, avoir
un malaise (“to feel sick or weak”, “to faint”, literally “to have discomfort”); créer
un malaise (“to create discomfort (for everybody)”). See also aise.

ordure filth, rubbish, junk, garbage, refuse (n.), animal feces. Cognate with horrid,
horror, horrendous. To see the cognation, prepend the silent h- and remove the
common noun suffix -ure. But it may be easier to use odor (odeur in French) as a
mnemonic, even though it has no etymological connection. This word has entered
English vocabulary.

exciter to excite. This word looks easy but note that it (as well as excité, excitation,
excitant) sometimes has a sexual connotation. If you want to avoid this ambiguity,

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you can say je suis ému / surexcité / ravi instead of excité for “I’m excited”. But
due to influence of Anglicism, this connotation may be going away.

grève strike (work stoppage). Cognate with gravel (gravier in French). Named
after Place de Grève on the banks of the Seine in Paris, literally “flat area covered
with gravel or sand”, where unemployed workers would often gather, according to
Wiktionary. Or as a mnemonic, imagine the workers’ strike as a grave situation.
Examples, faire (la) grève (“to go on strike”); tous les vols sont annulés pour cause
de grève (“all flights are canceled due to strike”). See also gravier.

loger to lodge (cognate), to accomodate, to stay. logement housing,

accommodation. logis lodge (n.) (cognate), dwelling. Also cognate with
logistic(s).The word logis is not commonly used, but note the idiom fée du logis
(“lady of the house”, “housewife”, femme au foyer, literally “fairy of the house”).
Examples, pouvez-vous me loger pour la nuit (“could you find me a place to stay
for the night?”); il loge chez moi pour ce soir (“he stays with me for tonight”).

fric (slang) money, dough, cash. Probably shortened from another French word,
which has entered English vocabulary as fricassee (“meat or poultry cut into small
pieces, stewed or fried”). That word may appear in the menu at a French restaurant.
The fri- part is cognate with fry and -cassee means “break” or “cut into pieces”. It
is suggested that this food is served at a feast, which requires money to organize.
But this etymology may be too remote to be helpful. Use a mnemonic such as “His
wife is a control freak. He can’t use money the way he likes.” or “Franc was the
unit of French money.”

fossé ditch, moat, trench. Cognate fossil. Imagine a fossil is dug up from a ditch.
This word is masc. and should not be confused with fosse (“pit”, fem.). See also
fosse.

crépuscule dusk, twilight, crepuscule, coucher de soleil. The English word

crepuscule is rare nowadays. Use a mnemonic such as “the twilight scene is
creepy”. The opposite is aube (“dawn”). Example, au crépuscule (“at dusk”).

sapin fir. The sa- part is of Gaulish origin and -pin is cognate with pine. A fir
belongs to the pine family in taxonomy. As a mnemonic, try visualizing the sap of
a fir tree, or think of a fir tree somehow related to the sap of pine. This word is

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often seen in sapin de Noël (“Christmas tree”) before the Christmas time of a year.
See also pin (“pine”).

crête crest (feathers on top of a bird’s head) (cognate). As usual, when you see an
accented e (e.g. ê), try changing it to es.

deuil mourning, bereavement. Cognate with dolor (“great sorrow or distress”),

related to French douleur (“pain”). Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “mourn
the death of a man killed in a duel”; but note the spelling. There’s no verb related
to this word that means “to mourn”; say faire le deuil instead. See also douleur.

sympathie sympathy; liking, feeling of affinity. sympathique nice, kind, friendly,

gentil; sympathetic. Sympathique may be shortened to sympa in an informal
context. A person that is sympathetic in the sense of this English word is likely a
nice and kind one. But the words in French do not limit the meanings to the feeling
of sadness, and are more general. English sympathy may be better translated as
compassion or condoléance. Examples, un homme très sympathique (“a very nice
man”); j’ai beaucoup de sympathie pour elle (“I feel for her a lot / have a lot of
sympathy for her”; “I like her a lot”; the meaning depends on the context).

ténèbres darkness. Cognate with tenebrous (“dark and gloomy”), Tenebrae (a

Christian service celebrated on the evening before, or early morning of, certain
days). Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “tanning makes the skin become
dark”.

croissant growing, increasing (adj.); crescent (n.); croissant (a crescent shape of

roll or pastry); present participle of croître (“to grow”). What ties all these
meanings together is the fact that this word is from Latin crescere (“to grow”;
think of the music term crescendo). The moon looks like a crescent because the lit
part is growing out of darkness (new moon). The pastry croissant is so called
because it’s in the shape of a crescent moon. Example, le Croissant fertile (“the
Fertile Crescent”, a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East).

couvent convent (cognate), nunnery. From Latin conventum. The apparent change
of n to u actually consists of two changes, nv to v and o to ou.

incroyable incredible, unbelievable, amazing. From in- + croire (“to believe”) + -

able. See also croire.

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haie hedge (cognate), hurdle, obstacle. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, imagine one
guy saying “Hey!” to another on the other side of the hedge. Not to be confused
with haine (“hatred”) or haïr (“to hate”), which incidentally has a few conjugated
forms that are pronounced the same. Example, cette forêt est une haie naturelle
contre le vent fort (“this forest is a natural hedge against the strong wind”).

épargner to save (money, time etc.); to spare (cognate). épargne saving. Try
changing é- to es- and s- and you find that the latter makes the word close to spare.
To save money in this sense is to leave aside spare money. (In contrast, to save
money by spending less is économiser instead.) Example, combien faut-il épargner
pour avoir une bonne retraite? (“how much should you save for a good
retirement?”); un compte d’épargne (“a savings account”).

vaisselle dishes, dishware. Cognate with vessel, vascular. English vessel, which
used to have the meaning of “dishes”, refers to “ship” or “fluid channel in a living
body” (as in blood vessel). The original meaning common to vaisselle and vessel is
“container” or “barrel”; a ship is a container traveling on water and a plate is used
to hold food. (A vessel, as in blood vessel, is a waterway in which a ship travels.)
This word is not related to Versailles or versatile. But you can make a mnemonic
such as “beautiful dishware exhibited in the Palace of Versailles”. Examples, faire
la vaisselle (“to do dishwashing”); lave-vaisselle (“dishwasher”, machine à laver la
vaisselle).

matelas mattress (cognate). Arabic origin. In Old French, the word was materas,
from which English mattress is derived. The change between r and l (called liquids
in phonology) is quite common in Romance languages. Alternatively, use mat as a
memonic even though mat is etymologically unrelated.

ascenseur elevator, lift. Cognate ascend.

aboutir (followed by à) to lead to (literally or figuratively), mener; to succeed, to

achieve something. From bout (“end”, “tip”), which may be cognate with butt (as
in cigarette butt). Examples, la rue aboutit / mène à la plage (“the street leads to
the beach”); l’enquête n’a pas abouti (“the investigation didn’t go anywhere /
didn’t find anything / failed”). See also bout.

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circuler (people) to move (along), (bus, train) to run; to circulate (all senses).
circulation traffic on the road; circulation (all senses). Note the more common
meanings are listed first here. Examples, le train circule même le week-end (“the
train even runs on weekends”); Circulez! (“Move!”, e.g. said by police to a
standing crowd); il y a beaucoup de circulation (“there’s a lot of traffic”).

narine nostril. Cognate with nasal, related to nez (“nose”). From Latin naris
(“nostril”), which has entered English vocabulary as a medical term. Earlier Latin
form was nasus, where the second syllable consonant changed from s to r within
Latin.

effondrer (reflexive) to collapse. The root is cognate with found, foundation,

fundamental, with a core meaning of “bottom”, “base”. To collapse is to come
down to the base. Example, un pont s’est effondré (“a bridge collapsed”).

insupportable unbearable, intolerable. This word exists in English, sometimes

written as unsupportable, but it mostly takes the sense of “unable to be supported”
either literally or figuratively as in describing a theory or argument, and rarely
means “unable to be endured”, as this French word does. Examples, une douleur
insupportable (“unbearable pain”); je le trouve insupportable (“I can’t stand him”,
“I find him unbearable”).

vaincre to defeat, to overcome, to conquer, to vanquish (cognate). vaincu defeated

(past participle of vaincre). Also cognate with the root of convince.

tronche (slang) face, visage, face; head. Cognate with trunk. According to Eugène
Vidocq written in 1837, la Tronche est la tête lorsque le bourreau l’a séparée du
tronc (“the Tronche is the head when the executioner has separated it from the
trunk”). Apparently it originally only referred to the head severed from the body
trunk or torso. Use trunk or truncate as a mnemonic, combined with its gruesome
origin. By the way, Vidocq was a French criminal but also a criminalist and the
father of modern criminology, whose life story inspired Victor Hugo and Balzac
(see Wikipedia). Not to be confused with tranche (“slice”).

nappe tablecloth. Cognate with nappy (“diaper”), with the root of napkin (literally
“small cloth”). From Latin mappa (“napkin”; “handkerchief”), hence also cognate
with English map. Occasionally initial m changed to n, also seen in Latin matta >

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French natte (“mat”; “braid”). Note “napkin” in French is a different word,
serviette.

nager to swim. nage swimming. Cognate with navigate, navy. The second syllable
in Latin navigare weakened and then lost. There’s another noun, natation, which
refers to swimming as a sport while nage is just swimming. But nage can also refer
to a specific style of swimming. Sometimes English swim refers to leisurely
swimming in water, for which you say se baigner in French instead. Examples,
aller nager (“to go swimming”); nage libre (“freestyle swimming”).

effleurer to touch lightly, to stroke, to brush. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a

mnemonic such as “touch a flower lightly”. (This word is probably not related to
fleur in the sense of “flower”, but to fleur in à fleur de, “flush with”.) Example,
effleurer un sujet (“to touch on a subject”).

voyou thug, hooligan, (original meaning) street kid. Cognate with via, voyage.
From voie (“road”). Imagine a thug loitering on the street (road) most of the time,
or (as a mnemonic) a voyeur, who is generally considered a bad guy. The
uncommon suffix -ou is either diminutive or a variant of -eur (like English -er).
Example, une bande de voyous (“a bunch of thugs”). See also voie.

troupeau herd (of animals), drove, flock. Cognate with troup, troupe. Just
remember the two English cognates refer to people while French troupeau refers to
animals. Suffix -eau indicates diminutive; think of animals as lesser than humans
(not about size). Example, un troupeau de vaches / moutons (“a herd of cows /
flock of sheep”; French uses the same word for herd and flock).

cerf stag, adult male deer; deer. Cognate with corn (“callus”, not “maize”), cornet
(a musical instrument), with the second element of unicorn, Capricorn (a zodiac
sign showing a goat), -corn in the sense of “horn”. To see the cognation, pretend to
pronounce c as k in this word. As a mnemonic, imagine a portrait of a serf (“a
peasant under the feudal system to work on his lord’s estate”) standing by a deer.
Mnemonics experts may propose a ridiculous image of a deer surfing on the water.
By the way, f in cerf is silent. Note a female deer is biche. Example, un cerf-volant
(“a kite”; a kite was not associated with a stag but instead was called a flying
serpent or une serp-volante, but the word serp did not survive into Modern French
and was replaced by the homonym cerf).

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bal dance party, ball. English ball (“dance party”, not the round object) is from this
French word. Example, une salle de bal (“a ballroom”).

frôler to brush against, to touch, effleurer; (figuratively) to be close to. Doublet

with frotter (“to rub”), cognate with friction. But the etymology hardly helps due to
too many sound changes. Use a mnemonic such as “the children laugh and frolic
by touching each other”. See also frotter.

semer to sow (seeds); to escape from (police, etc.), to shake off. Cognate with
seminal, semen. Example, semer la panique (“to spread / sow panic”).

retentir to ring, to sound, to resound. The root is cognate with tinnitus, a medical
term for the ringing sensation in the ear. You may also use din (“loud noise”) as a
mnemonic as it’s close to the sound of the root. Not to be confused with retenir
(“to retain”, “to hold”). Examples, la cloche retentit / sonne (“the bell rings”); la
réponse est un oui retentissant (“the answer is a resounding yes”).

affecter to affect, to influence; to feign; to assign (a role to a person, a value to a

variable), to allocate (fund). The root is from a Latin word meaning “to do”, whose
derivatives understandably could mean a lot of things. Note that English affect no
longer has the meaning “to assign”, and rarely means “to feign” although this
meaning is well preserved in the noun affectation. Examples, l’incident l’a
beaucoup affectée (“the incident greatly affected her”); affecter de faire (“to
pretend to do”).

bassin pond (in a garden); pelvis (bone structure at the base of the spine that
supports the legs); (geography) basin (cognate). This word has various other
meanings, but a washbasin is lavabo in French, and a kitchen sink or basin is évier.
See also bassine (“big bowl or pan”).

épée sword. Cognate with spatula (“a tool with a flat blade”), spatha (“a type of
long and flat sword”). Doublet with épaule (“shoulder”). English epee (“fencing
sword”) is from this French word. Alternatively, if you’re already familiar with the
common change of é- (before a consonant) to s-, spear may be used as a mnemonic.
Example, avoir une épée de Damoclès au-dessus de la tête (“to have a sword of
Damocles above the head”). See also épaule.

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inattendu unexpected. The root is the past participle of attendre (“to expect”; “to
wait”). Note that in- is pronounced /in/, not /ɛ/̃ , since it’s followed by a vowel.
Note this word does not mean “unattended” or “not looked after” (sans
surveillance in French). Example, une visite inattendue (“an unexpected visit”).

coutume custom (cognate), tradition. Doublet with French costume, which has
entered English vocabulary. Not to be confused with couture (“sewing”).

bol bowl (cognate); (informal) luck. Not to be confused with bal (“ball”, “dance
party”), boule (“ball”, round object). It’s not clear how the word acquired the
second meaning. One theory relates it to cul (“bottom”; “butt”; “luck”) on analogy
of the shape. But you still need to know the informal sense of “luck” of cul. It may
be easier to imagine a gambling game in which you cover dices with bowls and
mix them up. Examples, un bol de riz (“a bowl of rice”); un coup de bol / chance
(“a stroke of luck”); j’en ai ras le bol de la violence armée aux États-Unis (“I’m
fed up with gun violence in the US”, literally “I have a bowlful of ...”).

dentelle lace (fabric containing patterns of holes). This word has entered English
vocabulary as a term in bookbinding. Although this word is cognate with dental
(and -elle is diminutive), its meaning is not directly related to “tooth”. But you can
imagine the edge of the lace as little teeth. Example, col de / en dentelle (“lace
collar”).

flèche arrow; spire. This word has entered English vocabulary referring to the spire
in architecture as on a church, or to a fencing technique. It may be spelled fletch
meaning “to fit feathers to an arrow to aid flight”, which is connected to or is
influenced by fledge (“to acquire feathers”), which relates to fledgling (“young bird”
or “inexperienced”). You may know a person by the name Fletcher as that’s a
common last name, and his ancestor must be an arrow maker. Alternatively, as a
mnemonic, imagine an arrow shot into flesh; it may be a disturbing scene, but that
was real in ancient warfare. Or “flex the bow to shoot the arrow”. Examples, tirer /
lancer une flèche (“to shoot an arrow”); la flèche de la cathédrale (“the spire of the
cathedral”).

évanouir (reflexive) to faint, to pass out; (reflexive) to vanish, to disappear, to

evanesce (“disappear”) (cognate). The root is cognate with vanish. Prefix é-,

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cognate with ex-, means “out” as in “out of sight”. The more common meaning is
“to faint”. When one faints, everything vanishes or disappears from his vision.

accroupir (reflexive) to crouch, to squat, to bend down. The root is cognate with
croup (“rump or buttocks of a horse”, not in the sense of “infection of the larynx
and windpipe”). The word literally means “to sit on the bottom”. Alternatively,
coupe, crouch or creep may be used as a mnemonic. A coupe is a car style usually
with a low profile which you can liken to a person bending down. Example, il s’est
accroupi à côté de l’enfant (“he crouched down / squatted next to the child”). See
also croupe (“rump”).

mortel fatal, deadly, lethal; mortal (adj.) (cognate); human (n.), mortal (n.)
(cognate). Note this word primarily means “fatal”, although English mortal
(“susceptible to death”, “eventually going to die”, “not immortal”) can also be
translated as this word. Example, le commun des mortels (“average persons”,
“ordinary people”).

croisé crusader (n.); past participle of croiser (“to cross”). croisade crusade.
English crusade is “formed as a hybrid of Middle French croisade and Spanish
cruzada, both from the word for cross” according to Wiktionary. Suffix -ade is
used to form a noun denoting action, as in promenade, fusillade. Not to be
confused with croisière (“cruise”, fem.).

berger shepherd. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “the shepherd
likes hamburgers” or, realize that -berg in iceberg means “mountain”, then imagine
a shepherd with his sheep in a mountainous area. Since Berger is a common last
name, if a friend or coworker is named Berger, tell him or her there’s about 50% of
chance that his / her ancestor was a shepherd (the other 50% being a German
descendant named after the word for mountain, as in iceberg). Example, un berger
allemand (“a German shepherd”).

pâte paste (n.) (cognate), dough. pâté meat paste, pâté. pâtisserie pastry (food);
patisserie, cakeshop. Change â to as to see the cognation; the diacritic mark means
an s was omitted.

trancher to slice, to cut; to decide, to settle. tranche slice (of bread etc.), period
(of time). tranchant sharp, trenchant (“keen”, “vigorous in expression”, a word

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from Old French). Possibly cognate with truncate. Not to be confused with
tranchée (“trench”), even though that form happens to be the feminine singular of
the past participle of trancher. The word tranche has entered English vocabulary,
meaning “a slice or portion of something e.g. money”. Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “the hungry man dreamed of a slice of bread in a trance”.
Examples, trancher / couper le pain (“to slice / cut the bread”); une tranche d’âge
(“an age group”; imagine a bar in a bar chart); deux tranches de pain (“two slices
of bread”).

sabot hoof (of a horse etc.); wooden shoe, clog; sabot (device to hold bullet inside
the barrel of a firearm). Cognate with Spanish zapato (“shoe”), after which the
online shoe retailer Zappos was named. According to folk etymology about
sabotage, workers threw their sabots or wooden shoes into machines, which would
be clogged and stopped. Or as a mnemonic, think of the saddle on a horse when
you see sa- of this word (but you still need to move your thought from saddle
down to hoof). Example, le sabot d’un cheval (“the hoof of a horse”).

féliciter to congratulate. félicitation congratulation. Cognate with felicity

(“happiness”). Note félicité means “happiness”, “felicity”, but féliciter means “to
congratulate”; literally the word would mean “to make happy”. Example,
félicitations pour l’achat de ta maison! (“congratulations on buying your house!”).

dévisager to stare at (someone’s face). The root, as that of visage (“face”), is

cognate with visual. Prefix dé- here takes its uncommon sense serving as an
intensifier just as Latin dis- occasionally does (e.g. in English disgruntled).

ruisseau stream, creek, brook. ruisseler to drip, to stream. Cognate with Spanish
río or Portuguese rio as in Rio de Janeiro, the name of the big city in Brazil
literally meaning “River of January”. But due to too many changes after the first
syllable, this etymology may not help. As a mnemonic, imagine the great French
thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau posing for a picture by a stream.

charbon coal. English carbon is from a French word related to charbon. Examples,
une mine de charbon (“a coal mine”); charbon de bois (“charcoal”).

fauve tawny, light brown or orange, fallow (cognate); wild animal. Only fallow in
the sense of “pale brown” (not “ploughed but unseeded land”) is a cognate here.

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The second meaning “wild animal” is derived since many such animals have furs
of brownish color. Fauvism is “the style of les Fauves (French for ‘the wild
beasts’), a loose group of early twentieth-century modern artists” according to
Wikipedia. If you still have trouble remembering this word, use a mnemonic such
as “my favorite color is light brown” or use fauna (“animals in a specific area”) as
a hint.

lundi Monday. The lun- part is cognate with lunar and -di means “day” (although
not cognate with English day). This word literally means “day of the moon”,
exactly as English Monday means, which descended from a Proto-Germanic word
actually translated from the Latin word from which French lundi is derived.
Example, en lundi (“on Monday”); à lundi (“see you on Monday”, literally “to
Monday”); le lundi matin (“on Monday morning”). See also lune (“moon”).

étendue scope, expanse, stretch, extent (cognate), range; a conjugated form of

étendre. From étendre (“to extend”). Prefix é- corresponds to English prefix ex-.
Example, l’étendue du problème (“the extent of the problem”); l’étendue de la mer
(“the expanse of the sea”). See also étendre.

renifler to sniff. According to one theory, the root, -nifler, is of imitative origin
(onomatopoeia), as is English sniff. For the connection of sound to meaning, refer
to Wikipedia or other sources on phonestheme. Prefix re- may be considered an
intensifier. See also siffler (“to whistle”).

grenier attic, loft; granary (cognate). In the old days, the attic could be used to
store grain, hence the change of sense. Examples, un grenier de blé (“a wheat
granary”); au grenier (“in the attic”).

lasser (reflexive) to get bored; to make tired, to tire, to weary; to bore (make lose
interest). Cognate with lassitude (“weariness”, “fatigue”), with late if traced to
Proto-Indo-European. Related to las (“tired”, “weary”), whose feminine form
(lasse) is the same as the first or third person singular of lasser. Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “are you really tired or just lazy?” Not to be confused with
laisser (“to let”) or laser (“laser”). To say “to tire” physically, fatiguer is a more
common word. Example, je m’en suis lassé (“I got tired of it”). See also las.

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procès trial, lawsuit, court case. Cognate with process. Final -s is silent. In spite of
cognation, this word does not mean “process”, for which better French words
would be procédé or processus (the latter describing a more complicated process).
Example, le jury du procès s’est séparé sans parvenir à une décision unanime
(“the jury of the trial split without reaching a unanimous decision”). See also
procédé.

chaussée roadway, road with raised pavement, causeway; surface of road. Cognate
with the first element of causeway. The word could be from one of two Latin
words meaning “heel” and “limestone” respectively. If the former, this word is
related to chaussure (“shoe”) and chaussette (“sock”), which can serve as
mnemonics. In either case, English causeway is a good mnemonic not only for its
similar pronunciation but also because cause- shares the same etymon. See also
rez-de-chaussée (“ground floor”).

ride wrinkle (on skin); ripple (on water). ridé wrinkled. Cognate with wreath,
writhe (“to twist”) if traced to Proto-Germanic. Imagine a person with speech
impairment pronouncing th as d. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “get rid of
the wrinkles on my face”. French ride is a false friend of English ride (which
would be monter in French). Example, un visage ridé / de rides (“a wrinkled face”).
See also rideau (“curtain”).

plaie wound, blessure (a more frequently used word). Cognate with plague. From
Latin plaga (“plague”; “wound”). Latin g in the last syllable usually dropped
except in gn or ng. But note that in Modern French, peste, not plaie, means
“plague”. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “the boy got a wound (was
injured) while playing”, or “he got a wound (was injured) on the beach (sur la
plage)”. Example, une plaie ouverte / saignante (“an open / a bleeding wound”).

nœud, noeud knot; node (as in computer cluster) (cognate). The word is also
cognate with knot if traced to Proto-Indo-European. Examples, un nœud papillon
(“a bowtie”, literally “a butterfly knot”); un nœud coulant (“slipknot”, “a noose”,
literally “a flowing knot”, as if the knot is slippery).

renseigner to inform; (reflexive) to find out. enseigner to teach. renseignement

information (about something specific); intelligence (secret information about
enemy). The root is cognate with sign, signal. Think of teaching as pushing or

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bringing information into the students’ brains. Examples, pouvez-vous me
renseigner sur ...? (“can you tell me something about ...?”); il est bien renseigné
sur le sujet (“he’s well informed about the subject”); je vais me renseigner (“I’ll
find out / ask around / look into it”); enseigner le français aux élèves (“to teach the
students French”); une renseignement (“a piece of information (you ask for)”;
French does have information, often used in plural, but the word refers to general
information you get passively such as news from TV).

frémir to tremble, to shudder, to shiver, to quiver, frissonner, trembler.

frémissement shudder (n.). Cognate with fremitus (“palpable vibration through the
chest”, a medical term). Try using tremor as a mnemonic, or “he was scared so
much even his femur (thigh bone) was trembling”. Or use froid as a mnemonic hint.
Example, le chien frémit de froid (“the dog is shivering with cold”).

bavarder to chat. bavard talkative, chatty. From onomatopoeia baba, where the
second b changed to v as often happened in French (as well as Spanish). English
bavardage (“chatter”, “banter”) is from French. You can use a mnemonic such as
“I chatted with my friend in Bavaria, the biggest state in Germany”. Example,
bavarder avec mon ami (“to chat with my friend”).

exploser to explode (cognate). From explosion, which is from Latin explosio. In

French, these words all use s as the third syllable consonant: explosif, exploser,
explosion, while English explode uses d.

seau bucket, pail. Cognate with situla (“bucket-shaped vessel from the Iron Age to
the Middle Ages”, an archaeological term). Etymology doesn’t help. As a
mnemonic, imagine a bucket of salt. Or imagine children playing on the sandbeach
of a sea coast with a bucket and a shovel (un seau et une pelle). Or think of eau
(“water”) and water in a bucket.

polonais Polish (n.; adj.) (cognate). English polonaise is from French, referring to
a Polish dance or its music. Think of Chopin’s compositions for the polonaise
dance.

flaque puddle (of water). Possibly cognate with flat (“with no variation in height”).
A puddle of water appears flat. Example, une flaque d’eau (“a puddle of water”).

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néant nothingness, nil. From Latin ne entem, where ne means “no” and entem is
cognate with entity, therefore “no entity” i.e. “nothing”. Example, mes espoirs ont
été réduits à néant (“my hopes were shattered”; literally “... reduced to nil”). See
also néanmoins (“nevertheless”, “nonetheless”).

plastique plastic. While the basic meaning is easy, this French word, more often
than English plastic, refers to plastic arts (arts plastiques, usually in plural).

banlieue suburb, outskirts of city. Ban in French, cognate with English ban, means
“public proclamation or edict”, a somewhat outdated sense. The second element is
cognate with league (“a measurement of distance”, not “group of people”),
unrelated to lieu (“place”), which nevertheless can serve as a mnemonic. English
ban primarily means “to prohibit”, but originally or literally means “ordinance”,
which is announced to the lord’s subjects and vassals living in the territory, which -
lieue or league refers to. Note the word banlieue more often than English suburb
has a pejorative connotation and may be translated as slums in certain contexts.
Examples, la banlieue parisienne / banlieue de Paris (“the suburbs of Paris”); un
train de banlieue (“a commuter train”). See also lieue (“league”).

douche shower (body washing with a stream of water). Cognate with duct. Think
of a duct that carries water to the shower head. This word has entered English
vocabulary meaning “a device used to introduce a stream of water into the body for
medical or hygienic reasons, or the stream of water itself” according to Wikipedia.
Example, prendre une douche (“to take a shower”).

romain Roman. This word is easy but should not be confused with roman
(“novel”). Examples, l’Empire romain (“the Roman Empire”); chiffres romains
(“Roman numerals”). See also roman.

expédier to dispatch, to send (off), envoyer. Cognate with expedite. In spite of the
cognation, this word, at least primarily, does not mean “to expedite”, which would
be accélérer or hâter (“to hasten”) in French. On the other hand, expédition does
mean “expedition”. The Latin source literally means “out foot” or “to free foot (out
of fetters)”. Example, expédier un colis (“to send a package”).

énerver to annoy, to irritate, to get on one’s nerves. Cognate with enervate (“to
reduce strength or energy”, literally “to remove a nerve”). The root is cognate with

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nerve. Apparently, removing (é-) a nerve can weaken a person (in case of English)
or annoy him (in case of French). This word is not related to energy. Example, ça
m’énerve (“this annoys me”). See also nerf (“nerve”).

naguère in the past, formerly, not long ago, once. Short for ne avoir guère “to
hardly have”, which in Modern French is il n’y a guère (de temps), “there was
hardly (any time)”. Or use a mnemonic such as “in the past I liked to eat chicken
nuggets”. Or if you know nager (“to swim”), naguère je savais nager (“I used to
know how to swim”). See also guère (“hardly”).

étape stage, step, stopping place. Cognate with staple (“basic food”; historically
“official market for some class of merchandise”; not in the sense of “nail used in
the stapler”). Change é- to s- to see the cognation. Historically a staple market
could serve as a stopping place for travelers or marching troops. Alternatively, use
step or stage as a mnemonic (after changing ét- to st-). Not to be confused with
étage (“floor”; “stage”). Examples, cette expérience se fait en trois étapes (“this
experiment is done in three steps / stages”; note French expérience can mean either
“experience” or “experiment”); étape par étape (“step by step”, pas à pas).

ordonnance ordinance (cognate), order, decree; doctor’s prescription paper,

prescription. Note the second meaning. While French prescription refers to a
doctor’s prescription of medicines, ordonnance properly refers to the document or
paper on which the prescription is written, but this disction is blurry, possibly as a
result of the influence of English prescription, which has both senses. Example, le
médecin a fait une ordonnance (“the doctor made a prescription”).

fourrer to stuff, to cram, to stick. Possibly cognate with fur. Cognate with fodder
if traced to Proto-Germanic. Imagine a furry, fluffy, stuffed animal. Alternatively,
use full or fuller as a mnemonic. Example, fourré au / rempli de chocolat (“filled
with chocolate”). See also fourrure (“fur”).

détendre to relax, to loosen. From dé- (“undoing”) + tendre (“to tighten”). Think
of it as the opposite of extend. Not related to English detain (détenir in French),
unless traced to Proto-Indo-European. English détente (“easing of tension between
countries”), sometimes writtern as detente, is from French. Example, cours de yoga
pour étendre le corps (“yoga class to relax the body”).

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nier to deny. From Latin negare with loss of medial g (as in lire < Latin legere).
Cognate with negate. Or use nay as a mnemonic. Example, il nie l’accusation de
harcèlement sexuel (“he denies the accusation of sexual harassment”). See also
renier (“to renounce”).

mâchoire jaw. mâcher to chew. Cognate with masticate (“to chew”). French â is
from as in Latin (the diacritic signifies a dropped s), and cher from ca (as in the
case of cheval < Latin caballus). The unstressed second syllable was dropped.
Alternatively, use munch (“to chew”) as a mnemonic. Or imagine a macho man
having a big jaw.

chêne oak (either tree or wood). Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as
“oak trees are on the sides of the channel” or “I have to use a chainsaw to cut the
very hard oak tree”. Or imagine a picture of Vice President Dick Cheney standing
under an oak tree. Or imagine a dog (un chien) barking at an oak tree. If you
change the accented ê to es, the word somewhat sounds like chestnut; both
chestnut and oak are very hard wood (Cf. “Janka hardness test” on Wikipedia).
Example, une table en / de chêne (“an oak table”).

jeudi Thursday. From Latin Jovis dies (“day of Jupiter”). English Thursday
literally means “day of the thunder god” (Thur- is cognate with thunder). Germanic
people equated their own thunder god with Roman god Jupiter; so can you.

ébranler to shake, secouer; to weaken (belief etc.), to undermine. The root is

cognate with brandish (“to move a weapon back and forth”). To brandish a sword
is like shaking it. To remember the second meaning, imagine a man violently
shaking something to weaken it. Example, un séisme de magnitude 6,4 ébranle la
Californie (“a 6.4 magnitude earthquake rocks California”).

exemplaire copy (of book) (n.), copie; exemplary (adj.), serving as an example.
The first meaning, which already existed in Latin, is not easy for an English
speaker to guess. English example is exemple in French. Example, le livre s’est
vendu à des milliers d'exemplaires (“the book has sold thousands of copies”).

écran screen (cognate). Change é- to s- to see the cognation. Examples, une

télévision à écran plat (“a flat-screen TV”); écran solaire (“sunscreen”; a more
common term is crème solaire; a.k.a écran total before it was banned in 2006).

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agenouiller (reflexive) to kneel (down). Example, je m’agenouille pour prier (“I
kneel down to pray”). See also genou (“knee”).

instituteur teacher (especially at a primary school and kindergarten). The feminine

form is institutrice. From Latin institutor (“founder”, “creator”; “instructor”,
“teacher”). It’s not clear how the second meaning of this Latin word came about,
but consider what the founder of a school does after the founding. By the way,
English institute as a verb meaning “to found”, “to initiate” has an obsolete sense
of “to instruct”.

susciter to arouse, to stir up, to evoke, to provoke. Cognate with suscitate (“to
rouse”, an obsolete word) in resuscitate (“to restore consciousness”). Also cognate
with excite. Example, ce prix Nobel de la paix a suscité l’indignation dans certains
pays (“this Nobel Peace Prize has evoked indignation in certain countries”).

courbe curve (cognate). courber to bend; to bow. The v-to-b change, common to
some Romance languages, actually happened within Latin instead of French. Not
to be confused with coude (“elbow”) or cuivre (“copper”). Example, une courbe
d’apprentissage (“a learning curve”).

vanter (reflexive) to boast, to brag. Cognate with vaunt, vanity. From Latin
*vanitare, in which the unstressed i was lost. Example, il aime se vanter (“he likes
to brag”).

tousser to cough. toux cough (n.). These words have no cognate in any Germanic
language except for technical terms, in spite of its widespread presence in
Romance languages. English medical terms tussis (“cough”), pertussis (a.k.a
whooping cough, for which there is a major vaccine), are cognates. You may have
heard of the over-the-counter cough syrup Robitussin. The second element, i.e. -
tussin, has the same origin as these French words (while the first element is from
the original maker’s name).

cru past participle of croire (“to believe”); raw (uncooked or unprocessed); vintage,
wine, vineyard. The first sense may be the most common. Cognate with crude in
the second sense (“raw”). Cognate with accrue (“to increase”), crescent, with the
root of recruit in the third sense (“vintage”), which is from croître (“to grow”),
whose past participle is crû; it stresses the growth of grapes in a vineyard. The

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three senses are actually from three different words that happen to be spelled the
same. Do not confuse this word with English cry (cri or crier in French). Example,
il a cru que Jean était déjà parti (“he believed Jean already left”; cru preceded by
avoir most likely means “believed” instead of “raw” or “vintage”).

grossier coarse, rude, rough. Cognate with gross. Related to gros (“big”, “fat”).

ruban ribbon (cognate according to one theory), tape, band, stripe. When you
pronounce this word, it sounds close to ribbon. Examples, ruban adhésif
(“adhesive tape”, “scotch tape”); le maire a coupé le ruban (“the mayor cut the
ribbon”).

lécher to lick (cognate). Not related to Spanish leche (“milk”) if you know Spanish.
But if you do, you may imagine licking milk as a mnemonic.

enceinte pregnant; enclosure, compound; loudspeaker enclosure or cabinet. The

root is cognate with cincture (“enclosure”; “girdle, belt”; “a rope-like cloth article
worn by a priest”), cinch (“saddle girth”; “easy thing”). To remember the meaning
of “pregnant”, imagine a new-born baby wrapped in cloth band. To remember
“enclosure”, a meaning that has entered English, imagine that a pregnant woman is
restricted in an enclosure, as happened in some cultures. You can also use encircle
as a mnemonc.

haleine breath, breathing. Cognate with the root of inhale and exhale. Note the
verb (“to breathe”) is a different word, respirer. The verb haleter does exist but it
means “to pant”, “to gasp”. Examples, être hors d’haleine (“to be out of breath /
breathless”, être à bout de souffle); un travail de longue haleine (“long-term work /
a long-term project”, literally “a work of long breath”).

poubelle trash can. From the surname Poubelle, after Eugène Poubelle, a French
jurist and administrator, who promulgated an ordinance in 1884 that all apartments
should have trash cans, according to Wiktionary. Alternatively, as a mnemonic,
think of poussière (“dust”), which is cognate with powder, pulverize (“to break
into powder or dust”). As to the -belle, imagine a beautiful environment after dust
and trash have been put away. Or imagine a trash can bearing the image of the
Pooh bear or Winnie the Pooh. Example, mettez-le / -la à la poubelle! (“put it into
the trash can!”). See also poussière.

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déclencher to trigger, to set off. The root is possibly cognate with clench (“tight
grip”; think of clench the teeth). When you release (dé-) the clench, it sets off a
certain action. Example, déclencher l’alarme (“to trigger the alarm”).

dépêcher (reflexive) to hurry, to hasten; to dispatch (cognate) hastily. Think of a

messenger being dispatched in a hurry. Example, dépêchez-toi! (“hurry up!”).

chaussette sock. chausser to put on (footwear). Related to chaussure (“shoe”).

Think of a sock as a small (-ette) shoe. Not to be confused with the unrelated
chaussée (“causeway”, “highway”). See also chaussure.

bœuf, boeuf beef (cognate); ox, bullock.

égarer to mislead; (reflexive) to get lost; to misplace. The root is cognate with
garage (literally “place to shelter”), related to gare (“railway station”), garer (“to
cover”, “to garage”, “to park”). Prefix é- signifies “away from (shelter)”. Not to be
confused with écarter (“to separate”, “to spread””). Examples, un passant égaré
(“a passer-by who gets lost”); nous nous sommes égarés (“we got lost”, nous
sommes perdus); j’ai égaré ma clé (“I misplaced my key”). See also gare, garer.

reconnaissance recognition; reconnaissance (from French). Note that the primary

meaning of this word is “recognition”. The sense of “military reconnaissance”
must be determined by the context. Example, reconnaissance vocale / faciale
(“speech / facial recognition”). See also reconnaître (“to recognize”).

gronder to scold; to growl, to grumble, to rumble. One theory considers this word
an onomatopoeia, and so is cognate with grunt. But note that a grunt is a low-
volume unclear sound not as loud as gronder. Examples, gronder quelqu’un (“to
scold someone”); le tonnerre a grondé (“thunder rumbled”).

blague joke, plaisanterie. The word is of Dutch origin. Use “black humor” as a
mnemonic, or “what a joke! he’s just bragging” .This word has entered English
vocabulary meaning “joke” or “nonsense”. Examples, sans blague (“no kidding”);
raconter des blagues (“to tell jokes”).

coussin cushion (cognate). Note this word is not cousin, still spelled cousin in
French, where s is pronounced /z/ while ss in coussin is /s/.

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issue exit, way out; final outcome. issu (used as adj.) originating (from), coming
out (from). Note French issue does not have other senses of English issue, such as
“problem” (question or problème in French), “single publication of a magazine”
(numéro). Examples, l’issue / la sortie de secours (“emergency exit”, literally “the
exit of rescue”); une voie / rue sans issue (“a dead end”); il est issu / elle est issue
de la famille des Bourbons (“he / she comes from the Bourbon family”).

rater to miss (an event, train, etc.); to fail (exam etc.). From an old expression that
literally means “to take a rat” but really means “to misfire”. It may be a joking way
to say a rat is accidentally shot when it’s not supposed to be. Imagine you shot at a
rat but missed him, or failed to hit him. This word does not mean “to rate” (which
would be évaluer, classer in French). Examples, rater le bus (“to miss the bus”);
rater un examen (“to fail an exam”).

plomb lead (metal). Cognate with plumb. Lead is heavy and can be used as a
plumb. Example, essence sans plomb (“unleaded gas”).

acharner (reflexive) to persevere, to persist (in doing). The root is cognate with
carnage, doublet with chair (“flesh”). The original sense is “to put flesh on the lure
to excite the falcon in training”. The word barely keeps the old sense of “to pit one
animal or person against another in a fight” and now almost always means “to be
keen on doing something”. Think of a dogfight, in which two dogs or two fighter
jets fight each other non-stop for a long time, as if one or both will end in carnage.
Example, s’acharner à faire / sur / contre (“to try desperately to do / to work hard
on / to fiercely fight against”). See also chair.

chier (vulgar) crap, shit. Unhelpful etymology. Use shit as a mnemonic as their
pronunciations are close. Example, je me fais chier aujourd’hui (“I’m pissed off
today”; faire chier is “pissed”).

souligner to emphasize, to stress, to underline, to highlight. From sou- (“under) +

ligner (“to line”, “to draw a line”).

singe monkey; ape. Cognate with simian (“ape or monkey”; “related to ape or
monkey”). This word obviously has nothing to do with English sing. But as a
mnemonic, you can imagine a singing monkey as in a children’s show. Or imagine

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there’re lots of monkeys in Singapore (even though the name Singapore means
“lion city”, not “monkey city”; -pore is cognate with suffix -polis).

février February (cognate). From Latin Febrarius. It’s not uncommon for b in
Latin to change to v in French (or Spanish). Not to be confused with and not
related to fièvre (“fever”). To help remember which is which, think of the sound of
the first e in English fever, /i/, not /e/.

chantier worksite, construction site; (colloquial) mess. Cognate with gantry

(“framework spanning a road or railroad for displaying signals or signs”; “gantry
crane or scaffold”). English shanty (“crudely built shack”) is from this word in
Canadian French. If that doesn’t help you, as a mnemonic, imagine a group of
workers singing (chantant) while working at a construction site. Not to be
confused with chanter (“to sing”).

parquet parquet (floor of wooden blocks arranged in a geometric pattern);

prosecution, prosecutor’s office. “In France, the parquet général is the public
prosecutor’s office” according to Wikipedia. Imagine such an office laid with a
beautiful parquet floor. Example, le parquet de Paris a fait appel de la relaxe (“the
public prosecutor of Paris filed an appeal of the acquittal”).

état-major (military) general staff, headquarters; (business) senior management.

The word état here is not “state” or “condition”, but is to be understood as “group
of people”, “college” as in electoral college. This term is used in all major
Romance languages, e.g., estado mayor in Spanish, stato maggiore in Italian,
estado-maior in Portuguese.

bague (jewelry) ring. Cognate with bagel (“a type of bread roll in the shape of a
ring”), possibly with badge. This word is unrelated to baguette. Example, une
bague de fiançailles (“an engagement ring”).

hisser to hoist (cognate), to raise. Germanic origin. In the Germanic etymon, the
first vowel is i. It’s English, not French, that changed it to oi. Unrelated to English
hiss (which would be siffler, sifflet in French). Example, le film s’est hissé en haut
du classement (“the film rose to the top of the charts”; note se since the film itself
rises).

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engloutir to engulf, to gulp, to swallow, avaler. The root is cognate with glut
(“excess”), glutton (“greedy eater”). Unrelated to gluten as in gluten-free.
Compared to avaler, engloutir implies a fast swallowing action. Example, une
vague a englouti le bateau tout d’un coup (“a wave engulfed the boat all of a
sudden”).

nouvel nouveau (“new”) used before a masc noun beginning with a vowel sound
(inclduing silent h). This word is easy but should not be confused with English
novel, which would be roman in French. Example, un nouvel hôpital / an (“a new
hospital / year”; note nouvelle année also means “new year”, where année is fem.).

cercueil coffin, casket. Cognate with the first element sarco- of sarcophage,
sarcophagus (“stone coffin”). Through Latin, it ultimately came from an Ancient
Greek word literally meaning “flesh-eating”. The second element, -phagus (“ate”,
“devoured”, as in esophagus, macrophage), being unstressed syllables, was
dropped in French. Or use a mnemonic. Think of accueil (“welcome”) as welcome
to this world, and so changing ac- to cer- is like you circle around and go back to
where you were i.e. the other world.

tige stem, stalk, shaft. Cognate with tibia (“shinbone”, “the larger of the two leg
bones below the knee”). Latin -bia changed to -bja, -je, and then -ge. The stem of a
plant is likened to the strong shinbone. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “my
shinbone tickles”. Note tiger is tigre in French, which obviously is unrelated to this
word. Examples, la tige de la plante / clé (“the stem of the plant / the shaft of the
key”); coton-tige (“Q-tip”, “cotton swab”).

rédiger to write (article, note, etc.), to draft, to draw up. Cognate with redact (“to
edit by combining multiple documents and by removing some text”). The root -
diger is cognate with digest. As a mnemonic, imagine writing a digest type of
article.

cheville ankle; peg, pin, wall plug. Cognate with clavicle (“collarbone”), with the
first element of clavichord (“an early keyboard instrument”), with the root of
enclave (“land surrounded by another country”) and conclave (“secret meeting”),
and doublet with clé (“key”). Che- is from Latin cla- (possibly through an
intermediate form, ca-) just as in the case of cheval (“horse”) from caballus, from
which cavalry is derived. The basic meaning in Latin is “key”. Think of an enclave

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as a region locked in (en-) by a key and a conclave as something locked with (con-)
a key, and some keys in the old times were in the shape of a peg. The ankle is
likened to a protruding peg. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of the ankle of a
horse (cheval).

faubourg suburb, banlieue. Fau-, cognate with foreign, means “outside”, and -
bourg, cognate with borough and burg, means “town”. This word is less used than
banlieue and sounds a little old.

couvercle lid, cover (cognate). Suffix -cle, from Latin, turns a verb into a noun.
Example, le couvercle d’une boîte / un pot (“the lid of a box / a pot”).

conférence conference; lecture. Note the second meaning. French word lecture
does exist but it means “reading”. Example, quatre conférences sur la théorie de la
relativité par Einstein (“four lectures on the theory of relativity by Einstein”). See
also lecture.

chou cabbage; (colloquial) baby, darling, cute. Cognate with the first element of
cauliflower (chou-fleur in French), kale, cole (“cabbage”). From Latin caulis,
where c changed to ch, au to o, and later ol to ou. To reverse, if you read ch like k
(as in Christmas) and ou like ol, it sounds close to cauli- or cole.

fâcher (reflexive) to get angry; to upset, to irritate, to annoy. fâcheux annoying;

unfortunate. Cognate with fastidious (“very picky about details”). Alternatively,
use fussy as a mnemonic. Example, elle est fâchée / se fâche contre lui (“she’s
angry / gets angry with him”; note contre, not avec, which would imply end of a
friendly relationship).

semelle sole (of shoe). Unknown etymology. Use a mnemonic such as “the sole of
the shoe smells”.

lâche cowardly, weak; coward (n.); conjugated form of lâcher, loose, slack.
lâcheté cowardice. From lâcher (“to let go”, “to drop”). The sense “coward”
probably comes from the action of letting go or abandonment in a difficult
situation. English slang slacker meaning “person who procrastinates or is lazy”
serves as a good mnemonic if you compare the meanings of slack and lâcher.
Examples, quel lâche! (“what a coward!”); un nœud lâche (“a loose knot”). See
also lâcher.

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bordel big mess; brothel. Cognate with board. When the word was in Latin, it
meant “little hut”. Imagine a small hut built with boards used as a brothel. Not to
be confused with English border, which would be frontière or bordure in French.
Not cognate with brothel, which nevertheless you may use as a mnemonic and
imagine ro was transposed to or.

attribuer to assign, to allot, to allocate, to grant, to award; to attribute, to ascribe.

Note the meaning is far more diverse than “to attribute”.

saigner to bleed. Cognate with sanguine (“blood-red”; “looking optimistic”).

Doublet with sang (“blood”). The short sound -ui- in its Latin etymon (sanguināre)
was dropped. This word does not mean “sign”, which would be signe (n.) or signer
(v., “to sign”) in French. Unrelated to seigneur (“lord”), enseigner (“to teach”). But
as a mnemonic, you may imagine an injured lord (seigneur) that is bleeding.

planquer (colloquial) to hide, cacher. Possibly cognate with plant (v.). Hiding
something such as a treasure is likened to planting a plant. English verb plant can
mean “to put (an item for a crime etc.), in order to deceive”. Probably unrelated to
plank (“long piece of timber”, planche in French). Example, l’homme a planqué
l’ordinateur qu’il a volé dans un sac (“the man hid the computer he stole in a
sack”).

enchaîner to chain, to shackle; to concatenate. déchaîner to unleash, to cause, to

arouse. The root is cognate with chain. English does have the rare word enchain.

pression pressure. Examples, pression artérielle (“blood pressure”; note artérielle,

not sang or adj. sanguin); faire pression sur (“to put pressure on”).

venue arrival, arrivée; feminine form of venu (past participle of venir). Consider
this word a false friend of English venue, which, while from Old French, is lieu in
French instead. Example, François Hollande annule sa venue dans une librairie
bordelaise (“François Hollande cancels his visit to a Bordeaux bookstore”; venue
dans here literally means “arrival in” or more grammatically “arrival at”).

rabattre to lower, to reduce, to bring / pull / beat down; (reflexive) to fall back on.
From re- + abattre (“to bring down”). Examples, rabattre les branches hautes (“to
cut short the high branches”); en cas de pluie, il faut se rabattre sur le plan B (“in
case of rain, we should fall back on plan B”). See also abattre.

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frisson shiver (n.), chill, thrill (n.), tremblement. frissonner to shiver, to tremble,
trembler, frémir. Cognate with frigid, doublet with froid (“cold”). Imagine the
shivering body in a frigid or cold environment. Alternatively, use freezing as a
mnemonic. The word frisson has entered English vocabulary meaning “a sudden
excitement or fear”.

décevoir to disappoint. déçu disappointed. Cognate with deceive, deception. In

spite of the cognation, décevoir does not mean “to deceive” except in old text. But
you can construct a mnemonic with it such as “we’re disappointed at him because
he deceived us”. Imagine that the good-natured French people do not react strongly
to deception and only show disappointment. Example, je suis très déçu de ce film
(“I’m very disappointed at this movie”).

puits well (ground hole to draw water from). Cognate with pit. The plural is also
puits. This word is a homonym of puis (“then”). Example, un puits de pétrole (“an
oil well”). See also épuiser (“to exhaust”, “to drain energy”).

amateur lover (of something), enthusiast; amateur, non-professional. Note unlike

in English, this word does not have the negative connotation of “being
inexperienced”. After all, it’s from a Latin word from which French amour (“love”)
and English amorous are derived. Examples, un amateur de musique (“a music
lover”); un photographe amateur (“an amateur / non-professional photographer”).

couronne crown (cognate). couronner to crown (cognate), to enthrone. Cognate

and doublet with coroner (“doctor who performs autopsies”; “person investigating
unnatural death”); a coroner was originally a guardian of the crown’s pleas. From
Latin corona (“crown”). Toyota car model corolla is from the same Latin word.

abîmer to damage, to spoil, to ruin; (reflexive) to go bad. abîme abyss (cognate).

The verb is from the noun. Causing damage or going rotten is likened to falling
into an abyss. Examples, la pluie a abîmé la porte (“the rain damaged the door”);
la viande s’abîme / se gâte vite (“the meat goes bad quickly”); des fruits abîmés
(“fruit that has gone bad”).

congé leave (n.), vacation, time-off. This word has entered English vocabulary
mostly spelled conge, sometimes congee , but their usage has steadily decreased in
the last century according to Google Ngram. Its meaning is “leave” including but

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not limited to “vacation”. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “I’m
going to Congo for a vacation” (as if this African country had miraculously
improved everything), or “I’ll go to my Mom’s house on vacation and eat congee
she cooked”. (Congee is also the spelling of the word for “rice porridge”, and (if
you don’t know it yet) can be memorized by associating the thick soup with the
word congeal.) Examples, prendre un congé maternité / de maternité (“to take a
maternity leave”; de is optional); elle est en congé (“she’s on leave / on vacation”;
the context determines which meaning to take).

pointu pointed (cognate), sharp. Suffix -u, also seen in barbu (“bearded”), aigu
(“sharp”, “needle-like”), etc., means “possessing something”. Therefore pointu
literally means “having a (sharp) point”. Example, un couteau à lame pointue (“a
knife with a pointed blade”).

sagesse wisdom. Cognate with sage. Examples, la sagesse d’un vrai homme d’état
(“the wisdom of a true statesman”); une dent de sagesse (“a wisdom tooth”).

poumon lung. Cognate with pulmonary. Example, crier à pleins poumons (“to
shout / scream at the top of one’s lungs / voice”).

tâter to feel (the pulse etc.), to touch lightly. Cognate with taste. As usual, change
â to as to see the cognation. Feeling something is likened to tasting it. Example,
tâter / se tâter le pouls (“to feel the / to feel one’s own pulse”).

aveu confession, avowal (cognate), confession. Aveu is not likely used in a

religious context, unlike confession. See also avouer (“to confess”).

morne dreary, gloomy, bleak, dismal. Cognate with mourn. Example, une voix /
vie morne (“a dreary voice / life”).

feuilleter to leaf through, to browse. See also feuille (“leaf”).

mignon cute, pretty, dainty, sweet. This word has entered English vocabulary. If
you don’t know it, use a mnemonic such as “these freshwater minnows are cute”.
Or think of mini as cute. In filet mignon, the name of a dish seen in French cuisine,
the word means “tender”.

morale morality, morals (n.), ethics; fem. of moral (adj.). Note that this word as a
noun does not mean “morale”, which, perhaps surprisingly, would be moral as a
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noun. (But French moral as an adjective means “moral”.) French morale of course
can also be the feminine singular of the adjective moral. Examples, la morale
chrétienne (“christian morality”); la morale de cette histoire est (“the moral of the
story is”); une obligation morale (“a moral obligation”; morale here is adj.). See
also moral.

ballon (inflatable) ball; balloon. Note this word generally refers to a bigger ball
than balle in sports and this ball is inflatable. See also balle.

fourrure fur (cognate). Related to fourrer (“to stuff”, “to fill”). Example, Canada
Goose utilise de la fourrure de coyote sauvage (“Canada Goose uses wild coyote
fur”). See also fourrer.

sieur sir (cognate), Mr. This word, which can be abbreviated as sr, is the second
element of monsieur, analyzed as mon (“my”) + sieur (“sir”).

buffet buffet; sideboard (dining-room furniture placed along a wall, originally for
serving food). Unknown origin. But since it has fully entered English in its second
sense, we can backtrack the history and easily remember its first sense; a buffet
meal is served on the sideboard along the dining-room wall. Example, un buffet à
volonté (“a self-serve buffet”, literally “a buffet at will”).

enquête investigation, inquiry (cognate); survey, poll. Note this word is often used
for police investigation, unlike English inquiry. Example, la police a fait une
enquête (“the police made an investigation”).

vœu, voeu wish (n.); vow (n.) (cognate). Examples, un vœu pieux (“a wishful
thinking”, literally “a pious wish”); meilleurs vœux! (“best wishes!”, commonly
used before New Year); faire un vœu (“to make a wish”).

vilain (formal) ugly, laid. In spite of cognation with English villain, this word does
not mean “villain” and is more commonly used as an adjective. Examples, vilain
petit canard (“ugly duckling”); vilain garçon (“bad boy”).

accabler to overwhelm, to overpower, to devastate. Possibly related to câble and

English cable, catapulte and English catapult. Think of the catapult with its strong
cables in an ancient battlefield, where many projectiles thus thrown can overwhelm

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the soldiers inside the walled city. Example, trop de travail accable les ouvriers
(“too much work overwhelms the workers”).

mûr mature (cognate), ripe. mûrir to mature, to ripen. Mûr should not to be
confused with mur (“wall”) in spite of the same pronunciation. From Latin maturus,
which lost the medial t and a changed to e and merged with u to form û. The trick
to avoid confusing mûr with mur is to remember that the vowel with a diacritic, û
here, hides something (i.e. loss of t, and then the vowel after m). In contrast, the
cognate of mur is easily recognized, as it is close to English mural. Note mûrir
should not be confused with mourir (“to die”). Example, la banane est trop mûre
(“the banana is too ripe”).

économique economical; economic. While English words economical (“frugal”)

and economic (“about economy”) are different, French économique can mean
either of them.

ficelle string; very narrow baguette (which looks like a string). Cognate with
filament, doublet with fil (“thread”, “string”). The -celle part is not from a
standalone word but comes from a Latin diminutive suffix, just as -cillin of
Penicillin means “small”. This word may occur in the idiom apprendre les ficelles
du métier (“to learn the tricks of the trade”, “to learn the ropes”; rope here
accidentally matches ficelle in meaning).

feindre to feign (cognate), to pretend, to fake. This word is unrelated to faint

(which would be s’évanouir in French).

portefeuille wallet; portfolio (in investment etc.) (cognate). Note the primary
meaning of this word is “wallet”. The word literally means “carry” and “sheet”,
which a wallet can do a good job at.

traité treaty (cognate); treatise (cognate). Note this word has both meanings but
not “treatment”, which would be traitement in French. Example, Organisation du
traité de l'Atlantique Nord (“North Atlantic Treaty Organization”; NATO is OTAN
in French).

torse torso. This word is easy but note it’s masculine in spite of the -e ending.
Probably by coincidence, the word almost always refers to a man’s torso. For a

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woman’s, poitrine (“chest”, “bosom”), a feminine word, is more common.
Example, il s’est mis torse nu (“he stripped to the waist”). See also poitrine.

mœurs, moeurs mores (cognate), customs, manners. Example, autres temps,

autres mœurs (“other times, other customs”, “other days, other ways”, “customs
change with time”).

bijou jewel, piece of jewelry. Celtic origin. Use “bead jewel” as a mnemonic and
try pronouncing d and j lightly. Or “wear this jewelry, be confident, be you”. The
plural of this word is bijoux. Examples, un bijou en or (“a gold jewel”); bijoux en
diamant (“diamond jewelry”; English jewelry is better translated as plural bijoux).

cerner to encircle, to surround, entourer; to figure out. According to one theory,

which unfortunately sense development hardly justifies, the word is cognate with
the root of discern, concern. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of cer- as if it was
derived from circle. Or, if you know CERN, Conseil Européen pour la Recherche
Nucléaire, or European Organization for Nuclear Research, based in Geneva, think
of the big cyclotron used by CERN for research in particle physics. To understand
the figurative meaning of “to figure out”, imagine you go around an object trying
to examine it. Examples, la police a cerné la maison et retrouvé le voleur (“the
police surrounded the house and found the thief”); cerner le problème / mystère
(“to figure out the problem / mystery”).

jouet toy. From jouer (“to play”) + -et (“little thing”).

contrôler to check, to monitor, to examine, to verify, to inspect. contrôle check,

inspection; (in school) test, exam. English control used to have this meaning,
which now is used in limited contexts and as a noun only, e.g. control group (as in
a clinical trial), customs control (used more in EU countries). English control in its
most common sense would be (as a verb) diriger, régler, gouverner, maîtriser in
French. Examples, contrôle technique des véhicules (“vehicle inspection”; note this
does not mean “technical control of vehicles”); poste de contrôle (“checkpoint”);
un contrôle de francais (“a French exam”).

noce (plutal noces) wedding, mariage. Cognate with nuptial (“of wedding”). From
Latin nuptiae, where u changed to o, pt to t, and -tiae to -ce (as Latin cadentia
changed to French and English chance). If this etymology is too much to be helpful,

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use a mnemonic such as “my niece’s wedding”. Or use noose but drop its negative
connotation and associate it with knot in tie the knot or lock in wedlock. Examples,
je vais à une noce / mariage (“I’m going to a wedding”); les noces d’argent / d’or
(“silver / golden wedding anniversary”).

charrette cart. Cognate with chariot, but not with cart. Suffix -ette is diminutive.
Not related to character (which would be caractère in French). Example, vous
pouvez utiliser une charrette / un chariot pour faire vos courses au supermarché
(“you can use a cart for shopping at the market”).

attendrir to make soft or tender, to soften. From a- + tendre (“tender”, “soft”,

cognate with tender) + -ir. This word may be easy but note that the root tendre is a
form of two separate words, one meaning “tender”, the other “to tighten” or “to
stretch”, which is not related here. Also, this word should not be confused with
attendre (“to wait”). Example, les larmes de sa mère attendrissent son cœur (“his
mother’s tears soften his heart”).

chouette owl; (informal) cool (adj. or interj.), great. In the sense of “owl”, it is
cognate with chough (a crow-like bird), but folk etymology believes it’s from chat
(“cat”) + hurler (“to howl”), which serves as a good mnemonic. The second sense,
“cool”, may still be related to an owl (as in expressions ma chouette or une belle
petite chouette in old literature) but may also be related to chou, which literally
means “cabbage” but is often used informally as “baby” or “darling” (so with -ette,
chouette is like saying “little darling”). Alternatively, use the interjection Sweet!.
For old-timers, use Swell!. This word is unrelated to chute (“fall”) but you can
imagine an owl flies down.

tendance tendency; trend, mode. Note the second meaning.

baie bay (body of water); berry (fruit). In the first sense, English bay is from this
French word. In the second sense, or rather, the sense of a different word of this
spelling, according to one theory and possibly folk etymology, the word is cognate
with the first element of baccalaureate or bachelor (literally “laurel berry”,
referring to laurels awarded for academic success), i.e. bacca- and bache-,
respectively; Latin c changed to g, j, and i in French in a progressively softening
process. But it may be easier to remember this sense by pronouncing -rr- of
English berry in a sloppy way, as a mnemonic. Alternatively, imagine that some

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berries grow very well in the San Francisco Bay area, essentially remembering the
two meanings with one mnemonic word. Note while English berries end with berry
in name, French like other Romance languages generally does not offer this
convenience, e.g. mûre (“blackberry”; “mulberry”), fraise (“strawberry”).
Examples, la baie de San Francisco (“the San Francisco Bay”); une fenêtre en baie
(“a bay window”).

allumette match (device to start a fire). From allumer (“to light”) + -ette
(diminutive). A match is a little thing to light a fire. See also allumer.

vedette star (of a show, movie, etc.). Cognate with video, related to “to see”, “to
watch”. This word has entered English vocabulary in the sense of “showgirl”
especially in a cabaret. Not to be confused with vendetta (“feud between families”).
Examples, une vedette de cinéma (“a movie star”); la poétesse Amanda Gorman a
volé la vedette aux chanteuses Lady Gaga et Jennifer Lopez (“The poet Amanda
Gorman stole the show from singers Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez”).

rampe ramp; handrail, banister. Note the second meaning, which is missing in
English ramp. Handrails help people climb stairs. See also ramper (“to crawl”).

débrouiller (reflexive) to manage, to get by; to disentangle, to untangle. It’s the

opposite (dé-) of brouiller (“to mix up”). Examples, débrouille-toi! (“deal with it!”,
“fend for yourself!”); je peux me débrouiller seul (“I can manage by myself”). See
also brouiller.

ruer (reflexive) to rush, to jump (at), se précipiter. ruée rush (n.). Cognate with
ruin. When the word was in Latin, it had both senses, “to rush” or “to hasten” and
“to collapse” or “to fall down”. Apparently French and English have taken each of
the two senses respectively. As a mnemonic, imagine people rushing down the
street (rue), or just focus on the first two letters and think of rush. Examples, les
spectateurs se sont rués / précipités vers la sortie (“the spectators rushed to the
exit”); la ruée vers l’or en Californie (“the California gold rush”).

loisir leisure, (pl.) spare time. English leisure is from Old French loisir, a form that
survives into Modern French. English changed oi to ei. Example, elle dessine
pendant son loisirs / temps libre (“she draws in her spare time”).

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timbre (postage) stamp; bell; (music) timbre. English timbre is from French.
Cognate with tambourine (a percussion instrument), tympanum (“eardrum”). The
sense of “stamp” may be from the fact that a bell-shaped heraldic item makes a
seal, according to E.A. Roberts, Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the
Spanish Language and Guido G. de Silva, Breve Diccionario Etimológico de la
Lengua Española. Not related to English timber (“wood”, which would be bois in
French). Example, il faut un timbre de 1 euro pour envoyer cette carte (“it needs a
1-euro stamp to send this card”).

coudre to sew, to stitch, to mend. From Latin consuere (“to sew”). Letter d was
inserted for euphonic reasons. The derived word couture (“sewing”, “dress
making”) has entered English as a term in fashion industry meaning “making of
high-end dresses”. In many conjugated forms of this verb, the second syllable
consonant is s (e.g. nous cousons, ils cousent, j’ai cousu, etc.), which reflects true
etymology; the root in these forms (not the infinitive coudre) is cognate with
English sew, suture. Note that the infinitive should not be confused with and is not
related to coude (“elbow”). Examples, une machine à coudre (“a sewing machine”);
elle a cousu un bouton sur le vêtement (“she sewed a button on the clothes”).

actuel current, present, en ce moment. Cognate with actual. This word, which does
not mean “actual”, is one of the most well-known false friends in French (or other
Romance languages for similarly spelled words). You may still think of the
connection, though, as in “what’s actually happening currently”. On the other hand,
English actual may be translated into French as réel, véritable. Example, il y a une
fonction féminine qu’il est actuellement presque impossible d’assumer en toute
liberté, c’est la maternité (“there is a female function that it is currently almost
impossible to undertake in complete freedom, and that is motherhood”; S. de
Beauvoir famously said that in her 1949 book but H.M. Parshley mistranslated
actuellement as actually, causing English-speaking scholars including Drucilla
Cornell to wrong Beauvoir, according to Toril Moi).

marre (informal) enough (figuratively), fed up (with), tired (of). Of the few
theories, the link to Spanish marear (“to get sea-sick”), hence the sense
“annoying”, may be helpful. Spanish mar (“sea”), French mer, and English marine
are related. Unrelated to marier (“to marry”), mari (“husband”). But the latter can
make up a good mnemonic such as j’en ai marre de mon mari (“I’m fed up with

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my husband”). Although related to marrer (“to laugh”), the meaning is very
different. Examples, j’en ai marre (“I’m fed up”); j’en ai marre de toi / d’attendre
(“I’m sick of you / tired of waiting”).

falaise cliff. Cognate with fell in a regional or outdated sense “rocky ridge” as in
Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, split
the word as fal- (think of fall) and aise (“ease” in French); a cliff is where you
could easily fall.

royaume kingdom, realm. Cognate with royal; al sometimes changed to French au,
also seen in chaud (“hot”), mauvais (“bad”). Doublet with régime, which has
entered English vocabulary commonly spelled regime. Note this word is a noun
meaning “kingdom”, not an adjective meaning “royal”. Example, le Royaume-Uni
(“the United Kingdom”).

tentation temptation (cognate). Also cognate with tempt, attempt. Its basic
meaning is “trial”. A temptation is an urge to try something (new). (But if you do
want to say try in French, say essayer instead; its noun is essai.) Example, résister
à / succomber à la tentation (“to resist / succumb to the temptation”).

propriété property (cognate). While also cognate with propriety, this word does
not mean or no longer means “propriety” or “good manners”, which may be
translated as convenances, bienséance, étiquette. Not to be confused with the
related propreté (“cleanliness”, noun of propre in the sense of “clean”; note propre
can also mean “own”, hence propriété). Example, la propriété privée (“private
property”).

piétiner to trample, to stamp. From a diminutive form of pied (“foot”) + -er. See
also pied.

borne road bollard (a post to block vehicles from entering an area); kilometer
marker, mark, milestone, territorial boundary or marker; limitation. borner to limit,
to confine. Etymology is unhelpful. If bollard does not sound familiar, use border
or Bonn (the German city where Beethoven was born) as a mnemonic (and imagine
a significant milestone when you arrive at Bonn). Not related to English borne
(“carried”) as in air-borne or born. Example, tu as dépassé les bornes des limites
(“you’ve gone too far”).

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tuyau pipe, hose, tube; (informal) tip (helpful hint, insider information). This word
has entered English vocabulary spelled tuyere or tue-iron meaning “tube through
which air is blown into a furnace”. Etymology doesn’t help. Use tube as a
mnemonic. As to the sense of “tip”, imagine a pipe or tube as a channel through
which fluid, then in abstract sense, information, flows. Example, un tuyau
d’arrosage (“a garden hose”, literally “a hose of spray”).

chèvre goat; goat cheese. Related to chevron. Cognate with caper, with the first
element of Capricorn (“zodiac sign for goat”). Latin ca- regularly changed to
French che- (e.g. caballus “horse” > cheval). Imagine a goat capering around. As
to connection to chevron, it’s said that a goat’s hind legs are upside-down V-
shaped, hence the chevron insignia Λ. Alternatively, since both cheval (“horse”)
and chèvre (“goat”) are words of animals and start with the same letters, imagine a
picture of a horse and a goat standing side by side. Example, le fromage de chèvre
(“goat cheese”).

guise manner, way, fashion. Cognate with English suffix -wise, as in clockwise,
weather-wise. (To understand the w-g change, see the entry for gâter.) English
disguise is from French and the root is this word. English still has under the guise
of, where guise means “way of speaking or acting”, although negatively in English.
Example, faire à sa guise (“to do as he (she) likes / his (her) way”); en guise de
rappel (“as a reminder”, literally “by way of a reminder”).

échouer to fail, faillir. Origin unknown. But échec, meaning “failure” and cognate
with check in the sense of “checkmate” in playing chess, may be used as if it were
a doublet. Alternatively, use chute (“fall”) as a mnemonic if you ignore é-. Not to
be confused with English echo, which would be écho in French. Example, échouer
à un examen (“to fail an exam”).

déplaire to displease (cognate), to be displeasing. Examples, cela me déplaît (“I

don’t like that”, je n’aime pas ça; literally “that displeases me”); n’en déplaise à
(“no offense to”, “with all due respect to”; said before the words that may indeed
displease the said person).

dépouiller to strip; to skin (animal); to deprive, to despoil (cognate), to rob.

dépouille (animal) skin, hide; (dead) body, corpse; plunder, spoils. Change é to es
to see the cognation. English spoil here means “plunder” or “loot”. Alternatively,

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as a mnemonic, think of peau (“skin”), which somewhat sounds like -pou-, and
prepend dé- for “removing”, thus “to skin”.

affoler to drive crazy or make panic; (reflexive) to panic. Examples, ne pas

s’affoler (“not to panic”; note se); ne pas affoler l’opinion publique (“not to create
panic among the public”). See also fou (“mad”, “crazy”).

salope (vulgar) slut, dirty woman, feminine equivalent of salaud (“bastard”); slutty,
dirty. saloperie filth, rubbish. From sale (“dirty”). Suffix -erie is for an abstract
noun. The suffix-like ending -ope is not explained, but some believe, probably
incorrectly, that the words are related to English sloppy. Use sloppy, Salome (the
Biblical woman who urged her father to kill John the Baptist), or sloven
(“habitually dirty person”) as a mnemonic (and if the latter, note the common
interchange between v, b, and p in Romance languages). See also sale, salaud.

tube tube, pipe, tuyau; (informal, music) hit. Note the second meaning. Think of
Youtube, where tube refers to the old cathode ray tube TV. Examples, un tube de
verre (“a glass tube”); tube digestif (“digestive tract”); un tube planétaire (“a
world-wide hit”); un tube n°1 des ventes (“a number 1 hit”, “a number 1 hit in
sales”).

suspect suspect (n.); suspicious (adjective). Note the second meaning when the
word is used as an adjective. Examples, un individu suspect (“a suspicious
individual”); cela m’est suspect (“this is suspicious to me”, “I have doubt about
this”).

cuire to cook (cognate), to bake. cuit cooked. Cognate with the root of biscuit,
which literally means “twice (bis-) cooked (cuit)”; “biscuits were originally cooked
in a twofold process: first baked, and then dried out in a slow oven” (Wikipedia).
English cuisine is related. The infinitive cuire is not to be confused with English
cure (which would be guérir in French), even in the sense as in cured meat (which
you may use as a mnemonic). If you know the word charcuterie (“a dish of cured
meat and other things”; “a shop providing this dish”), a word borrowed from
French, analyze it into char (Old French “flesh”, Modern French chair) + cuit
(“cooked”) + -erie (noun suffix for a shop). Examples, elle a cuit / cuisiné le repas
(“she cooked the meal”); il fait cuire à la maison (“he cooks / does cooking at

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home”); la terre cuite (“terracotta”, literally “baked earth”); voulez-vous la viande
bien cuite ou à point? (“you want the meat well done or medium rare?”).

vigne vine (cognate). English vignette (“decorative designs in books, originally in

the form of leaves and vines, to separate sections or chapters” according to
Wikipedia; many other senses) is from French.

élancer (reflexive) to dash. The root is cognate with lance. Examples, il s’élancé
vers l’ennemi (“he rushed upon the enemy”); la flèche de l’église s’élance / s’élève
vers le ciel (“the church spire soars up to the sky”). See also élan (“momentum”).

cirer to wax, to polish. cire wax (n.). Cognate with kerosene (suffix -ene signifies
one type of hydrocarbon as in benzene), with the first element of cerography
(“drawing or writing into a wax surface”), if traced to Ancient Greek. When the
word was in Latin, c was pronounced like k even before e. Consider the fact that
both wax and kerosene are hydrocarbon. Alternatively, use serrer (“to tighten”, “to
squeeze”; “to shake hands”) or English seal as a mnemonic and note that wax was
used to tightly seal an envelope in the old days. Or imagine syrup like melted wax.
Examples, polir et cirer une voiture (“to polish and wax a car”); cire à cacheter
(“sealing wax”). See also cierge (“candle”).

pute whore, prostitute. Cognate with Spanish puta, which has entered English
vocabulary. Alternatively, use the possible cognate putrid as a mnemonic. Or
imagine the sound of spitting. Example, un fils de pute (“a son of bitch”). See also
putain (“whore”).

canapé sofa, couch, settee. Cognate with canopy. From a Latin word meaning
“mosquito net”. Later it changed to refer to a seat under this net and then to the
seat itself. Imagine a couch with a canopy over it. This word has entered English
vocabulary referring to a type of bread as hors d’œuvre (appetizer). According to
Wikipedia, the English word canapé “comes from the French word for sofa,
drawing on the analogy that the garnish sits atop the bread as people do on a couch.”
In spite of cognation, this French word does not mean “canopy”, which would be
canopée, an anglicized word from English canopy. Example, un canapé-lit (“a sofa
bed”).

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hôte host (masc.) (cognate); guest (masc. or fem.). To see the cognation, change
the accented ô to os. Note that this word sometimes, less frequently, can mean
“guest” (but hôtesse is definitely a hostess and invité definitely a guest), and you
have to determine it from the context. (This kind of words that can take opposite
meanings are called auto-antonyms or contranyms like English sanction, which can
mean “approve” or “penalize”.) You may have seen this word in a French
restaurant where a table d’hôte (literally “table of host”) menu means a meal at a
fixed price with no or few choices.

pudeur modesty, decency, chastity, propriety, demureness, sense of shame or

embarrassment (especially with regard to matters of a sexual or personal nature).
Cognate with the root of impudent (“shameless”, “without shame”). Alternatively,
use prudent or pure as a mnemonic.

rôder to loiter, to prowl, to wander about aimlessly or stealthily. Cognate with

rotate. The wheel rotates and the cart wanders around. Alternatively, use rove (“to
wander about”) or rover as a mnemonic, or imagine a rodent wandering around.
Example, un voyou qui rôde dans la rue (“a thug prowling the street”).

papillon butterfly. Cognate with pavilion. The wings of a pavilion resemble those
of a butterfly. Examples, nager le papillon (“to swim the butterfly stroke”); un
nœud papillon (“a bowtie”, literally “a butterly node”). See also éparpiller (“to
scatter”).

flou blurred, blurry, fuzzy, unclear, vague, trouble. Etymology doesn’t help
(cognate with the first element of lukewarm). Use a mnemonic such as “this
material gives off blurry fluorescent light” or “one of the symptoms of flu is blurry
vision”. Not to be confused with English flow (which would be couler in French),
but you can imagine flowing water reflects blurry images. Examples, une image
floue (“a blurry image”); un souvenir flou (“a hazy memory”); votre projet est un
peu flou (“your plan is a little vague”).

passager passenger; temporary, passing, of a short duration, fleeting. Note the

second meaning, when it’s used as an adjective. While the first meaning
“passenger” is obvious, in some contexts, the synonym voyageur is used instead.
Note the -er ending, which is not common for a noun; append -e to form its

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feminine and stress the ending syllable with a diacritic. Examples, une passagère
(“a female passenger”); un bonheur passager (“a fleeting happiness”).

collier necklace; collar (cognate). Not to be confused with colline (“hill”) or coller
(“to glue”, “to stick”). Example, un collier de perles / diamants (“a pearl / diamond
necklace”).

sanglant bloody. Cognate with sanguine. Not related to sanglot (“sob”). Example,
une plaie / blessure sanglante (“a bloody wound”). See also sang (“blood”).

damoiseau young man of noble birth (especially one that attracts women), vain
man, dandy. Cognate with damsel (“young woman”, as in the phrase damsel in
distress). Its female counterpart is demoiselle (“damsel”, “miss”), less commonly
spelled as damoiselle, from which the familiar word mademoiselle (“Miss”,
literally “my little lady”) is derived.

bidon can, canister, brique; (slang) phony, sham. Etymology doesn’t help. As a
mnemonic, imgaine some beautiful beeds on a can, or imagine a game in which
players bid on the marbles in a can. This word has entered English vocabulary
meaning “water bottle for cyclists”. Bidonville (“slum”) has entered English
referring particularly to the impoverished area of a French or North African town,
where metal cans are used in building construction. Examples, un bidon / une
brique de lait (“a carton of milk”; “a milk carton”; note unlike for verre, both
senses are possible, possibly because the main function for a can is to hold content,
not to consume its content); des élections bidon (“sham elections”; as a mnemonic
to remember the meaning of “sham”, only for word study purposes, temporarily
associate bidon with the name of one American president and keep it to yourself).

maudit damn. maudire to curse. From mal- (“bad”) + dit (“said”). The al-to-au
change is also seen in mauvais (“bad”), chaud (“hot”, from Latin caldus), autre
(“other”, from Latin alter).

poêle stove (masc. n.); frying pan (fem. n.). In the sense of “stove”, the word is
cognate with pensile (“hanging down”), related to the fact that a bathroom was
built on the vault and heated from below. In the sense of “frying pan”, it is cognate
with English patella (“kneecap”, from Latin patella,“shallow pan”), or patina
(“greenish color on the surface of certain materials such as bronze”). Etymology

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hardly helps. Use a mnemonic such as “the poles support the stove, on which there
is a frying pan”. To remember the genders, imagine a man working on the big
heavy stove and a woman cooking with a pan. Note this word is pronounced /pwal/
or /pwɑl/ as if oê were spelled oi; its pronunciation is the same as that of poil
(“hair”), but we can’t think of an image associating a stove or frying pan with hairs,
can we? Examples, un poêle à bois (“a wood-burning stove”); une poêle à frire (“a
frying pan”).

affiche poster, placard. afficher to put up (a poster or notice), to display. Cognate

with fix, affix. Note that English placard is French affiche, but French placard
mostly means “cupboard”. Examples, affiches publicitaires (“advertising posters”);
les films à l’affiche (“the movies that are showing”); afficher les résultats d’un
examen (“to display the results of an exam”).

bonté goodness, kindness. Cognate with bounty, bonus.

sournois sneaky, sly, devious, cunning, underhand. Uncertain or unhelpful

etymology. As a mnemonic, imagine the word literally means “under” (sou-, i.e.
sub-) the nose”, or think of -nois as if it was noir (“darkness”) so “under the
darkness”. Or think of souris (“mouse”). Examples, un caractère sournois (“a
sneaky character”); une maladie sournoise (“an insidious / sneaky disease”).

délice delight (masc. n.) (cognate). Also cognate with delicious, delicate (which
historically was related to “pleasure”). (Had it not imitated light, etc., English
delight would have been delite, from Old French, from Latin delectare,
frequentative of delicere.) To aid memory, think of decilious food as a delight.
This is one of the few French words that are masculine in singular but feminine in
plural, other two examples being amour and orgue (“organ”). Example, quel délice!
(“what a delight / a joy / a treat!”).

décoller (airplane) to take off; to unstick, to peel off. From dé- + coller (“to stick”,
cognate with colloid). An airplane taking off is likened to unsticking or the
opposite of sticking (the plane to the ground). (But landing is atterrir, a word
related to terre, “land” or “earther”, not to sticking.) Examples, l’avion va décoller
dans 5 minutes (“the plane will take off in 5 minutes”); le papier peint est en train
de se décoller (“the wall paper is peeling off”; in the sense of “to unstick”, the

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word is a transitive verb and se must be added if something does so by itself). See
also coller.

arroser to water, to sprinkle, to spray, to squirt; to celebrate with a drink. The root
is cognate with roric (“about dew”), rore (“dew”, obsolete word). Etymology
doesn’t really help unless you know these English cognates. As a mnemonic, think
of watering the rose (arroser les roses). Not to be confused with English arouse
(which would be susciter, éveiller in French).

éblouir to dazzle. éblouissant dazzling. The root is cognate with bloat (“to
become swollen”) if traced to Proto-Germanic. It may be better to use a mnemonic
such as “I was dazzled by the bluish light” (j’ai été ébloui par la lumière bleutée)
or “the intense light of glass blowing”.

solennel solemn (cognate). The mn to nn change probably already occurred within

Latin. Example, je déclare solennellement que (“I solemnly declare that”).

parer to parry (cognate), to fend off, to block; to adorn, to decorate. Also cognate
with the root of prepare. The two senses can be reconciled; to prepare can be either
to adorn (as for a festivity) or to defend oneself in order to stop something
unwanted. Not to be confused with parier (“to bet”). Examples, pare-brise
(“windshield”); pare-chocs (“vehicle bumper”); pare-balle (“bullet-proof”); paré /
orné / décoré de fleurs (“adorned with flowers”; note de, not avec).

peupler to populate (cognate), to people. English people, although rarely, can be

used as a verb meaning “to populate”. Not to be confused with peuplier (“poplar”).

barrage dam; barrier (cognate). From barrer (“to bar”) + -er. This word has
entered English vocabulary, which can mean either “dam” or “heavy artillery fire
as a screen to protect troops” (tir de barrage).

brosse brush (cognate). brosser to brush (cognate). Hair style en brosse is a “male
haircut in which the hairs stick upward, like the short bristles of a brush” according
to Wiktionary. Examples, une brosse à dents / cheveux (“a toothbrush / hairbrush”);
se brosser les dents (“to brush teeth”; se indicates doing to oneself).

contourner to get around, to circumvent, to bypass, to skirt. While French contour

does mean “contour” or “isoline”, contourner can be either literally or figuratively

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“to get around”. Focus on the literal meaning of tourner (“to turn”) and, only as a
mnemonic, think of con- as “fraud” or generally “bad” as in con-art. Examples,
contourner la loi (“to circumvent the law”); le fleuve contourne la ville (“the river
bypasses the city”).

entrouvrir to open halfway, to leave ajar. entrouvert half open, ajar. From entre-
(diminutive prefix, “slightly”) + ouvrir (“to open”) or ouvert (“open”). Prefix
entre- normally means “between”, but in some compound verbs indicates a small
action. Split the word between r and o, not between n and t. See also ouvrir,
ouvert.

bille marble; billiard ball. Cognate with billiard. Not to be confused with English
bill (which would be note, facture, etc. in French) or French billet (“ticket”).
Examples, jouer aux billes (“to play marbles”); un stylo à bille (“a ballpoint pen”).

cirque circus (cognate). It’s unlikely that you never heard of the French circus
Cirque du Soleil. But note that English circle is French cercle, not cirque, even
though all these words descend from the same Latin word.

grincer to squeak, to creak, to gnash (teeth). grincement squeak (n.). Etymology

is unhelpful. Use a mnemonic such as “put on grease to stop the squeaky noise”, or
“he grinds his teeth in sleep, making squeaking noise”. Or imagine the character
Grinch in Dr. Seuss’s story squeaks and spoils a party. Example, les roues grincent
(“the wheels squeak”).

talus slope, embankment, pente; ankle bone. Doublet with French talon (“heel of
foot or shoe”). The word originally referred to the foot of a rampart, then the slope
of a rampart, then a slope in general. This word has entered English vocabulary.
See also talon.

barreau (metal) bar; bar (as in derrière les barreaux, “behind bars”, “in prison”);
bar, law profession. Cognate with bar. Suffix -eau is diminutive. So the word
literally means “little bar”.

flacon small bottle, vial. This word has entered English vocabulary. Also, it is
cognate with flagon (“a large container in which drink is served”), flask.

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rouiller to rust. rouille rust. Cognate with rufous (“reddish brown”). Probably
remotely related to ruby. Cognate with rust if traced to Proto-Indo-European.
Rouille has entered English vocabulary referring to a type of sauce originated in
Provence, southeast France; its orange color resembles that of rust. Alternatively,
use rouge (“red”) as a mnemonic since their pronunciations are quite close and rust
is red in color. Examples, un couteau rouillé (“a rusty knife”); tache de rouille
(“rust stain”); je suis un peu rouillé en espagnol (“I’m a little rusty in Spanish”).

clin wink. cligner to blink; to wink, to squint. Possibly cognate with cloister
(originally “place shut in”), close (“to shut”), influenced by a Latin word that
forms the root of decline, recline, meaning “bend”. You may use click as a
mnemonic if you think of clicking the computer mouse as blinking the eye and if
you (incorrectly) pronounce g in cligner as a distinct letter. Or “this clinic treats the
excessive blinking disorder”. Examples, faire un clin d’œil à (“to wink at”); en un
clin d’oeil (“in the blink of an eye”, “in a flash”); cligner des yeux (“to blink eyes”).

rafale gust (of wind), flurry (of snow). Possibly related to English raffle (literally
“to snatch”, “to draw”, as in raffle ticket), Latin rapere (“to snatch”), therefore
cognate with English ravage (“to devastate”), ravenous (“very hungry”), rapacious,
rapture. Some suggest that this word is an onomatopoeia; a gust of wind is likened
to the sound of pronouncing raff. Imagine people going crazy buying raffle tickets
like a strong gust of wind blowing across the town, or Italian painter Raphael’s
works brought a refreshingly new style to the art world like a gust of wind.

tonnerre thunder. Cognate with thunder if traced to Proto-Indo-European. Note in

many languages, th is not pronounced as /θ/ (as in thin), but simply /t/, and d of
thunder was artificially added (excrescent, like the t in French a-t-il, “has he?”).
See also étonner (“to surprise”, “to astound”, “to astonish”).

ramper to crawl, to creep. Cognate with ramp, rampant. The meaning of the Old
French etymon means “to climb”, from which the derived English words take the
“up” sense. But French ramper changed “up-climbing” to “crawling on the same
level or on a surface”. On the other hand, English ramp (as in a wheelchair ramp)
is rampe in French (une rampe pour fauteuil roulant). Examples, le serpent rampe
sur le sol (“the snake crawls on the ground”); la vigne rampe le long d’un mur
(“the vine crawls along the wall”). See also rampe (“ramp”; “handrail”).

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pelouse lawn. According to one theory, this word is from Latin pilus (“hair”),
therefore cognate with pilose (“covered with fine hair”), peel (whose Latin origin
means “to remove hairs”), with the second component of capillary, doublet with
poil (“hair”). Think of the grass on a lawn as hairs. Or as a mnemonic, imagine a
louse (a kind of parasite on the skin of animals or people) jumps on a lawn.
Examples, tondre la pelouse (“to mow the lawn”); pelouse interdite (“keep off
grass”).

tambour drum. Arabic origin. This word has entered English vocabulary spelled
tambourine.

pape pope (cognate). From Latin papa. English papal is from Old French papal.
During the Middle English period, the first syllable in the English noun changed
from a to o, which is rare in many languages. For your convenience, the catholic
hierarchy is: pape, cardinal, archevêque (“archbishop”), évêque (“bishop”), prêtre
(“priest”).

sombrer to sink, couler; (figuratively) to sink / fall (into), s’écouler. From sou-
(“sub-”) + ombre (“shade”, “darkness”, cognate with umbrella). Think of the
darkness under water. Example, sombrer dans l’alcoolisme / le désespoir (“to sink
into alcoholism / despair”). See also sombre (“dark”).

évêque bishop (cognate). Also cognate with episcopal (“related to bishop”). From
Latin episcopus, where the first p changed to b to v, c to q, i to e, followed by es to
the accented ê. While the rule that a vowel with a diacritic mark indicates a
dropped s is easy to remember, try playing with v, because it may correspond to b
or p in a Romance language. For your convenience, the catholic hierarchy is: pape
(“pope”), cardinal, archevêque, évêque, prêtre (“priest”).

laisse leash (for a dog) (cognate); conjugated form of laisser (“to let”). Cognate
with the root of relax. A leash is a string loosely held. Example, tenez votre chien
en laisse! (“hold your dog in leash!”). See also laisser.

serrure lock (n.). From serrer (“to tighten”, “to grip”). Suffix -ure indicates the
resulf of an action. See also serrer.

cil eyelash. Cognate with the root of supercilious (“arrogant”, literally “up
eyebrow”). From Latin cilium (“eyelid”; “eyelash”), which has entered English

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vocabulary as a biological term meaning “hair” or “hair-like organelle”. See also
sourcil (“eyebrow”).

dingue (slang) crazy, fou. The formation of this word was influenced by dengue,
the virus carried by mosquitoes. Suppose a person infected with dengue will go
crazy (although that’s not in the symptom list of the dengue fever). Examples, il est
dingue / fou (“he’s crazy”); il me rend dingue (“he / it drives me crazy”).

brin strand (of hair, fiber, etc.); sprig, twig; bit, peu. Unknown origin. Use branch
as a mnemonic. Or associate it with bran, the husk of cereal grain out of which
flour comes. Examples, un brin d’herbe (“a blade of grass”); tout le monde a un
brin de folie (“everybody has a little bit of folly”); avec un brin de memoire, on se
souvient que (“with a little memory, we remember that”).

pension pension; boarding house or school, pensionnat, internat. Note the second
meaning, which hardly exists in English pension. When the word was in Latin, it
simply meant “payment, especially by installment”, out of which both the sense of
“pension” and that of “boarding house” naturally developed.

violer to violate; to rape. viol rape (n.) Note the second meaning of violer, which is
missing in English violate.

foulard scarf. Unknown origin. Use a mnemonic such as “a folded scarf”. Or

imagine a clown acting as a fool wearing a scarf, and note the pejorative suffix -
ard (as in drunkard). This word has entered English vocabulary referring to a
lightweight fabric or a piece of clothing or a tie or handkerchief made of it. See
also écharpe (“scarf”).

ampoule light bulb; blister. This word has entered English vocabulary, sometimes
written as ampule, meaning “a small glass vial containing liquid medication”.
When the word was in Latin (ampulla, from ambi- “around” + olla “pot”), it
literally meant “around pot” and the root developed into Spanish olla (“pot”), a
word that may be seen in Mexican cuisine. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of
a light bulb as a small liquid container (in fact, a blister literally does so), or
imagine a light bulb that draws a lot of electric current or amperage.

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sitôt as soon as, aussitôt. From si (“so”) + tôt (“soon”, “early”). Examples, sitôt
rentré chez lui, il s’est couché (“as soon as he got back home, he went to sleep”);
sitôt dit sitôt fait (“no sooner said than done”).

corbeille basket, wastebasket. Cognate with corf (“basket in mining”; “underwater

basket to hold live fish”). The car Chevrolet Corvette is named after corvette, i.e. a
warship, which is derived from the same Latin source. Think of a Corvette as a
fancy basket, and note the easy interchange between v and b. Or use a mnemonic
such as “Kobe Bryant is a great basketball player”. Example, une corbeille à
papier / linge (“a wastepaper / linen basket”).

pressentir to foresee, to have a presentiment or premonition. From pre- + sentir

(“to feel”). The double s’s preserve the /s/ sound. Not to be confused with
présenter (“to introduce”, “to present”), pressant (“urgent”, “pressing”), or English
present.

coq rooster, cock, cockerel. Cognate with cock if traced to Proto-Germanic. This
word does not have any vulgar connotation in French. Examples, le coq gaulois est
le symbole de la France (“the Gallic rooster is the symbol of France”); un combat
de coqs (“a cockfight”).

historique historical; history, chronological list. Note the second meaning, when it
is used as a noun. You don’t say histoire here. Example, l’historique de
localisation des utilisateurs (“users’ location history”).

dénoncer to denounce; to report (against something or someone bad), to inform

(the police or the public). Note the second meaning, which is not really “to
denounce”, although the attitude of the person doing so is about the same. Example,
les voisins ont dénoncé l’homme suspect à la police (“the neighbors reported the
suspicious man to the police”).

selle saddle. Cognate with saddle if traced to Proto-Indo-European. Alternatively,

use a mnemonic such as “saddle seller” or “saddle sale”. If you know Spanish, silla
(“chair”) is a helpful cognate. This word is a homophone of sel (“salt”), celle
(“that”).

accourir to rush, to hurry. From a- (“toward”) + courir (“to run”). See also
parcourir (“to run through”).

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vendredi Friday. From Latin Veneris dies (“Venus’s day”). According to A.
Brachet, an etymologist, after the unstressed e of Veneris was dropped, n and r
together did not sound pleasant and d was thus inserted, also seen in the case of
tendre < Latin tener. Alternatively, think of Friday as the day to sell things as if the
word was made up of vendre (“to sell”) + day; in the US, many garage sales do
start on Friday. Examples, vendredi matin / soir (“on Friday morning / night”);
tous les vendredis (“every Friday”); vendredi saint (“Good Friday”).

moulin mill (cognate). It’s very likely you’ve heard of Moulin Rouge (“Red Mill”),
the French cabaret performance.

chiffon rag. Cognate with chip. Suffix -on is diminutive. Think of a small piece of
rag or cloth with chipped edges. Not to be confused with chiffre (“number”,
“figure”, “digit”). Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “the chef carries rags on
his apron because there’re lots of things to clean in the kitchen”. Examples, polir la
voiture avec un chiffon doux (“to polish the car with a soft cloth”); une poupée de
chiffon (“a rag doll”).

représentation representation; performance, show (as on stage). Note the second

meaning, which is missing in English representation. Example, la première
représentation du lac des cygnes (“the première / first performance of the Swan
Lake”).

maillot shirt, jersey, leotard, vest. Cognate with mail in the sense of “armor of
interlinked rings”. This word has entered English vocabulary referring to a one-
piece swimsuit or a pair of tights worn by dancers. Example, un maillot de bain (“a
swimsuit”, literally “a bath suit”); maillot de corps (“undershirt”).

insolite unusual, strange, inhabituel. The root is cognate with solace (“comfort” or
“consolation”), hence “to do something repeatedly or usually (because you can do
it comfortably)”. The root is not related to solid. Note although of the same origin
as insolent (“insolent”, “rude”), this word has a very different meaning. Example,
retrouvez toute l’actualité insolite ici! (“find all unusual news here!”).

bénir to bless. bénédiction blessing; benediction. From Latin benedictio (literally

“good expressions”), benedicere (literally “to say well of”). But since the second
element of the Latin words was almost completely dropped, this etymology is not

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too helpful. Just think of bén- as related to good (bien), plus a verb suffix (-ir)
indicating an action about goodness. Example, Dieu bénisse l’Amérique (“God
bless America”; bénisse is the third-person singular subjunctive form).

chevet bedside, bed-head, headboard. Doublet and cognate with chef (literally
“head”, from a Latin word meaning “head”). Or as a mnemonic, imagine the logo
of Chevy or Chevrolet, a cross (or bowtie) sign, is printed on the headboard of a
bed. Example, un livre / une table de chevet (“a bedside book / table”).

vouer to devote, to vow (cognate); to doom. Examples, vouer un amour éternel

(“to vow an eternal love”); ce projet est voué à l’échec (“this project is doomed to
failure”). See also vœu (“wish”; “vow”).

réseau network. Cognate with retina (“net-like layer of cells at the back of the
eyeball”). Due to contraction of the original Latin word (retis or rete, “net”), the
second syllable looks different. Use a mnemonic such as “the network or your
connection is a great resource when you need help”. Example, un réseau sans fil
(“a wireless network”).

poli polite; polished, past participle of polir. polir to polish. Cognate with polish.
A polite man is polished in behavior. Note in case you know Spanish, poli does not
mean “police”. Examples, il est poli avec les femmes (“he’s polite to women”; note
avec, not à); une voiture polie (“a polished car”).

délai time limit, period of time, waiting period, deadline; delay (n.). The primary
sense of the word is “period of waiting time”, as in dans les meilleurs / les plus
brefs délais (“as soon as possible”, literally “in the best / the briefest time limit”),
tenir des délais serrés (“to meet tight deadlines”). English delay is more commonly
translated into French as retard (n.), retarder (v.). They are borderline false friends.

hangar shed, barn, storage house; hangar. Although English hangar is borrowed
from French, it is limited to a storage house for an aircraft, while the French word
has no such limitation.

nid nest. Cognate with nest only if traced to Proto-Indo-European. From Latin
nidus (“nest”), which has entered English vocabulary meaning “a place where
something is formed”. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, imagine a lid on the bird’s
nest. Or “the birds need a nest” or “what a neat nest they built!”.

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tir shot (n.), shooting. From tirer (“to pull”; “to shoot”). But note that tir does not
have the sense of “pulling”, even though shooting involves pulling of the trigger.
Examples, tirs mortels de policiers (“fatal police shootings”); champ de tir
(“outdoor shooting range”); tirs au but (“penalty shootout”, literally “shots at the
goal”). See also tirer.

rauque hoarse, raucous (cognate), husky.

frangin (informal) brother, bro, buddy, copain, frère. Possibly a crossing of franc
(“frank”) and frère (“brother”). Think of a frank brother and pretend to pronounc g
of frangin as /g/. One theory, although unlikely, considers the word to be related to
frange (“fringe”) because of workers working together on fringes. The fem. form
of frangin is frangine (“sister”, informal).

commande order (request for product or service); command, charge. Note the
prepositions used with this noun. Examples, les parents sont aux commandes de
l’éducation de leurs enfants (“parents are in charge of their children’s education”;
note aux and plural commandes); produits sur commande (“custom made
products”, literally “products on order”; note sur and singular commande); passer
une commande (“to place an order”); un bon de commande (“a purchase order”).

sain healthy. Cognate with sanity, sane. See also santé (“health”).

rebord sill (of window), rim, edge that sticks out. The root is cognate with boarder.
Note doorsill is a different word, seuil, meaning “threshold”. Examples, le rebord
de la fenêtre (“the window sill”); le rebord de la baignoire (“the edge of the
bathtub”).

puer to stink. puant stinky, stinking. puanteur stench. Cognate with putrid
(“rotten”). Completely unrelated to English pure or French pur (“pure”); in fact,
the meanings would almost be the opposite. If you know British English pong
(“stench”), use that as a mnemonic. Example, ça pue la bouse de vache (“it stinks
like cow dung”).

mineur minor (adj; n.); miner (n.). Note that this word can mean both “minor”
(adjective and noun) and “miner”. Etymologically, these are two distinct words
that conflate into one form.

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âne donkey, ass (cognate); idiot. From Latin asnus (“donkey”), from which
English dropped the second syllable and French apparently dropped the first s (and
so marked the vowel with a diacritic). Change â to as to see the cognation. Not to
be confused with aîné (“elder”, “eldest”).

moue pout (n.). This word has entered English vocabulary. Etymology doesn’t
help. As a mnemonic, think of the shape of the pouting mouth when you
pronounce this word, especially with tighter lips in French than in English. Or
“she’s in a bad mood, pouting her lips”. Example, faire la moue (“to pout”; note
there’s no verb like *mouer).

bâiller to yawn. Etymology doesn’t help. As a mnemonic, imagine a certain Mr.

Beyer yawning. Or “this drug by Bayer Pharmaceutical will make you drowsy and
you’ll yawn a lot”. Or if you already know baigner (“to bathe”, “to take a bath”),
think of getting sleepy, yawning, taking a bath and going to sleep. French baigner
is cognate with Spanish baño (“bath”; “bathroom”), a word you may see in certain
public facilities in the US. Example, bâiller de sommeil / d’ennui (“to yawn due to
sleepiness / boredom”).

gâcher to ruin, to spoil, to mess up, to botch. If traced to Proto-Germanic, cognate

with wash, waste (in the sense of “to become weaker” when said of a person’s
body), with the root of devastate. The Old French source of gâcher meant “to soil”
and “to wash”. Although the initial letter especially consonant rarely changed
when a word developed from Latin to French, the change of w to g (which
primarily happened in Parisian France) is an exception, which is the source of
French garantie but English warrant, French gardien but English warden, etc.
Alternatively, as a mnemonic, imagine you say “Oh gosh” when you see a big
mess, or you see dirty water gush into a beautiful garden and ruin it. Example, il ne
faut pas gâcher la nourriture (“we should not waste food”); le mauvais temps a
gâché la fête (“the bad weather ruined the party”). See also gâter (“to spoil”, said
of a child, or food).

sucer to suck. Cognate with suck if traced to Proto-Indo-Enropean.

tabouret stool (seat with no back). Cognate with tambourine (a percussion

instrument), doublet with tambour (“drum”). Originally the word referred to a

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small drum-shaped stool. Suffix -et is diminutive. Example, il est assis à un
tabouret de bar (“he sits at a bar stool”).

fouet whip (n.); whisk (for eggs, cream, etc. in cooking). fouetter to whip, donner
des coups de fouet / donner le fouet; to whisk. Cognate with faggot (“sticks tied
together”). But this etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “he fought
with a whip”. (But note French fouet and English fought are pronounced very
differently.) Or “the end of this whip has frayed” . Or think of a mob or group of
crazy (fou) people fighting and whipping each other. Examples, l’ouragan a frappé
la côte de plein fouet (“the hurricane hit the coast with full force”, literally “... of
full whip”); un fouet électrique (“an electric whisk / mixer”).

sonnerie ringing, alarm (clock, bell, etc.). sonnette bell (on door, bicycle, etc.).
Cognate with sound. The poem style sonnet is still spelled sonnet in French, not
sonnette, but the two words are related. Example, la sonnerie d’alarme / du
téléphone (“ringing of an alarm / telephone”).

graisse fat (n.). This word refers to fat on human or animal body among other
things, while gras is more general and can refer to fat on meat. Cognate with
grease. See also gras.

épingle pin (small wire device for fastening). épingler to pin. Cognate with spine.
From Latin spina (“thorn”, “sharp spine on plant”). Change é- to es- and then s- to
see the cognation, and think of the spiny or thorny look of a human backbone.
Alternatively, simply use pin as a mnemonic since its spelling happens to be part of
this French word. Example, une épingle de sûreté / cravate (“a safety pin / tie pin”).
See also épine (“thorn”).

ronfler to snore. Possibly an onomatopoeia. The -fler ending resembles that of

souffler (“to blow”), siffler (“to whistle”, “to hiss”), gonfler (“to inflate”), renifler
(“to sniff”), related to passing air in the mouth or nose. (For the connection of
sound to meaning in a word not strictly considered an onomatopoeia, refer to
Wikipedia or other sources on phonestheme.) To remember the first syllable, think
of rumble. See also siffler (“to whistle”).

robinet faucet, tap (UK English). According to A. Brachet, an etymologist, “[i]n

the mythology of the middle ages Robin was the name of the sheep; and as the first

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taps were made in the form of a sheep’s head, they got the name of Robinet”. That
etymology doesn’t help us today. It may be better, as a mnemonic, to think of the
two handles of a two-handle faucet as a rabbit’s ears. Or imagine a little robin, a
type of bird, drinking water from a faucet. Example, eau du robinet (“tap water”).

cloison partition, dividing wall. Cognate with close, cloister, closure. Example,
une cloison pour salle de réunion (“a partition wall for meeting room”).

lisière edge, bord. Cognate with list, which when in Old English meant “strip”,
“band”; a row of names was written on such a strip. This strip served to bind the
edges of two pieces of cloth, hence the sense of “edge”. Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “the lizard crawls on the edge of the wall” (but if you do say the
edge of a wall in French, use bord). Example, à la lisière de la forêt / d’un champ /
de la ville (“at the edge of the forest / of a field / of the city”).

fracas crash, smash. fracasser to smash, to shatter. The fra- part is from infra-
(“below”, “down”), and -cas is cognate with quash. This word has entered English
vocabulary meaning “a noisy disturbance or quarrel”. Or use “fatal crash” as a
mnemonic. Examples, claquer la porte avec fracas (“to slam the door shut”; avec
fracas means “loudly” here, but in general it can be used figuratively); un nouveau
record a été fracassé / battu (“a new record was broken”).

souverain sovereign (cognate). From Latin super. The remaining part of souverain
or sovereign is a suffix, not a separate word. But you may think of -rain and -reign
as meaning “to reign” for mnemonic purposes.

alentour around. From à l’entour, where entour means “surrounding”,

“entourage”. This word also occurs as a plural noun in the phrase aux alentours
(de), “in the vicinity (of)”.

capote cloak, long heavy overcoat with a cap; (car) soft top, foldable roof. capot
hood, bonnet (British English). Cognate with cape, cap. From Latin caput (“head”),
from which English capita (as in per capita) and possibly cap are derived. Both
words have entered English vocabulary, and the meaning of capote remains
unchanged. (Although etymologically related, English kaput has no semantic
overlap with either of the words.)

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savon soap. Cognate with soap if traced to Proto-Germanic. This French word is
from Latin sapo, where p changed to v.

garer to park (a car), to shelter, to garage, to dock. English garage, literally “place
to shelter”, is from this word. Example, garer une voiture (“to park a car”). See
also gare (“railway station”).

bercer to rock (a baby), to soothe, to cradle. English bassinet (“basket used as

baby’s cradle”) is from French. Possibly related to basin. Alternatively, if you
know baiser (“kiss”, n.), as a mnemonic, imagine giving a baby a kiss and rocking
his cradle. See also berceau (“cradle”).

foie liver. Cognate with fig. Originally the word referred to a fig-stuffed liver as
food. The word changed from ficatum to fica, and then to foie by losing the
unstressed -ca and changing i to oi, which is common in French.You may have
seen the dish foie gras, literally “fat liver”, on the menu at a French restaurant. Not
to be confused with homophones fois (“time”, but also plural of foi), foi (“faith”).

camionnette van. From camion (“truck”) + -ette (diminutive). Literally, “a small

truck”. Camion has entered English vocabulary.

rasoir razor. Cognate with raze. Examples, un rasoir électrique (“an eletric razor”);
sur le fil du rasoir (“on a knife edge”, literally “on the edge of the razor”). See also
raser (“to shave”, “to raze”).

pinceau paintbrush, brosse. Cognate with pencil. A paintbrush and a pencil are
both tools for fine arts.

répliquer to reply as if to retort; to replicate, to reproduce. The primary meaning is

not “to replicate” (for which reproduire would be better). But it’s not a simple
“reply” either (which would be répondre). By the way, English reply is not French
replier, which means “to fold”. Examples, répliquer à une critique (“to respond to
a critique”, with a connotation of “defiantly”); ne répliquez pas! (“do not answer
back!”); répliquer sur mon ordinateur le problème (“to replicate / reproduce the
problem on my computer”).

foin hay. Cognate with fennel (a type of plant with culinary and medicinal uses),
with the first element of fenugreek (literally “Greek hay”, a type of herb, spice, and

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vegetable mainly used in South Asia). If neither cognate rings a bell, use a
mnemonic such as “a fawn eating hay”. A deer will eat hay when hungry, but
digestion may be a problem. Example, chercher une aiguille dans une botte /
meule de foin (“to look for a needle in a haystack”).

ours bear. Cognate with ursine (“of or related to bears”). From Latin ursa or ursus.
If you know a little astronomy, you may know the constellations Ursa Major
(literally “big bear”), where the Big Dipper is found, and Ursa Minor (“little bear”),
where the pole star or North Star is. Also, Latin ursa and ursus are widely used in
proper names, as a fictional character, as part of a place name, etc. Obviously,
English ours is a false friend; it’s easy to avoid the pitfall if you pronounce French
ours correctly. Note that the final s is pronounced /s/, not silent. Examples, un ours
en peluche (“a teddy bear”, literally “a bear in plush”); ours blanc / ours polaire
(“polar bear”; ours blanc is more common until very recently).

tiers third (of something), third-party, third person. Cognate with tertiary. Not to
be confused with English tier (which would be étage in French). Note this word no
longer or rarely means “third” as an adj., which should be troisième, and note the
masculine plural of this word is also tiers. Examples, signer le contrat en présence
d’un tiers (“to sign the contract in the presence of a third party”); les deux tiers de
la population (“two-thirds of the population”); un pays du tiers monde (“a third-
world country”; when French demographer Alfred Sauvy coined this term in 1952,
he had tiers état or Third Estate before or during the French Revolution in mind,
hence the old adj. word tiers instead of troisième).

fur This word is only used in the phrase au fur et à mesure, “as you go along”,
“gradually”, “over time”, “in keeping with”, “in proportion”. The actual etymology
is convoluted and unhelpful. (Latin forum meant “public place”, then “market”,
hence “price (of goods)”, therefore au fur became synonymous with à mesure, a
redundancy that strengthens the meaning.) No trick is needed to remember this
phrase because à mesure clearly explains it, although there’s no English idiom
containing measure that means exactly the same. Example, il corrige les erreurs
au fur et à mesure qu’il lit le manuscrit (“he corrects the errors while he reads / as
he goes along reading the manuscript”).

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araignée spider. Cognate with arachnid (animal class including spiders, scorpions,
etc.), araneid (“spider”). In the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Arachne, a
shepherd’s daughter, challenged Athena to a weaving contest. When Athena could
find no flaws in the tapestry Arachne had woven, the goddess became enraged and
beat the girl with her shuttle. After Arachne hanged herself out of shame, she was
transformed into a spider. In all major Romance languages, the word for “spider” is
derived from the name Arachne, by way of Latin. Alternatively, use a mnemonic
such as “a spider must be good at arranging things because she’s so methodical in
weaving her web”. English arraign (“to bring to court to answer a crimimal
charge”) is completely unrelated to araignée; but you can imagine a spider is
arraigned for stinging an innocent person. Example, une toile d’araignée (“a spider
web / cobweb”).

caler (engine) to stall, to get stuck, to give up; to wedge, to jam, coincer; to prop
up. cale wedge (under door etc.) (n.), chock (to block wheels). Etymology does not
help. As a mnemonic, imagine that you have to insert a small wedge to calibrate an
instrument in doing an experiment or working in a shop. Or someone’s car stalls on
the road and the driver makes a call for help, or the driver becomes a caller.
Examples, ma voiture a calé (“my car stalled”); les cales pour meubles (“wedges
for furniture”).

tourbillon whirlwind, whirlpool, vortex. Related to English turbine, turbulent,

turbid. This word has entered English vocabulary referring to a rotating frame in
clockwork. Example, un tourbillon de vent / poussière (“a whirlwind / whirlwind
of dust”).

moche (informal) ugly, laid. Etymology doesn’t help and is uncertain. Use a
mnemonic such as “just because someone looks ugly doesn’t mean you can mock
him”. Not to be confused with mouche (“fly”), which nevertheless you can use as a
mnemonic, since both evoke an unpleasant feeling. Compared to laid, moche is
more informal or casual.

onde wave (n.). Cognate with undulate (“to move or cause to move in a wavelike
motion”). For the wave of water, say vague instead. Examples, onde de choc
(“shock wave”); un four à micro-ondes (“a microwave oven”).

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riz rice (cognate). Letter z is silent. Examples, riz complet (“brown rice”, “whole-
grain rice”); riz au lait (“rice pudding”).

accouder to lean or rest on elbows. From coude (“elbow”). See also coude.

pyjama pyjamas. The only thing to remember about this word is that it’s used in
singular (just like pantalon, “pants”, “trousers”), unless you talk about more than
one pair of pyjamas. Examples, il est en pyjama (“he’s in / wearing pyjamas”);
faire une soirée pyjama (“to have a sleepover”, literally “to do a pyjama evening
party”).

anneau ring (the geometric shape, the ring worn on a finger, etc.), bague. Cognate
with annular, anus, but not with annual, annal. Examples, le anneau de mariage /
saturne (“wedding ring / ring of Saturn”); le Seigneur des anneaux (“the Lord of
the Rings”).

combinaison combination; suit, overalls; combination of lock. Note the second

meaning. It actually can refer to a wide range of garments, ranging from woman’s
undergarment, pilot’s flight suit, diving suit, swimsuit, to doctor’s coverall. The
key point is the upper and lower garments combined.

mousson monsoon (cognate).

dégueulasse disgusting (cognate), dégoûtant. The root is gueule (“animal’s mouth”,

said of a human’s jokingly). From dégueuler (“to vomit”, literally “out of of
mouth”; dé- means “out”). Suffix -asse is pejorative. This word may not be related
to dégoût (“disgust”) and shows a stronger and more negative attitude than
dégoûtant. See also gueule.

auberge hostel, inn. Cognate with harbor, harbinger (originally “one sent in
advance to arrange for lodging”). To see the cognation, prepend h-, which was
later lost due to silence. This word has entered English vocabulary. Not to be
confused with aubergine (“eggplant”), asperge (“asparagus”). Examples, une
auberge de jeunesse (“a youth hostel”); on n’est pas sorti de l’auberge (“our
problems are not over yet”, “we’re not out of woods yet”; an auberge is likened to
a troubled place).

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faufiler (reflexive) to sneak out, to sneak through (a crowd of people). Filer means
“to thread”, “to spin”, while the fau- part is from an Old French word from which
hors (“out”) is derived (the f-h change is common). Think of threading through a
crowd to get out of it. To remember the word, focus on filer. Not related to English
fulfill (which would be French remplir, réaliser). Example, se faufiler à travers la
foule (“to sneak through the crowd”). See also filer.

fût cask, barrel, keg; a conjugated form of être (third-person singular imperfect
subjunctive). Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “a barrel to store
food”, or “a keg to wash feet in”. Note this word, in which t is silent, is a
homophone (has the same pronunciation) with fut (which could be a simplified
spelling of fût), fus, but not fuir (“to flee”) or any of its conjugated forms.

mégot cigarette butt. Etymology doesn’t help. As a mnemonic, think of a maggot

(a worm that eats decomposing organic matter), which is just as disgusting as a
cigarette butt littered on the ground. Or if you know Spanish amigo (“friend”),
imagine your friend smoked and threw a cigarette butt.

croûte crust (of bread etc.) (cognate). Always try appending s to an accented
vowel such as û here, and in this case, you’ll get closer to crust.

rancune grudge, rancor (cognate), resentment. Examples, garder rancune à

quelqu’un (“to hold a grudge against someone”); sans rancune (“no hard feelings”).

voyant seer, soothsayer; clairvoyant (adj.), showy, gaudy, that attacts viewing;
present participle of voir (“to see”). English clairvoyant is from French, from clair
(“clear”) + voyant (“seeing”). Unrelated to voyage, voyager (“a person that
voyages” in English, “to travel” in French), where g exists in all forms.

assommer to knock out (unconscious); to stun. The root is somme (“nap”, “doze”),
which is cognate with the root of insomnia. A person knocked out may be in coma
or deep sleep. Not related to English assume (supposer or assumer in French).
Example, il est assommé par la mort de son père (“he’s stunned by his father’s
death”). See also somme.

lot batch, pack (of bottles, etc.); lottery prize. Cognate with English lot. Examples,
les colis sont envoyés par lots (“the packages are sent in batches”); gagner le gros
lot (“to win the jackpot”).

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habile skillful, adroit, slick. habileté skill. Cognate with able. Related to habiller
(“to dress”). But it’s better to use English able to aid memory and note h is silent.
These words are unrelated to the words with root habit (note the presence of letter
t), e.g. habitude (“habit”), habiter (“to live”). Examples, un habile artisan / artisan
habile (“a skillful craftsman”); il est très habile de ses mains (“he’s very good with
his hands”).

intimider to intimidate (cognate). Absolutely unrelated to English intimate /

intimacy, French intime / intimité. Example, il ne se laissera pas intimider (“he
won’t be intimidated; literally, “he won’t let himself intimated”, but the verb
following laisser is infinitive).

miette crumb (of bread or cake). From mie (“crumb”, cognate with mica, a type of
minerals that easily break into thin slices) + -ette (diminutive). Latin mica lost c
and eventually became French mie. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “a
bread crumb as small as a mite”, or “eat meat with bread crumbs”. Or if you know
miel (“honey”), imagine some bread crumbs on honey. Examples, la croûte et la
mie (“the crust and the crumb”).

gravir to climb up, to ascend, grimper (but with a little more figurative
connotation), escalader. According to one theory, this word is cognate with grade,
gradient. When in Latin, it meant “to climb by steps”; the medial d was lost and v
was inserted for purely euphonic reasons. Not related to English grave (in any
sense) nor French grave (“grave”, “serious”) nor English gravity, gravitate, gravy
(“thick soup”). It may help to use gravity as a mnemonic but remember to reverse
the direction from gravity going down to climbing going up. Or imagine you grab
on something when climbing up (v-b could interchange). Or imagine a French
spider man climbing a skyscraper after drinking, or rather, eating a bowl of energy-
gravy. Example, gravir / escalader une montagne (“to climb a mountain”).

piscine swimming pool. From Latin piscis (“fish”, cognate with piscatology,
“study of fishing”, with fish if traced to Proto-Indo-European). A swimming pool
in the Roman Empire was for fish, as well as humans, to swim in. This word has
nothing to do with piss, but feel free to think up a mnemonic with it.

pneu tire (of a vehicle). Shortened from pneumatique (“pneumatic”). A tire

contains air, hence the name. Note the first letter p in French must be pronounced,

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unlike in English. Examples, gonfler un pneu (“to inflate a tire”); un pneu crevé (“a
flat tire”, literally “a popped / burst tire”).

surcroît addition, increase (n.). From sur- (“over”, “on top of”) + croître (“to
grow”). Example, c’est un surcroît de travail (“this is extra work”). See also
croître.

geler to freeze. English gel, gelatin are from French gélatine, which is related.
Examples, il gèle dehors (“it’s freezing outside”); le froid a gelé l’eau (“the cold
has frozen the water”).

fichu (informal) damn, ruined, lost, done, not working any more, bad, no use,
hopeless; fichu (historically a woman’s scarf worn loosely and roughly put on).
This word is said to be a past participle form of ficher when it (informally) means
“to do”. Therefore think of “done”. Example, cette voiture est fichue (“this car is
ruined / totaled”; if you thought of fichu as “fixed”, it would be almost the opposite,
but you can think of it as “beyond fix or repair”). See also ficher.

rez-de-chaussée first floor (US), ground floor (UK or Europe). Literally, “flush
with the street”. Rez- is cognate with raze, with the root of erase, and chaussée
means “surface of road”, “causeway”, “street with raised pavement”. Example, la
réception est au rez-de-chaussée (“the reception is on the first floor”; note
preposition au). See also chaussée, étage (“floor”; “stage”).

achat purchase (n.). Related to acheter (“to buy”); when in Old French, achater is
an alternative spelling of acheter. Examples, un bon achat (“a good buy / good
deal”); pouvoir d’achat (“purchasing power”); montrer mes achats (“to show what
I bought”). See also acheter.

peignoir dressing gown, nightdress; bathrobe. From peigner (“to comb”) + -oir
(noun suffix for the object related to the verb), because a woman combs her hair
while wearing a peignoir. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of peig- as pajama
and noir for “black”, therefore “black pajama” (but there seem to be more white
peignoirs than black ones). This word has entered English vocabulary.

veau veal (cognate), flesh of a calf used as food; calf. This word when in Old
French was veel, where -el changed to -eau, which is a common development (e.g.
Latin bellus > Old French bel > French beau).

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étreindre to hug, to embrace, to clasp, to grasp. étreinte embrace (n.). Cognate
with strain, stringent, strict, with the root of restrict, constrict. Change é- to s- to
see the cognation. Not to be confused with éteindre (“to extinguish”); -tr- in the
Latin etymon stringere (“to tighten”) would not change to -t- in French. See also
étroit (“narrow”).

pépé grandpa. From père, and is reduplicated as a word in child talk. Example,
pépé et mémé (“grandpa and grandma”).

cachette hideout, hideaway, hiding place. The related words cacher (“to hide”)
and cache have entered English vocabulary. See also cacher.

adosser to lean (with the back against something such as a wall). The root is dos
(“back”), cognate with dorsal. Example, adosser un meuble contre un mur (“to
lean a piece of furniture against a wall”). See also dos.

enrouler to wrap, to wind, to roll (up). The root is cognate with roll. Note the
meaning of this word is literal and it does not mean “to enroll”, which would be
s’inscrire, enrôler (a doublet).

tartine open-faced sandwich. From tart (an open pastry with some filling) + -ine
(diminutive). This word has entered English vocabulary. It’s better to google for a
picture of it to remember the word.

voire (literary) or even, indeed, in fact. Cognate with verity (“truth”). From verity,
you may think of the meaning “really”. But a better translation is “even”. Not to be
confused with the homophone voir (“to see”). Example, ce projet prend quelques
mois, voire un an (“this project takes a few months, or even a year”).

lavabo washbasin; wash room, toilet. Cognate with lavatory, related to laver (“to
wash”). From the first word of a prayer in Psalm, meaning “I will wash” in Latin.
(-bo is just the ending for the first-person singular future simple tense of a Latin
verb of the first conjugation.)

esquisser to sketch (cognate), to outline, to draft. From an Italian word. If you

drop e-, which was normally prepended to s for euphonic reasons, the word sounds
close to sketch. Example, esquisser un portrait (“to sketch a portrait”).

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bruyant noisy, loud. Possibly cognate with bray (“to make harsh sound”, said of
or like a donkey). See also bruit (“noise”).

anniversaire birthday; anniversary. Note the first meaning, which is more

common than the second one. Since French uses the same word for both “birthday”
and “anniversary”, you determine the meaning according to the context. When you
write, you can avoid ambiguity by explicitly saying anniversaire de mariage for
“wedding anniversary”. Examples, bon / joyeux anniversaire! (“Happy Birthday!”;
joyeux is more common in Canadian French); fêter son anniversaire (“to celebrate
his birthday”); à son 50e anniversaire (“on his 50th birthday”; if it’s notre instead
of son, anniversaire more likely means “anniversary”, but check the context).

sacrer to crown, to consecrate. Cognate with sacred, with the root of consecrate.
This word does mean “to sacrifice” (which is still spelled sacrifice in French).
Example, Rafael Nadal a été sacré champion de tennis (“Rafael Nadal was
crowned tennis champion”).

déception disappointment. Cognate with deception. In spite of the cognation, this

word is a false friend of English deception (which would be tromperie in French),
just as décevoir means “to disappoint”, not “to deceive”. At least as a mnemonic,
imagine that a French-speaking person does not react strongly to deception as an
Englishman and only shows disappointment. This French word used to mean
“deception” down to at least mid-19th century, as A. Brachet’s Dict. étym. lang.
française published in 1868 noted that it had the same sense as the Latin word
deceptionem (“deception”). This sense change also happened in Spanish and
Portuguese.

corvée chore, drudgery. Etymology doesn’t help. This word has entered English
vocabulary, sometimes spelled corvee, meaning “unpaid labor”. Not related to the
warship corvette, or the car Chevrolet Corvette. Use chore as a mnemonic as it
sounds like the first syllable of the word. Or imagine driving a Corvette to go to
work but the work you do is some boring repetitive chores. Example, quelle corvée!
(“what a chore!”, “what boring work!”).

étagère shelf. Possibly cognate with stage. Example, étagère à livres (“bookshelf”;
for the bookshelf in a library, say rayon instead). See also étage (“floor”; “stage”).

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fumier manure, dung, ordure. Cognate with fume. Imagine the smell of cow
manure, although it does not give off visible fume or smoke. See also fumer (“to
smoke”), fumée (“smoke”).

injure insult (n.). injurier to insult, to swear at, to revile. Note that these words do
not mean “injury”, “to injure”, respectively, which would be blessure, blesser in
French. Although the English idiom add insult to injury has unofficially entered
Canadian French as a calque ajouter l’insulte à l’injure, it is not understood in
France because the two French words mean essentially the same thing. See a
detailed description and correct translations on the Office québécois de la langue
française webpage
(http://bdl.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/bdl/gabarit_bdl.asp?id=2882). Example,
le politicien a injurié les immigrés (“the politician insulted / swore at the
immigrants”).

diviser to divide (cognate). Note the different third syllable consonant. English and
French inherited from two different forms of the same Latin word. Not to be
confused with English devise, or French devise (“motto”) or deviser (“to chat”).

pieux pious (cognate). The word could be easy to remember if i in English pious
were pronounced as /i/. Examples, un croyant pieux (“a pious believer”); un vœu
pieux (“a wishful thinking”, literally “a pious wish”).

mat (art or photography) matte (n.); matte (adj.), dull, unpolished. English matte
(alternative spelling matt) is from this French word. This word is a false friend of
English mat (floor pad, or foot pad at door), which would be tapis, paillasson in
French. Not to be confused with mât (“mast”).

édition publishing, publication; edition. éditeur publisher; editor. inédit

unpublished; unprecedented, unheard-of. éditer to edit; to publish. Note the
meanings about publishing instead of editing. In particular, inédit does not mean
“unedited”; and in- is pronounced as /in/, not /ɛ/̃ . But the anglicized éditeur en chef
is indeed “editor-in-chief”, which may as well be rédacteur en chef. And un
éditorial is undoubtedly “an editorial”. Examples, il travaille dans l’édition (“he
works in the publishing industry”); une édition cartonnée / de poche (“a hardcover
/ pocket edition”); une maison d’édition (“a publishing house”); poésies inédites
(“unpublished poems”).

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miel honey. Cognate with English molasses. From Latin mel (“honey”), hence
mellitus (“of honey”), which exists in English as part of diabetes mellitus,
commonly shortened to diabetes, one symptom of which is sweet urine.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “he eats a meal with honey”. Interestingly,
the Chinese word for honey, pronounced mì, is a loanword from Tocharian (a
branch of the Indo-European language family), thus related to French miel. (The
latest research may be the 2017 article The Word for ‘Honey’ in Chinese,
Tocharian and Sino-Vietnamese, by K. Meier, M. Peyrot.) Example, la lune de
miel (“honeymoon”; the French phrase is a calque of English honeymoon not the
other way around, even though people think French is more romantic).

planer to hover, to glide; (informal) to have one’s head in the cloud, to be high
(due to drugs). As a mnemonic, imagine an airplane that can hover above just like
a drone or helicopter. Examples, une abeille plane au-dessus de la rose (“a bee
hovers above the rose”); laisser planer le / un doute (“to leave some doubt”,
literally “to let the / a doubt hover”).

bulle bubble. Cognate with bulla (“bubble-like blister”), bull (in the sense of
“papal bull”, so called because of the round seal stamped on it). Un related to
English bullet (even though it is also round and was traditionally ball-shaped),
which is balle in French. Unrelated to English bull in the sense of “male ox”,
which is taureau in French. Examples, bulles de gaz (“gas bubbles”); une bulle
financière (“a financial bubble”).

commencement beginning. This word is the simple noun form of the verb
commencer (“to begin”). Not to be confused with English commencement, which
in Modern US English primarily means “graduation ceremony”, not “beginning”.
Graduation signifies the beginning of assuming the privilege that comes with an
academic degree.

caoutchouc rubber. From Quechua, a language widely spoken in South America.

Pronounced /kautʃu/; ending c is silent. As a mnemonic, think of a couch made of
rubber, or “gum chewing” where gum is something sticky and rubber-like.
Example, des bottes en caoutchouc (“rubber boots”).

roseau reed. Possibly cognate with rush in the sense of “rush family” or juncaceae,
a family of flowering plants. Unless you are a plant specialist, it may be better to

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use a mnemonic. Think of a rose among reeds. Or if you know ruisseau (“creek”),
remember roseaux dans un ruisseau (“reeds in a creek”). Or if you know réseau
(“network”), think of a network made up of reeds instead of threads or ropes.

veston jacket. From veste (“vest”, “jacket”) + -on (diminutive). Literally “small
vest”. See also veste.

tapoter to tap (strike lightly). Verb suffix -oter indicates either repetitive or light
action (diminutive, like -et, -ette). Example, tapoter / taper sur la table (“to lightly
tap / to tap on the table”). See also taper (“to hit”, “to type”).

cap (geography) cape; (figurative) direction, course. To understand the second

sense, note the word is from Latin caput meaning “head”, from which English cap
(headwear) is derived. Examples, Cap de Bonne-Espérance (“Cape of Good
Hope”); le Cap (“Cape Town”, the South African city); suivre le même cap (“to
follow the same course”); mettre le cap sur (“to head for”); franchir le cap (“to
cross the milestone”; cap means “critical point”).

plisser to fold, to pleat, to wrinkle, plier. Cognate with pliant, pliable, pliers. This
word is much less frequent than plier. Example, plisser les yeux (“to squint eyes”,
literally “to fold the eyes”, though you can only fold the eyelids, not eyes).

caserne barracks (for soldiers); fire station, caserne de pompiers. From Latin
quaterni (“four each”). Probably four soldiers formed a group in the barracks.
According to another source, this word is related to casa (“house” in Spanish,
Italian, Portuguese, etc.), suggesting that a barracks is like a house. At least as a
mnemonic, think of it as a short for casa + tavern; imagine soldiers get drunk and
sleep in such a place. Alternatively, use garrison as a mnemonic.

berge bank (of river), rive. Possibly cognate with the second element of iceberg, -
berg, meaning “mountain”, which is often used in place names. The river bank is
obviously higher than the river even if it’s not a mountain. Edward Pick, an
etymologist, believed that the word derived from barge. With this etymology,
which may better help remember the word, imagine a barge sailing near the bank
of a river. Not related to berger (“shepherd”). Example, une barge s’amarre à la
berge du fleuve (“a barge moors at the river bank”).

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subit sudden (cognate); a conjugated form of subir (“to undergo”, “to suffer”).
subitement suddenly, tout à coup, soudainement, tout d’un coup. Although subit
(“sudden”) is cognate with English sudden, this etymology hardly helps. (Subit is
directly borrowed from Latin subitus as a learned form evidenced by retaining the
unaccented -bi-, while sudden is derived from the more naturally developing Old
French and then Anglo-Norman, which weakened and lost the second syllable.) It’s
also cognate with subitize (“to quickly determine the number of things at one
glance without counting”). If you know music, you may have noticed the Italian
word subito (“suddenly”) on the score. Among the synonyms listed for subitement,
the most common is tout à coup. Example, mort subite (“sudden death”).

horloge clock, horologe (cognate, literally “time logger”). If horologe sounds too
archaic, think of horoscope, where horo- means “period of time”.

garnir to furnish (a room), to stock (pantry); to decorate, to garnish (cognate).

Examples, le frigo est bien garni (“the fridge is well stocked”); garnir une robe de
perles (“to garnish a robe with pearls”).

funèbre of a funeral (cognate), funereal (adj.), funerary (adj.). Note English

funeral as a noun is funérailles in French (only used in plural).

pommette cheekbone. Literally, “little apple”. The cheekbone is likened to an

apple. In cold weather, the cheek may be pink in color, just like a ripe apple. See
also pomme (“apple”).

travailleur worker; hard-working (adj.), laborieux. Note the second meaning.

Some words ending with -eur such as this and protecteur can be an adjective in
addition to a noun. Example, un étudiant travailleur (“a hardworking student”).

protecteur protector; protective (adj.). Note the second meaning. Some words
ending with -eur such as this and travailleur can be an adjective in addition to a
noun. Example, crème protectrice (“protective cream”; protectrice is the fem.
form).

chauve bald. Cognate with callow (“immature”, “inexperienced”; previously

“bald”). Chauvinism is named after “Nicolas Chauvin, a legendary and excessively
patriotic soldier of the French First Republic” (Wiktionary). The surname Chauvin
literally or originally means “bald man”. Alternatively, use shave as a mnemonic,

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or imagine a bald chauffeur or driver, or think of the common image of a group of
right-wing chauvinists that are bald-headed.

parapluie umbrella. From para- (“to guard against”) + pluie (“rain”). The prefix is
cognate with parry (“to ward off”), which is parer (“to fend off”) in French. If you
happen to know Spanish, you may think of the word as meaning “for rain”, which
serves as a good mnemonic. See also parer.

effectivement indeed. It means “truly”, “actually”, “really”, showing agreement,

etc., but not English effectively in the sense of “in an efficient or effective manner”
(which would be efficacement in French). Example, c’est trop tard -- oui
effectivement (“it’s too late. -- yes, indeed”).

mardi Tuesday. From Latin Martis dies (“Mars’ day”). The carnival Mardi Gras,
at which people eat fatty food to prepare for the upcoming fasting during Lenten,
literally means “Fat Tuesday”.

péter (slang) to fart. Cognate with fart if traced to Proto-Indo-European. (When

Proto-Germanic, the ancestor of English, inherited the word from PIE, the first
consonant changed from p to f, just like the first letter of English father vs. Latin
pater or French père.) Note that, completely unrelated to this, the common given
name Peter in English corresponds to Pierre in French. Nevertheless, as a
mnemonic, if you have a coworker named Peter, associate his name with this word
for at least a few weeks, mentally, not verbally.

manier to handle, gérer. From main (“hand”) + -ier (verb suffix). Not to be
confused with manière (“way”, “manner”). Example, je ne peux pas manier cet
outil (“I can’t handle this tool”).

convenable suitable, appropriate, proper, convenient. From convenir (“to be

convenient”) + -able. Example, il gagne un salaire convenable / décent (“he makes
a decent salary”). See also convenir.

agrandir to enlarge, to extend, to make bigger. From grand. Note grandir means
“to grow” said of a child or plant, while agrandir means to “to make bigger”.
Example, agrandir une ouverture (“to enlarge an opening”).

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pilier pillar (cognate). From Latin pila (“pillar”). This word is easy but note it does
not mean “to pillage”, which would be piller in French. It’s English that doubled
the l in its development, in a fairly late stage. Example, les piliers d’un temple
(“the pillars of a temple”).

écume foam.Cognate with scum (“layer of dirt or froth on the surface of a liquid”)
if traced to Proto-Germanic. Change é- to s- to see the cognition. English spume
(“foam”) is partially related. Completely unrelated to ecumenical (“of the whole
Christian world”), but feel free to use it to make a personal mnemonic. Compared
to mousse (“foam”), écume mostly refers to the foam on sea water and may be
derogatory when used figuratively (as English scum is). Example, l’écume des
vagues (“the foam of the waves”).

terne dull, drab. Cognate with tarnish. Example, une couleur terne (“a dull color”).

corriger to correct (cognate); to grade, to give grades, to mark, noter. The second
meaning may be common in a school context. English correct is from French
correct, from Latin correctus, past participle of corrigere, whose stress is on the
first syllable; when it shifted to the second, i changed to a more open (louder) e.
Example, corriger des copies (d’examen) (“to grade exam papers”; copie by itself
can mean “test paper”).

demi-tour U-turn. If you consider a full turn (tour) to be a 360-degree turn i.e.
making a circle, a U-turn is a half (demi) turn. But if you describe a half circle, say
demi-cercle.

bac high school certificate or diploma, high school exit exam; ferry-boat; tub, tank.
In the first sense, it’s short for baccalauréat, which has entered English. The
second and third senses, less common at least online, are actually from a different
word, possibly cognate with basin. Or use a mnemonic such as “wash your back in
the tub”. Examples, j’ai passé mon bac (“I’ve passed my bac exam”); un bac à
sable (“a sandbox”); un bac à glaçons / à glace (“an ice tray”);

orphelin child who has lost one or both parents; (adj.) of such a child. Cognate
with orphan. Note while English orphan refers to a child who has lost both parents,
French orphelin (as well as Spanish huérfano or the equivalent word in many other
languages) can refer to a child only one of whose parents has died, although the

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ambiguity depends on the context. Example, une orpheline de père (“a fatherless
child”; this is a good phrase to break ambiguity; note translating it as “an orphan of
father” would make no sense in English).

engin device, machine, tool, gadget, (informal) thingy, gizmo. Note that English
engine, which was originally from this French word, is moteur (“motor”) in French.
Nevertheless as a mnemonic, an engine can be considered a device.

gifle slap (n.), slap in the face. gifler to slap. Cognate with jowl (“jaw”) if traced to
Proto-Germanic. As a mnemonic, imagine a GIF image showing the animation of
one person slapping his face. Or imagine this happens at a Jiffy Lube store.
Example, Will Smith a giflé / a donné une gifle à Chris Rock lors de la cérémonie
des Oscars (“Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscar ceremony”)

fêter to celebrate. Cognate with fiesta, feast. Analyzable as fête (“holiday”;

“festival”) + -er. Change the accented ê to es to see the cognation. But note this
word is unrelated to English fester (“to rot”; “to worsen”). Example, fêter Noël (“to
celebrate Christmas”).

moquette carpet, especially wall-to-wall carpet (tapis mur à mur). According to

one theory, a moquette was originally the carpet in a mosque, which at least serves
as a good mnemonic. Not to be confused with moquer (“to mock”).

cierge candle (used in church, as opposed to “candle” in general, bougie). Cognate

with kerosene, doublet with cire (“wax”). To see the cognation, try pronouncing c
like k and making the r sound longer. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as
“during the siege of the city, townspeople held a candlelight vigil and wished for
the best of luck”. Example, allumer / brûler un cierge (“to light / burn a candle”).
See also cire.

mairie town hall, city hall; town council. Literally, “mayor’s office”. Cognate with
mayor (which is maire in French). Unrelated to Mary or Marie. See also maire.

foire fair (cognate), exposition, marketplace. Example, Foire internationale du vin

à Bordeaux (“International Wine Fair in Bordeaux”).

salir to make dirty. From sale (“dirty”). Not to be confused with saler (“to add
salt”), or Spanish salir (“to exit”). Examples, le garçon a sali ses vêtements (“the

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boy made his clothes dirty”); se salir les mains (“to get one’s hands dirty”, literally
or figuratively). See also sale.

épier to spy (cognate), to watch. espion spy (cognate). Change ép- and esp-,
respectively, to sp- to see the cognation. Also cognate with espionnage. Example,
épier une personne suspecte (“to spy on a suspected person”; there is another verb,
espionner, but it’s less common and more formal, and refers to sophisticated,
professional spying).

froncer to frown. Etymology doesn’t help. But frown sounds like a perfect
mnemonic even though it’s completely unrelated. Alternatively, imagine the
French people, Français, like to frown. Not to be confused with foncer (“to
darken”). This word almost always occurs in the phrase froncer les sourcils (“to
frown”, literally “to frown the eyebrows”).

enlacer to embrace, to entwine, to clasp, to wrap around. Cognate with interlace,

in which the root lacer means “to weave”. English enlace (“to bind or encircle with
lace”) does exist but is a rare or literary word. Example, enlacer dans ses bras (“to
clasp / embrace in one’s arms”).

bourg town, market town. There are many place names in English that end with -
burg or - borough, which are cognate. French bourgeoisie, which has entered
English with its adjective bourgeois, literally or originally means “town dweller”.
Note g in bourg is silent.

cruauté cruelty (cognate). From cruel + -té. The original Latin word had e but it
changed to a in this French noun for some reason (some believe the change
happened within Latin). The adjective is cruel just as in English.

mouette seagull. Etymology doesn’t help. But mew, an onomatopoeia, can be the
sound of a seagull as well as a cat, which of course meows more. Cognate with
mew (“seagull”) as in mew gull (common gull). Not to be confused with muet
(masc.) (“mute”), muette (fem.), English mute. If you use mute as a mnemonic,
remember that a seagull actually caws a lot, which makes a typical scene of a
seaside beach. Or if you know mouiller (“to wet”) or mouillé (“wet”), as a
mnemonic, imagine a seagull with a wet body.

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gracieux graceful, charming, elegant; free of charge (only in à titre gracieux, “as a
courtesy”).

maquiller to make up (as before acting in a stage show); to make up (a story, a lie).
Cognate with make if traced to Proto-Germanic. Example, elle maquille ses
sourcils (“she’s doing eyebrow makeup”).

képi kepi (cap with a flat circular top). Cognate with cap. English kepi is from this
French word. Obviously this word occurs more often in French because it’s part of
French military and police uniform. But the soldiers in the American Civil War
wore them as well.

cervelle brain. This word is not widely used any more and is definitely less than
cerveau (“brain”). It occurs in certain idioms with a slightly derogatory sense, e.g.,
se creuser la cervelle (“to rack one’s brain”, literally “to hollow out one’s brain”,
se creuser la tête), sans cervelle (“brainless”). See also cerveau.

souiller to soil, to sully, to stain, to defile, salir. Cognate with sully if traced to
Proto-Germanic and is also related to soil. Not to be confused with soulier (“shoe”),
which nevertheless can be used as a mnemonic; imagine the dirt under a shoe.

plâtre plaster (cognate). Change â to as to see the cognation.

empiler to pile up, to stack, entasser. The root is cognate with pile. This word is
less frequent than entasser.

crochet hook (n.); (needlework) crochet; sharp turn, detour; square bracket.
Cognate with crook . English crochet is from this French word. See also accrocher
(“to hook”, “to hang”), décrocher (“to unhook”), raccrocher (“to hang up”).

étiquette label, tag; etiquette. English etiquette is from this French word. Cognate
with stick (in the sense of “to attach”), sticker, stitch; change é to s to see the
cognation. An étiquette is literally a label, sticker, or a price tag. Sense
development of English etiquette is that, according to Wiktionary, “[t]he French
Court of Louis XIV at Versailles used étiquettes, ‘little cards’, to remind courtiers
to keep off of the grass and similar rules”. Example, la étiquette nutritionnelle sur
la boîte (“the nutrition label on the box”).

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prunelle blackthorn, sloe (a type of French plum); French liquor made from this
plum; pupil of eye, pupille. Cognate with prune, prunella (an herbal medicinal
plant, commonly called self-heal). The sense of “pupil” is likely from the shape of
the fruit. See also prune (“plum”).

galet pebble. The related word galette (a type of cake originated in France) has
entered English vocabulary. Cognate with callus (“hardened spot of skin”). If you
happen to know the children’s show Caillou, the protagonist’s name literally
means “pebble”, which may serve as a mnemonic, even though -ill- in French is
not pronounced with the l sound. Or imagine a galley (“sailing ship propelled by
oars”) full of pebbles. Or “This art gallery has some paintings of beautiful pebbles.”
Or “a gallon of pebbles” although gallon is to measure the volume of liquid.
Example, une plage de galets (“a shingle / pebble beach”, as opposed to plage de
sable, “sand beach”).

trouille (informal) fear, peur, crainte. Etymology does not help. Use a mnemonic
such as “the children like the story but fear the scary-looking monster troll”. Or if
you know trou (“hole”), as a mnemonic, think of a dangerous hole or pit you may
fall into. Or use patrouille (“patrol”) to think of police patrolling an unsafe
neighborhood. Or associate the word with trouble. Example, avoir la trouille (“to
be scared”).

poutre beam (support of house), girder. Etymology doesn’t help. Use pole + tree
as a mnemonic. Or buttress, or boost. Or think of the two words. Not to be
confused with poudre (“powder”). But as a mnemonic, you may imagine a house
beam covered with powder, perhaps to control termites.

organe organ (cognate). This word is easy but note that it matches English organ
in many senses except for the musical instrument, which would be orgue. See also
orgue.

béton concrete (n.). From Latin bitumen (“mineral pitch”), which has entered
English vocabulary. Bitumen can be used in cement or for road pavement. If you
don’t know bitumen, as a mnemonic, imagine a man beating down on the hard
surface of concrete. Or think of the weight of cement, which is measured by ton.
Or imagine Bretons (people from Brittany, a region in north-west France) are good
at making concrete. But if you already tried changing é to es, you may as well use

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Boston instead (e.g. “concrete made in Boston”). Not to be confused with English
baton or French bâton, which nevertheless can serve as a mnemonic (a baton
hitting on concrete). Example, béton armé (“reinforced concrete”).

gésir to lie (in a horizontal position), to lie down, to be located. Cognate with the
root of adjacent, where ad- means “next to” and -jacent “lying”, although most
people only recognize the sense of “next to” and ignore the root of this English
word; this root also occurs in such less common words as circumjacent
(“surrounding”), interjacent (“lying between”), subjacent (“lying below”),
superjacent (“lying over”). Note unlike se coucher, this word, when said of a
person, is only said of one that cannot get up, especially a dead one. The word is
only conjugated in the present and imperfect tenses, and the first vowel is always i
except in the third person singular present, in which it is î (English gist comes from
this gît). Use a mnemonic such as “here lies the body of Jesse James, the notorious
outlaw in American history”. If you know the common Arabic name Yasser (as in
Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader), use that instead. Examples, ci-gît / ici gît
Jesse James (“here lies Jesse James”; ci-gît is much more common on a
gravestone); c’est là que gît le problème (“that’s where the problem lies / is”).

dessécher to dry out. Cognate with desiccate (“to dry”). The root is related to sec
(“dry”), sécher (“to dry”). The prefix des- to sécher does not change the meaning;
think of it as “removing (water)”. Alternatively, use desert as a mnemonic. See
also sec, sécher.

pelle shovel. Cognate with palette, peel (in the sense of “shovel-shaped tool to put
pizza or bread into or out of the oven”). A palette resembles the blade of a shovel
in shape. One source considers that the French word pêle-mêle (“chaos”; “hasty”;
“in haste”), which becomes pell-mell in English, literally means “move or mix
(mêler) with a shovel (pelle)”. Technically, a shovel is different from a spade,
which is bêche in French, but the two words are used interchangeably by non-
specialists in both English and French. Not to be confused with English pale
(French pâle), pail (French seau), or French paille (“straw”). Nevertheless, you
may use pail in a mnemonic by thinking of a pail and a shovel as tools in a garden,
or as toys on a sand beach. Or associate the action of impelling into soil with a
shovel. Example, une pelle à poussière (“a dustpan”; a shovel is supposed to be

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curved on the pan while a spade is square as a dustpan is, but here you can see the
words are confused; nobody says bêche à poussière).

empreinte imprint (cognate), footprint, impression. Examples, une empreinte

digitale (“a fingerprint”; this phrase does not mean “digital printing” as digital,
unlike numérique, means “of fingers”); empreinte carbone (“carbon footprint”).

vacarme din, big noise, racket, uproar. Germanic origin, literally “woe to the
wretch”. Vac- is cognate with woe, and -arme with a Scottish English dialect word
arm meaning “poor”, “wretched”. It’s better to use a mnemonic such as “this noisy
vacuum cleaner alarms me”. Or think of vacation and cars and the noisy street. If
you really care about pronunciation, letter c sounds like /k/ followed by a weak /j/
(in fact, the sound is palatal [c] instead of velar [k] if you are really into IPA).
Example, les garçons font un / du vacarme dans la rue (“the boys are making great
noise on the street”).

gonzesse (slang, often pejorative) girl, chick (woman), nana. gonze guy. Possibly
cognate with goose, Spanish ganso (“goose”). These words are becoming dated,
especially the masculine form gonze.

besogne task, job, work (n.). Related to besoin (“need” as a noun) and soigner (“to
care”). Example, Jean est dur à la besogne / travaille dur (“Jean is hard at work”).

parier to bet, to wager. pari bet (n.), wager, gamble. Cognate with pair. To bet is
to match what was bet by others. Not to be confused with parer (“to adorn”; “to
parry”, “to ward off”), which is cognate with the root of prepare. To avoid
confusion, think of i in parier as if it moved (metathesized) in English pair or
French paire. Examples, je parie qu’il va gagner (“I bet he’ll win”); faire un pari
(“to make a bet”).

marteau hammer, martel (cognate).

exploit feat, achievement; exploit. Note that this word primarily means “feat”,
“accomplishment”, a positive sense. Example, quel exploit! (“what an
achievement!”).

embêter to bother, to annoy, to bug; (reflexive) to get bored. A beast (bête) is like
a bug that bugs or bothers us. Examples, arrête de m’embêter (“stop bothering

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me”); ne vous embêtez pas à faire ... (“don’t bother to do ...”); je m’embête /
m’ennuie ici (“I’m bored here”). See also bête.

boulanger baker. boulangerie bakery. Cognate with bowl. From boule (“ball”;
“bowl”) + -anger (an ending equivalent to English -ing). Imagine a baker holding a
bowl of bread. It’s likely you’ve seen Boulangerie as part of the name of a French-
style bakery in the US. A female baker is boulangère; the ending vowel is more
open. See also boule.

interpeller to call out to; to question, to interrogate, to challenge; to arrest.

Cognate with interpellate (“to demand an explanation in politics or parliament”).
The exact meaning of the word depends on the context. Examples, le professeur a
interpellé Jean qui n’écoutait pas (“the teacher called out Jean, who wasn’t
listening”); la police a interpellé / arrêté un suspect (“the police arrested a
suspect”).

oignon onion (cognate). Note the similar pronunciation of French gn and English
ni. Also note oi in this word is pronounced like o in dog, not /wa/ as in most other
French words.

braquer to point or aim (gun, camera, etc.), viser, to turn (eyes) to; (informal) to
rob at gunpoint. Etymology is unknown or debatable. As a mnemonic, imagine you
aim your camera at an object so it’s shown inside the four corner-brackets. Or
imagine a black man robbing a bank. The derived words are braquage (“armed
robbery”), braqueur “armed robber”. Not to be confused with blague (“joke”); an
armed robbery is no joke. Example, il braque son revolver sur Jean (“he points his
revolver at Jean”).

survenir to happen suddenly or unexpectedly; (person) to appear unexpectedly.

Cognate with supervene (“to happen later”). Think of the prefix sur- (“super-”) as
to imply suddenly coming (venir) down from above. This word has lower
frequency than avoir lieu, se passer, arriver, se produire, all meaning “to happen”,
and its usage is very different. Examples, un accident survenu l’année dernière
(“an accident that happened last year”; note survenu is not preceded by qui a); un
accident est survenu l’année dernière (“an accident happened last year”; English
happen is an intransitive verb but French survenir is like a transitive verb as if it
meant “to bring to realization or instantiation”).

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mollet calf (of the leg); soft-boiled (as in œuf mollet, “soft-boiled egg”). Cognate
with mollusc (a soft-bodied invertebrate), mollify (“to pacify”, “to appease anger”,
literally “to soften”). Doublet with mou and mol (“soft”). Flesh on the calf is
considered soft. Historically, the referent was not limited to calf, but was later
narrowed. Note calf in the sense of “young cow” is veau in French. See also mou.

grouiller to swarm (with people, etc.), to throng, to hustle; (stomach) to rumble, to

growl (cognate); (reflexive, colloquial) to hurry up. Cognate with growl. Other
meanings may be related to noise in general. It may be better to use a mnemonic by
thinking of lots of people glued to a place. Examples, la plage grouille de touristes
(“the beach is teeming with tourists”); j’ai le ventre qui grouille (“my tummy is
grumbling”).

mobile mobile, movable; motive (n.); mobile phone. Note the meanings when used
as a noun (which is masculine in spite of -e ending), especially the sense of
“motive”. E.g., l’empreinte, l’ADN, et le mobile (“the fingerprint, the DNA, and
the motive”).

meurtrier murderer (n.), tueur; murderous (adj.), deadly. meurtre murder (n.).
These words are cognate with English murder if traced to Proto-Germanic. They
don’t seem to be related to French mourir (“to die”) or English martyr, which can
be used as mnemonics if you don’t think of murder immeiately. Note there is no
verb in French matching English murder as a verb; use assassiner or simply tuer
instead. Example, les accidents de la route les plus meurtriers (“the deadliest road
accidents”).

mitrailleur machine-gunner. mitrailleuse machine-gun. Etymology may be too

convoluted to be helpful. As a mnemonic, imagine someone says “I have a
machine-gun in my trailer (towed unpowered vehicle)”. Or associate the words
with military.

vingtaine about twenty. From vingt (“twenty”) + -aine (equivalent to English

suffix -ish). The word is used like a noun and is feminine. Example, une vingtaine
de personnes (“about twenty people”). See also dizaine (“about ten”).

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étang pond. Cognate with stagnant, stagnate, or with stanch (“to stop the flow”).
A pond is filled with stagnant water. Change é- to s- to see the cognation. The gn
in Latin changed to ng in French (metathesis or transposition).

dépenser to spend (money, etc.). dépense expense. Cognate with dispense.

Doublet with dispenser (“to exempt”; “to dispense”). These words are not related
to English depend (which would be dépendre in French); consider them false
friends. Note dépenser is not used for spending time, which would be passer du
temps; you don’t dispense time. Not to be confused with dispenser in meaning.
Examples, dépenser de l’argent pour un passe-temps (“to spend money on a
hobby”); une voiture qui dépense peu d’essence (“a car that uses little gas”); les
dépenses de consommation (“consumer spending”). See also dispenser.

confiture jelly, jam. Cognate with confection. This word and the related confit
(“meat such as duck slowly cooked in its own fat”) have entered English
vocabulary. Example, la confiture d’abricot / de fraises (“apricot / strawberry
jam”).

tôle sheet metal, sheet iron. Cognate with tabular (literally or originally “related to
thin flat sheets”), table, in which b changed to v to u, and au changed to ô. As a
mnemonic, imagine a highway toll booth made of sheet metal. Or a piece of sheet
metal being cut by a tool. Example, une clôture de chantier en tôle (“a sheet metal
construction fence”). See also taule (“jail”).

pétrole oil, petroleum. This word looks easy but note it does not mean “gasoline”
(which would be essence in French) as British English petrol does. Instead, it
refers to oil as in “oil industry”. Examples, un puits de pétrole (“an oil well”);
industrie pétrolière (“oil / petroleum industry”; pétrolière is fem. adj. for pétrole).

gravier gravel (cognate). Related to grève (“strike”, “stopping of work”). Example,

une allée de gravier (“a gravel driveway”). See also grève.

autel altar (cognate). Sometimes al- changed au- in French, as seen e.g. in mal- >
mau- in mauvais (“bad”).

alourdir to make heavy, to weigh down; to dull (spirit). See also lourd (“heavy”).

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provenir to arise (from), to originate. From pro- (“bringing into being” as in
procreate, or “in the place of”) + venir (“to come”). English provenance (“origin”)
is from French and is derived from provenir. Not to be confused with prévenir (“to
warn”; “to tell in advance”). Example, ce tableau provient d’une collection privée
(“this painting comes from a private collection”).

ambassade embassy (cognate). Not to be confused with ambassadeur

(“ambassador”), the person in charge of an embassy.

rentrée return to school (in September), rentrée scolaire, rentrée des classes; re-
entry. Even though the word is supposed to refer to return to school for school
children, it hints at return to work and many other normal activities as well because
many French people go on vacation in summer. The literal meaning “re-entry” is
actually less common.

fourneau furnace (cognate), stove. From four (“oven”) + -eau (diminutive).

Literally “small oven”. See also four.

mondain fashionable, chic, about the life of high society; worldly, mundane. Note
the meaning “worldly”or “mundane” is not common, slightly outdated and depends
on the context. English mundane is from Old French mondain, which has changed
its meaning over the centuries. Examples, la société mondaine (“the high society /
upper class”); une vie mondaine (“a high society life”; “a worldly life”; the
meaning depends on context). See also monde (“world”), mondial (“world-wide”).

manège merry-go-round, carousel; horse riding or riding school. Cognate with

manage and is related to French main (“hand”). Horse riding requires the hands to
have good control over or management of the horse. This word has entered English
vocabulary. Not to be confused with ménage (“household”; “housework”).

minable pathetic, shabby, miserable. Cognate with mine (“to excavate natural
resources”). Working in a mine is dangerous and miserable. Suffix -able does not
always mean “capable”, as in miserable. Example, ma vie est minable / misérable
(“my life is miserable”).

baignoire bathtub. Suffix -oire indicates the place where an action is taken, as in
laboratoire, observatoire. See also bain (“bath”), baigner (“to bathe”).

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emballer to pack; (informal) to make enthusiastic, to thrill, enchanter. The root,
balle (“bundle of goods”; “ball”), is cognate with ball if traced to Proto-Germanic.
Packing things up is likened to rolling them into a ball. Example, ça ne m’emballe
pas vraiment (“I’m not really keen on it”, literally “it doesn’t really pack me up”).
See also déballer (“to unpack”).

efficace effective; efficient. Note this single word has both meanings, and
sometimes it can be translated in a flexible way. Examples, un médicament efficace
(“an effective drug / medicine”); un travailleur efficace (“an efficient worker”);
une démonstration efficace (“a powerful / good / effective demonstration”).

hanter to haunt (cognate). Not to be confused with honte (“shame”) especially if

you use English haunt to remember that, or vanter (“to boast”). Example, un
spectre hante l’Europe: le spectre du communisme (“a specter haunts Europe: the
specter of communism”).

farouche wild, fierce; shy, timid, unsociable. Etymology is not helpful. Use
ferocious as a mnemonic. Normally a shy individual would not be described as
wild. But the connection is through a wild animal that shies away from humans,
hence the sense of “unsociable”. This word has entered English vocabulary
meaning “sullen”, “recalcitrant”, “lacking social grace”. Example, un air / regard
farouche (“a fierce look”).

inouï incredible, unprecedented. From in- (“not”) + ouï (past participle of archaic
“to hear”). Literally “unheard-of”. If you prefer a mnemonic, think of the opposite
(in-) of oui (“yes”), just as no way! in English can mean “that’s amazing!” Note
that in- is pronounced /in/, not /ɛ/̃ , since it’s followed by a vowel. Example, une
guerre d’une violence inouïe (“a war of unprecedented / incredible violence”).

gilet waistcoat, vest, sleeveless jacket. Arabic origin, but ultimately from Turkish.
This word has entered English vocabulary. Etymologist Edward Pick believes the
word is related to guile (“deceit”, “deceptiveness”, “astuteness”). Alternatively, use
a mnemonic such as “he put on a waistcoat because it was chilly”. Or imagine an
advertising poster featuring a handsome, cleanly-shaved young man wearing a
sleeveless jacket holding a Gillette razor. Examples, un gilet pare-balles (“a
bulletproof vest”); gilet de sauvetage (“life jacket”); Mouvement des gilets jaunes

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(“Yellow Vests Movement”, a 2018 movement in France, described by some as the
most violent protest since 1968, called for President Macron’s resignation).

moite damp, muggy, moist (cognate). Not to be confused with moitié (“half”).
Examples, une nuit moite (“a muggy / sweaty night”); chaleur moite (“sticky
heat”).

actif active; asset. In the sense of “active”, the feminine is active. Note the
meaning when used as a noun. An asset is the means to make you active; without it,
you become inactive. Examples, charbon actif / activé (“activated carbon”; in
English, it’s rarely called active carbon); la gestion d’actifs (“asset management”);
actifs financiers / numériques (“financial / digital assets”).

inonder to flood, to inundate (cognate). Note that in- is pronounced /in/, not /ɛ/̃ ,
since it’s followed by a vowel.

pâlir to fade (in color, or figuratively, in glory), to pale (cognate). From pâle
(“pale”). Example, la couleur a pâli (“the color has faded”).

malle trunk, large suitcase. Cognate with mail, which originally refers to “travel
bag”, later “bag to contain letters”. Or as a mnemonic, imagine you bought a big
suitcase from a shopping mall or you bought lots of stuff from a mall and load
them into your suitcase. Some dictinaries may also list the meaning of “car trunk”
but nowadays people say coffre for that instead.

lustre chandelier; luster, gloss, shine; (literary) period of five years, (figuratively)
a long time. Note that chandelier in French, cognate with English candle, still
means “candlestick”. English chandelier is French lustre. It sure is fashionable for
the British and Americans to continue to use a French word in describing stylish
furnishing even though Frenchmen have moved on in vocabulary. Also note the
third meaning may be considered from a different word; e.g., depuis des lustres
means “for ages”. As a mnemonic, imagine a bulb that shines for five years or a
bright (pun intended) politician’s term of five years. See also chandelle (“candle”).

récemment recently (cognate).

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facilité being easy, ease, easiness; facility. Note the first meaning, in which the
word is simply the abstract noun of facile (“easy”). Example, une solution de
facilité / facile (“an easy solution”).

poire pear (cognate). From Latin pirum (“pear”) or its plural pira. One important
source of French oi is Latin stressed i. Example, le corps / visage en forme de poire
(“the pear-shaped body / face”).

conte tale, story. Cognate with count, with the root of account, recount (“to
narrate”; “narration”). Doublet with compter (“to count”). In multiple Indo-
European languages, the words meaning “to count” and “to recount” developed
from the same origin. A few thousand years ago, humans probably considered
counting numbers and telling a story the same type of mental activity. Not to be
confused with comte (“count”, title of nobility). See also comte.

bonbon candy. The word is a reduplication of bon (“good”), presumably because

something sweet is good.

spirituel spiritual; witty. Note the second meaning, as in une remarque spirituelle
(“a witty remark”). Think of the effect of a witty remark in perking up one’s spirit.

taillis coppice (cutting trees down to stumps to promote growth), copse;

underwood, thicket. Cognate with tailor. From tailler (“to cut”), in connection with
the action of cutting.

militant militant; activist. Note the second meaning; the French word does not
nearly imply as much defiance or violence as in English, and is quite neutral or
even positive. Likewise, militantisme (note, not militarisme) means “activism”.

autoroute highway, expressway, motorway. Example, une aire d’autoroute / de

repos (“a rest area along highway”; note aire is “area”, not “air”).

mater to checkmate, to subdue, to get the better of. English checkmate is from Old
French, in turn from Persian in which the expression is pronounced like Shah mat,
literally “king (is) dead”, said in playing chess. If you know Spanish, you may also
use matar (“to kill”; a possible cognate) as a mnemonic. Or think of martyr and
being subdued, or of a sadistic master. Not to be confused with English mate
(which in French would be copain, copine, ami if it’s a noun, accoupler if a verb)

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or material (which would be matière in French). Examples, mater la révolte (“to
quell the revolt”); mater l’orgueil (“to subdue the pride”).

maîtriser to master (cognate), to control. maîtrise mastery (cognate), control.

Note the diacritic mark, which represents a missing s. Maîtrise should not be
confused with maîtresse (“mistress”; “elementary school teacher”) in spite of the
same origin. Examples, maîtriser la langue française (“to master the French
language”); maîtriser ses émotions / sa colère (“to control one’s emotions / anger”);
avoir la maîtrise des mers / du ciel (“to have control of the seas / the sky”); la
maîtrise de soi (“self-control”).

dessein intention, design (n.) (cognate), purpose. Doublet with dessin (“drawing”,
“design”), a homophone (pronounced the same) but its meaning is more literal or
concrete than dessein. If you need a mnemonic to remember the difference,
consider that a shorter word (dessin) should be easier and less abstract. Note that
French désigner (“to designate”) does not mean “to design”. Examples, à dessein
(“purposely”, “on purpose”); avoir de grands desseins (“to have grand plans”). See
also dessiner (“to design”), dessin.

broder to embroider. broderie embroidery. Cognate with the root of embroider or

embroidery, in which em- serves as an intensifier. Etymologist A. Brachet believed
border was a doublet; embroidery is decorating the edge (border) of a garment.

chantonner to hum. From chanter (“to sing”) + -on (diminutive) + -er. To hum is
to sing in a low voice.

enjamber to stride, to straddle. In poetry, enjambment, a word from French, means

“splitting one sentence into two lines”. Example, un pont qui enjambe une rivière
(“a bridge that crosses over a river”). See also jambe (“leg”).

tournoyer to twirl, to spin, to whirl, to swirl, to gyrate. From tourner (“to turn”) +
-oyer (suffix semantically equivalent to English prefix en- meaning “to enable”,
“to make”, as in nettoyer, “to clean”).

stade stadium (cognate); stage (a phase or step in a process). Note the second
meaning does not mean “theater stage”, which would be scène in French. The
Latin etymon stadium means “a fixed measure of length”. It’s said that the track at
Olympia was one stadium in length. French does have the word stage but it means

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“internship” or “course”, a false friend of English stage. Examples, un stade de
football / de foot (“a football stadium”; foot is colloquial for football); à ce stade
(“at this point / stage”).

donné given. données data. Donné is the past participle of donner (“to give”). But
the meanings of the words listed here may not be obvious. As a noun in the sense
of “data”, the word almost always occurs in its plural données, just as English
datum is rarely seen compared to data. Examples, étant donné que (“given that”);
une base de données (“a database”).

assumer to assume (to take on a position or responsibility). Note that assume in

the sense of “to suppose” is supposer or présumer in French. Not to be confused
with assommer (“to knock out”). Examples, assumer une responsabilité (“to take
responsibility”); assumer une fonction de (“to play a role of”).

cocher to tick (as in filling out a form), to check. Cognate with scotch (“to stop”,
“to put an end to”, originally “to put a notch”; note this is not Scotch or Scottish),
with the second element of hopscotch (a game in which the player hops and drives
a stone across the lines scotched or scratched on the ground). A tick mark looks
like a notch cut into wood. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, imagine a Jewish guy
ticks the checkbox for Kosher in a food selection form. Or if you know cloche
(“bell”), imagine for each ring of the bell, you check one checkbox in filling a form.
If you know cochon (“pig”), imagine using a pig icon as a checkmark in a form. Or
imagine a checkmark is a bullet or ball ricochet off a flat surface. Example, une
case à cocher (“a checkbox”).

blême pale (in color), ghastly, pâle. Cognate with blemish (“small flaw that spoils
the appearance”), blaze. While pâle is simply “pale”, blême is “very pale and
possibly sick”. Use a mnemonic such as “due to this blemish, this movie pales in
comparison to that one”, or “the shy student’s face turns pale when his teacher
blames him for a small matter”. Example, une visage blême / pâle (“a pale face”).

galon braid (n.), lace, stripe. Unknown origin. Use gallant (“courteous to women”)
as a mnemonic and think of such a handsome young man wearing a beautifully
laced suit. Or think of gallop, then a horse, a pony, a ponytail, and a braided
ponytail. This word has entered English vocabulary as galloon (“an ornamental

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strip of fabric”). Not related to gallon (both English and French). Example, un
galon de dentelle (“a braid of lace”).

bribe scrap, bit, fragment. Used in plural, bribes. Onomatopoeia according to one
theory; think of the brief, closed, vowel sound in the word just in bit. Brief can
serve as a mnemonic. English bribe is traced to Old French in which the word
meant “crumb of bread given to a beggar”. But the sense later changed to “thing
stolen”, and finally to the modern sense so different from that of French bribe that
they can be considered false friends. French pot-de-vin (literally “pot of wine”)
means “bribe”. Examples, bribes de phrases / de souvenirs (“fragments of
sentences / of memory”); bribes de pain (“bits of bread”).

citoyen citizen (cognate). The ending -yen can be considered a variant of -ien,
indicating a person. Letter o is pronounced /wa/ as if the following letter y is i.

taule (informal) jail, prison. Possibly related to tôle (“sheet metal”, “sheet iron”).
You can imagine a prison with sheet metal walls. Or use a mnemonic such as “the
Tower of London was a prison”. Or think of tall walls of the prison. Example, aller
en taule / prison (“to go to jail”). See also tôle.

stupéfait stunned, dumbfounded, astounded. stupéfiant narcotic (n.); amazing,

stunning, stupefying. Note the meaning of stupéfiant used as a noun. Example,
trafic de stupéfiants / de drogue (“drug trafficking”).

flairer to smell, to sniff. Cognate with fragrant, flair (“natural or intuitive skill or
talent”, but originally “smell”). From Latin flagrare. Within Latin, the second
letter could be either l or r. As a mnemonic, think of you smelling fragrance of a
flower. Examples, le chien flaire l’odeur de la personne (“the dog smells the odor
of the person”); flairer le danger (“to sense danger”).

remous swirl (n.), eddy, backwater; turmoil. The root, cognate with mill, is from
moudre (“to mill”), related to moulin (“mill”, as in Moulin Rouge), from Latin
molere (“to grind”). An eddy is water repeatedly (re-) circling around as grinding
is. The sense “turmoil” is figurative. Alternatively, use move as a mnemonic for -
mous and attach the prefix re- for the sense of repetition. Obviously this word is
unrelated to remove or remorse. Examples, remous de l’eau (“swirl of water”); un
remous dans la foule (“a turmoil in the crowd”).

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épanouir (reflexive) to flourish, to bloom; to cheer up, (face) to brighten up. The
root is cognate with span, expand. Change é- to s- or ex- to see the cognation.
Think of a vast expanse of blooming flowers. Example, les fleurs s’épanouissent
sur le champ sauvage (“the flowers bloom on the wild field”). See also répandre
(“to spread”, “to scatter”).

marmite cooking pot. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “mommy
is cooking food in a pot” or “add some marmalade to the cooking pot”. In Britain,
Marmite is a well-known savory spread, so named because originally it was sold in
an earthenware pot.

souper (Canada) supper (cognate), dinner; (France) after-dinner light meal.

There’s great regional difference in meaning for this word. It’s somewhat outdated
in France, where the word means a light meal after dinner; think of just drinking
soup. In Canada, it refers to dinner; in France you would say dîner for “dinner”.
Although related to soup (French soupe), this word does not mean “soup”.
Completely unrelated to super.

agonie the moment before death, death throes, struggle against death. While being
at the doorstep of death is agonizing, this French word does not quite mean the
same as English agony (“physical or mental suffering”), for which French angoisse
(“anguish”) may be a better fit. Consider them false friends. Example, l’agonie de
un empire (“death throes / last gasp / swan song of an empire”; not “agony of ...”).

aplatir to flatten. From plat (“flat”). Example, aplatir la pâte avec un rouleau (“to
flatten the dough with a roller”). See also plat.

résumer to summarize, to sum up. This word is the verb of the noun résumé,
sometimes simplified to resume in English, in the sense of “summary”. It does not
mean “to resume”, which would be reprendre in French. Note a résumé i.e. a short
description of one’s working experience and education used in a job search is
called curriculum vitæ in French; although that phrase is also used in the US, it
refers to a much more detailed report of a person especially in academia. Example,
résumer un document / discours (“to summarize a document / speech”)

munir to provide, to fit, to furnish, fournir. Cognate with the root of ammunition,
with munition (“ammunition”). Think of providing troops with ammunition.

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éponge sponge (cognate). éponger to sponge (cognate), to absorb, to mop up.
Change é- to s- to see the cognation. There are a few idioms using this word, e.g.
jeter l’éponge (“to abandon”, “to throw in the towel”); passer l’éponge (“to
forgive”, literally “to pass the sponge”; imagine you swipe the sponge across a
board to clean it up).

arrondir to round, to make round; (reflexive) to grow or become round. The root
is cognate with round. Examples, arrondir les angles (“to round the edges”, “to
smooth things out”); arrondir un nombre à un nombre entier (“to round up a
number to a whole number”; English verb round is exactly French arrondir).

quête to quest (cognate). Change ê to es to see the cognation. Examples, en quête

de vérité (“in quest for truth”; note de, not pour); la Quête du Graal (“Grailquest”;
a series of books by Northern Irish author J. H. Brennan).

brailler to yell, to shout, to yell, to bawl. Cognate with bray (“to cry”, said of a
donkey or camel). This word is absolutely unrelated to braille, the writing system
for the blind invented by Louis Braille. But as a mnemonic, think of Braille, then a
blind man, then you reading aloud to him since he can’t read, and you reading
really loud or shouting.

case box (in a form); hut, little house, cabin, cabane, hutte. From Latin casa
(“hut”). There’s no good cognate. But English case in the sense of “box” is a
perfect mnemonic. The word is also influenced by Spanish casa (“house”), which
occurs in Casa Blanca (literally “White House”), referring to the White House or
the famous movie. Example, cocher une case dans un formulaire (“to check a box
in a form”).

locataire tenant, renter. This word can be masc. or fem. Cognate with locus, locate.
In spite of cognation, this word is a false friend due to its different meaning. The
sense development from Latin to French is “place or location”, “to place”, “to
arrange”, “to lease or lend”, “to rent”, and “renter”. If this long chain is hard to
remember, use a mnemonic such as “a tenant trying to find or locate a place to
live”. The opposite of locataire is propriétaire (“property owner”). Colocataire
means “roommate”.

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foudre lightning. Cognate with fulgent, effulgent, refulgent, all meaning “shining
brightly”, fulgurate (“to flash”). Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “to the
ancient people, a lightning is a god’s fury dropped to the earth”, or une foule
détruit ... (“a crowd destroys ...”). Not to be confused with foutre (“to do”, “to fuck
around”). Example, un arbre a été frappé par la foudre (“a tree was struck by
lightning”). See also fulgurant (“flashing”).

imprévu unexpected, unforeseen, inattendu. From im- + prévu (past participle of

prévoir, “to expect”, “to foresee”).

désoler to sadden, to distress, to cause grief. Cognate with desolate (“deserted”,

“lifeless”). désolé sorry; desolate (cognate). Examples, je suis désolé (“I’m sorry”);
la mort de son ami le désole (“the death of his friend saddens him”); désolé de te /
vous déranger (“sorry to bother you”).

porc pork; pig, cochon. The ending c is silent. Note that this word can also mean
“pig”, and it may have a strong derogatory sense in some context, unlike cochon.
Examples, manger un rôti de porc (“to eat roast pork”); un élevage de porcs (“a
pig farm”).

puiser to draw (water from a well), tirer. Unrelated to puissant (“powerful’). Not
to be confused with puis (archaic form of peux, almost only used in a sentence like
puis-je vous aider?, “may I help you?”) or puisse (first or third person singular
subjunctive of pouvoir). Examples, puiser / tirer de l’eau dans un puits (“to draw
water from a well”; note dans, not de); l’écriture puise dans le matériau qu’est sa
vie pour élaborer des récits (“the writing draws on the material that is his life to
develop stories”; note dans, not sur). See also puits (“well”), épuiser (“to exhaust”,
“to drain energy”).

milliard billion. milliardaire billionaire. Note that milliard, cognate with million,
does not mean “million” (which would still be million in French). Suffix -ard
replacing -on causes million to jump by a thousand times, per the long-scale
number naming system, from mill(e) (“thousand”). Example, un millionnaire et un
milliardaire (“a millionaire and a billionaire”).

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mi-voix low voice, soft voice, sotto voce (English borrowed from Italian, literally
“under voice”). From mi- (“half”, “middle”) + voix (“voice”). Example, à mi-voix
(“in a low voice”, “softly”).

grêle hail (n.). Possibly related to English grit through a Germanic word.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “after a strong gale of wind comes the hail”
or “the hail looks gray in color”. Example, il y aura de la grêle demain (“there’s
going to be hail tomorrow”).

pige measure (n.); pay rate for assigned work; (informal) year. piger (informal) to
get, to understand, to realize. Doublet with pied (“foot”). Literally piger would
mean “to catch on foot”. English phrase catch on can mean “to get”, “to
understand”. The basic meaning of pige is “measure (as if done by walking steps)”,
extended to “pay rate for piecework”, “year” (essentially “measure of age”).
Example, payer à la pige (“to pay on a freelance basis”, “to pay by how much is
done”). See also pied.

facteur factor (cognate); mailman, postman. Feminine is factrice. The origin is

Latin factor, a general word meaning “doer”, “maker”, “person that does things”.
Regarding the second meaning, it’s not clear how the sense was narrowed to
“mailman”. Not to be confused with the doublet facture (“invoice”, “bill”).
Example, le facteur passe par ici tous les jours (“the mailman comes by here every
day”).

allô hello (as in calling on the phone, or getting attention in a conversation). This
French word is from English hello, more likely from its early variant hallo, without
pronouncing h.

mandat mandate (n.) (cognate), official command; term of office; money order.
To remember “term of office”, imagine the government official constantly issues
administrative mandates in his term. Examples, un mandat de cinq ans (“a five-
year term of office”); mandat d’arrêt (“arrest warrant”).

machin gadget, thingy, whatcha-ma-call-it, thingamabob, truc. Short from

machine. But machine is fem. while machin is masc., as if changing gender to
masculine makes the meaning fuzzy. This word is more frequent than truc.

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Example, tu me prêtes ce machin? (“can I borrow this thing from you?”, literally
“you lend me this thing?”).

gâter to spoil (a child), to pamper; (reflexive) (said of food) to go bad. Cognate

with waste and note the change of as to â in history. The w-g change is a rare case
in which the initial consonant changed; for more information, see the entry for
gâcher (“to spoil”, “to mess up”; note the difference in meaning). If you prefer a
mnemonic, imagine a spoiled child grew up to become a gate keeper or security
guard at the gate. Examples, un enfant gâté (“a spoiled child”); la viande se gâte /
s’abîme vite (“the meat goes bad quickly”); le temps se gâte (“the weather is
getting bad”). See also gâcher.

claque slap (n.), gifle; a group of people hired to applaud or boo at a show.
Cognate with clack (clacking sound). Clapping hands as in an applause makes such
sounds. The word in the second sense has entered English vocabulary.

abuser to do or use too much, to go too far, to be excessive (at); to take advantage
of (someone), to exploit; to abuse (cognate), to misuse; to mislead. The first two
meanings, different from the meaning of English abuse, are relatively common.
Think of using too much of something as one bad way of using something.
Examples, il abuse de l’alcool (“he binges on alcohol”); il abuse de / profite de sa
naïveté (“he’s taking advantage of your naivety”).

lambeau shred (n.), scrap, rag. Cognate with label, lap (originally “loose part of a
coat or garment”, but now “front upper part of leg when sitting”). A label is
likened to a scrap. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “an amazing video of a
Lamborghini literally shredded into pieces in a crash”. Example, mettre / tomber
en lambeaux (“to tear / fall apart”).

jouissance enjoyment. From jouir (“to enjoy”). To remember the suffix-like

ending -ssance, think of nous jouissons (“we enjoy”). See also jouir.

gerbe sheaf (of grain), bouquet (of flowers), bundle. Cognate with grab if traced to
Proto-Indo-European. Or use a mnemonic such as “Gerber baby food for the
bundle of joy”. If you know the genus of plant Gerbera, a.k.a African daisy, that
would be the ideal mnemonic. Examples, une gerbe de blé (“a sheaf of wheat”);
une gerbe de roses (“a spray / bouquet of roses”).

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fourchette fork (utensil) (n.) (cognate). Pretend to pronounce ch as k (as in
Christmas) to remember this word. Suffix -ette means “little”. Example, la
fourchette et le couteau (“the fork and the knife”). See also fourche (“garden fork”,
“pitchfork”).

chandail sweater, jumper, pull-over, pull. The word is a contraction from

marchand d’ail (“garlic-seller”), referring to the sweater worn by the merchants in
a food market in Paris. If you can’t think of the omitted mar-, use a mnemonic
such as “a Chanel sweater”.

tricot knitting; knitwear. tricoter to knit. This word has entered English
vocabulary. Etymology hardly helps; it’s cognate with strike. Use a mnemonic
such as “knitting is tricky” or “knit a pattern of a tri-color French flag”. Examples,
aiguille à tricoter (“knitting needle”); un tricot de corps (“an undershirt”); tricoter
un chandail / un pull (“to knit a sweater”).

scolaire of school (adj.). Cognate with school, scholar. In spite of cognation, this
word does not mean “scholar”, which would be érudit or savant in French.
Examples, les vacances scolaires (“school holidays”); la rentrée scolaire (“return
to school”, “beginning of the new school year”).

nain dwarf. Cognate with prefix nano- as in nanometer, nanotechnology. Prefix

nano- means “very small”, or scientifically, “one billionth”. From Latin nanus,
where -anus changed to -ain, just as Latin humanus changed to humain among
other examples. Example, Blanche-Neige et les sept nains (“Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs”).

fosse pit (hole in the ground), hole; grave. Related to fossile (“fossil”), from which
English fossil is derived. This word is fem. and should not be confused with the
etymologically related fossé (“ditch”, masc.). To help remember which is which, as
a mnemonic, note the one-syllable word fosse denotes a pit or hole which is a dot
while the two-syllable word fossé a ditch which is a line. See also fossé.

croupe rump or buttocks of a horse; hill top. Cognate with croup (the same sense,
not in the sense of “infection of the larynx and windpipe”). Or as a mnemonic,
think of the shape of the top rear of a coupe model car. Example, il y a un vignoble
sur la belle croupe (“there is a vineyard on the beautiful hilltop”; une belle croupe

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said of a person means “a nice butt / rump”). See also accroupir (“to crouch”, “to
bend down”).

enseigne shop sign; conjugated form of enseigner (“to teach”). Cognate with
insignia. The root is cognate with sign, signal. Examples, enseigne lumineuse
(“neon sign”); une grande enseigne (“a big brand”, figuratively).

affaler (reflexive) to drop, to sink, to slump, to slouch. The root is cognate with
fall (as in fall down). Example, fatigué, il s’est affalé dans le fauteuil (“tired, he
sank in the armchair”).

recroqueviller (reflexive) to curl up, to cower. The root, cognate with crook
(“bend”, “turn”), is probably from croc (“hook”). Example, se recroqueviller sur
soi-même (“to curl up on oneself”, “to cower in on oneself”). See also accrocher
(“to hook”, “to hang”).

feutre felt (n.) (cognate); felt-tip pen. feutré felt-like; muted, muffled. From Old
French feltre, where el later changed to eu. Also cognate with filter (filtre in
French). Felt makes a good filter. Not to be confused with foutre (“to do”; “to
fuck”). Examples, un chapeau de feutre (“a felt hat”); à pas feutrés (“quietly”,
literally “in felt steps”; imagine you wear such footwear and walk, or a cat
walking).

flamber to flame (cognate), to burn. French flamboyant (literally “flaming”) has

entered English vocabulary.

platane planetree, sycamore. From Latin platanus (a genus including species such
as sycamore). As a mnemonic, imagine planetrees grown on a plateau.

durcir to harden. Cognate with durable, with the root of endure. Example, la
sécheresse durcit le sol (“drought hardens the soil”).

éventail fan (hand-held wind-inducing device); range, array. The root is cognate
with vent, ventilate. Prefix é- means “out”, while suffix -ail means “device”, “tool”.
Unrelated to event.

hérisser (animal) to erect bristles or feathers etc., to ruffle; to form spikes. From a
Latin word meaning “hedgehog”. Cognate with urchin (“mischievous child”, but
originally “hedgehog”). It is better to use hairy or erect as a mnemonic. Or imagine
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people believing in heresy will grow erected and ruffled hairs (and be caught by
the Inquisition). Examples, un bidonville hérissé de blocs de béton, sans bancs
publics (“a shantytown bristling with concrete blocks, without public benches”);
une horreur fait hérisser ma peau (“a horror makes my skin crawl”).

balbutier to stammer. Traced to Proto-Indo-European, the word was *balb- or

*balbal-, apparently an onomatopoeia. It’s interesting to note that unclear and
repetitive utterance often has bla or ba in the word, such as blah, blah-blah,
barbarian (from a Greek word meaning “unintelligible sound”), this word
balbutier and its Latin origins. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of barbital, the
drug whose side effects include messed-up speech. Note that t in balbutier is
pronounced like s.

insensé insane, foolish, crazy. Think of sensé as “making sense” and in- as
negation, or use insane as a mnemonic (but insane is not a cognate). This word is
easy but should not be confused with English incense (French encens).

neveu nephew (cognate). Not to be confused with niveau (“level”) or neuve

(“new”, fem.). Example, neveux et nièces (“nephews and nieces”).

griffe claw, talon. griffer to scratch. griffonner to scribble, to write quickly and
carelessly. Use grip as a mnemonic. Not to be confused with greffe (“clerk’s
office”, “registry”; “graft”). Examples, les griffes du chat (“the cat’s claws”); le
chat a griffé le canapé (“the cat scratched the sofa”).

biche doe, female deer. Uncertain origin. Use bitch as a mnemonic. But note that
biche absolutely carries no negative connotation; in fact, it may be the opposite, as
in dearly referring to one’s girlfriend. Also note a male deer is cerf.

écharpe scarf (cognate). To see the cognation, change é- to s- and ch to c; many

cases of French cha came from Latin ca. An écharpe is different from a foulard,
which is much shorter and lighter, normally wrapped around the neck only, and
more for decoration than for keeping warm. Wikipedia French pages for the two
words illustrate the difference well. Not to be confused with échapper (“to
escape”). See also foulard (“scarf”).

grommeler to grumble, to mutter, grogner. English grumble is from the same

Middle French etymon. Possibly related to grumpy. It may also be originally an

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onomatopoeia or imitative of the sound. Example, il a dit OK en grommelant (“he
said OK while grumbling”).

bagarre fight (n.), brawl. Uncertain and unhelpful etymology. Use a mnemonic
such as “the bad guy likes to fight”, or “looters fight for the bag of treasures”, or
think of a battle of guards.Example, une grosse bagarre entre les deux gangs (“a
big fight between the two gangs”).

ciseau chisel (cognate). ciseaux scissors (cognate). It’s interesting to note that to
the French people, a pair of scissors are made of two chisels. Examples, une paire
de ciseaux (“a pair of scissors”; note de, not des); un ciseau de sculpteur (“a
sculptor’s chisel”).

maire mayor (cognate). Note this is a masculine noun. In France, the preferred
way to refer to a female mayor is Madame le maire according to
http://academie-francaise.fr/la-maire. But in Québec, it’s common to see
Madame la maire or Madame la mairesse. In any case, using mairesse alone is not
advised. See also mairie (“town hall”).

renier to renounce (religion); to disown; (reflexive) to renege (cognate), to break a

promise. Also cognate with renegade. The root is cognate with negate. Example, il
a renié sa foi en Dieu (“he renounced his faith in God”). See also nier (“to deny”).

cadence cadence; rhythm, high rate, busy schedule. Note the second meaning,
which may not be literally related to sound or music. Examples, cadence de
production (“production rate”, said of a plant or factory); une cadence infernale (“a
hellish pace”).

fermier farmer (cognate); farm (adj.), farmer (adj.). The feminine form fermière
can mean either “female farmer” or “farmer’s wife”. This word is easy but should
not be confused with fermer (“to close”). Note it can be used as an adjective in the
sense of “of farm” or “of farmer”. But the noun meaning “farm” is ferme in French,
which coincides with some conjugated forms of fermer and with the word meaning
“firm”. Examples, produits fermiers / de la ferme (“farm produce”); un poulet
fermier (“a free-range chicken”) See also ferme.

assombrir to darken; to make sad or gloomy. See also sombre (“dark”).

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gamelle mess kit, lunch box, mess tin, billycan, drinking bowl for pets (dogs, cats,
etc.). The word refers to a container for food or drinking fluid. Possibly from Latin
camella (“drinking vessel”). Use a mnemonic such as “a drinking bowl for camels”,
or “a food bowl for game, i.e. wild animals”. Example, Les Recettes du campeur:
50 gamelles gourmandes à réaliser partout (“Camper’s Recipes: 50 gourmet bowls
to make everywhere”, the title of a book).

farine flour. From Latin farina (a type of cereal food, related to flour), which has
entered English vocabulary. If you don’t know that word (or any Romance
language), use a mnemonic such as “a foreign-brand flour”. Example, farine de blé
(“wheat flour”).

toubib (slang) doc (doctor). Arabic origin. As a mnemonic, imagine a man named
Toby who is a doctor.

arrêté decree, order, administrative decision; past participle of arrêter (“to stop”;
“to arrest”). As a mnemonic, think of an official decree as always intending to stop
some action. Example, un arrêté de la cour (“a court order”).

ferraille scrap metal. From fer (“iron”) + -aille (diminutive suffix). Not to be
confused with English feral (which would be sauvage in French). Example, un tas
de ferraille (“a pile of junk”; scrap metal is usually useless).

éventuel possible, prospective, likely or expected to happen. éventuellement

possibly, maybe. Cognate with eventual. In spite of cognation, éventuel does not
mean “eventual” (“final”, “at the end of events”), and éventuellement could mean
“eventually” only in Quebec French presumably influenced by English; consider
them false friends. French éventuel is more literal, more closely related to event in
the sense of “in case a certain event happens”. Example, les conséquences
éventuelles (“the possible consequences”).

pois pea (cognate). The plural of this word is still pois. In spite of cognation (due
to the same Latin origin, pisa, pisum), the etymology may not help. Use a
mnemonic such as “a pea is like a small point”. Note if you use the homophone
poids (“weight”) as a mnemonic, you may need to reverse the meaning, as a pea
can’t be considered heavy. Also note that pois by itself is not as specific as English
pea, which would be petite pois in French (see

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https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pois_(homonymie)#Botanique for the
details). You may combine this word with poivron and remember together since
they are both words of vegetables, poivrons et petits pois (“peppers and peas”).

tressaillir to thrill, to shudder, to shake, frémir, to jump, sursauter. Prefix tres- is

cognate with trans- (“crossing”), and saillir (“to stick out”, “to protrude”) is
cognate with sally (“sortie in a battle”) and salient, with Spanish salir and salida
(“exit”; you may have seen it at the exits of some buildings in the US). When one
is thrilled, he may jump up. To remember this word, focus on the root and ignore
the prefix. Examples, il tressaillit à l’idée qu’il pourrait perdre son frère (“he
trembled / winced / flinched at the thought that he could lose his brother”);
tressaillir de joie (“to leap for joy”).

briquet cigarette lighter. Cognate with brick. From brique (“brick”). Maybe
because a cigarette lighter looked like a small brick in the old days.

hache hatchet, axe, ax. English hatchet is from French, meaning “small axe”.

nana (slang) chick, girl. Diminutive of Anna, a common female given name,
“popularised after Zola’s 1880 novel Nana” according to Wiktionary. This word
generally is neutral or has a loving connotation, but this is region dependent. Not to
be confused with English nana meaning “grandma” in child talk. Example, les
mecs et les nanas (“guys and gals”, les gars et les filles).

boyau gut, bowel (cognate), intestine (of animals); narrow passage (e.g. a trench in
the battlefield). This word does not precisely correspond to any anatomical organ.
Just remember it with the aid of the cognate bowel. Or as a mnemonic, imagine
you say “Oh boy!” when you got a stomachache, or flatulence. If you know bayou
(“creek”; a word used in southern states of the US), it can help remember the shape
of guts, or a narrow passage, Example, boyaux de porc pour faire des saucisses
(“hog casings for making sausages”, literally “pork intestines ...”).

asile asylum (cognate). Example, le droit d’asile (“political asylum”, “right of / to

asylum”; French phrase l’asile politique is slightly less used).

bouillir to boil (cognate). Not to be confused with brouiller (“to blur”). Examples,
l’eau bout (“water is boiling / boils”; note the various conjugation forms of this
verb); faire bouillir le lait (“boil the milk”; while a dictionary may show bouillir as

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both intransitive and transitive, it’s rare to use it transitively, so remember to add
faire). See also bouillon (“broth”).

gaillard vigorous person; vigorous. Possibly cognate with gala (“celebration”,

“festival”). Suffix -ard suggests a specific type of person (as in drunkard). It’s
better to use gay (“happy”, “jolly”) or gaieté or English gaiety as a mnemonic.
Descendant Gaylord used to be a popular given name before gay acquired the
sense of “homosexual”. Example, mon gaillard (“my lad / fella / man / bro”, said
colloquially).

graine seed. Cognate with grain. Their common Latin origin granum means
“seed”. But note English grain is still spelled grain in French (and is masc.), not
this word graine (which is fem.). Example, planter des graines au printemps (“to
plant seeds in spring”).

éparpiller to scatter, disperser. Origin unknown. As a mnemonic, think of it

literally meaning “to fly off like a butterfly”, i.e. é- (“off”) + papillon (“butterfly”)
+ -er (verb suffix). Example, les gens Apaches s’éparpillent / se dispersent sur une
grande étendue (“the Apache people scatter over a wide area”).

élire to elect (cognate). élu elected. English elect and French élire are from e-
(“out”) + past participle of Latin legere (“to collect or pick”; “to read”, from which
English legible and French lire, “to read”, are derived). English pick out has the
sense of “to select”, hence “to elect”. Examples, élire un candidat à l’unanimité
(“to elect a candidate unanimously”); le peuple élu (“the chosen people”; note
singular, not plural).

faucher to mow, cut, scythe, or reap with a scythe; (car) to run over; (informal) to
steal. From Latin falx (“scythe”, “sickle”), which has entered English vocabulary
referring to a type of sword or as an anatomical term. Latin al changed to French
au (as in the case of Latin caldus > French chaud). Alternatively, if you know
fourche (“garden fork”), use that as a mnemonic and imagine the action of faucher
or cutting grass followed by loading the grass with a garden pitchfork. Or use facet
as a mnemonic since its original or literal meaning is “one flat surface cut into a
gem”, so think of “cut”. Examples, faucher une prairie (“to mow a meadow”); une
voiture a fauchée un homme (“a car ran over a man”); la grêle a fauché les blés

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(“the hail knocked down the wheat”); quelqu’un m’a fauché mon portefeuille
(“somebody stole my wallet”).

buée steam, condensation, vapor. Etymology is unhelpful. As a mnemonic,

imagine the condensation on an ice-cold beer bottle, or foggy windshield on a
Buick car. Note buée refers to the steam on a surface while brume refers to mist or
vapor in the air. Example, la buée sur le pare-brise (“fog on the windshield”).

marmonner to mumble, to mutter, to murmur. Onomatopoeia and possibly

cognate with murmur. Or as a mnemonic, imagine speaking while eating
something with marmalade jam.

correspondance correspondence (cognate), letters, mail; (flight or train)

connection, connecting. This word looks easy but note letter a instead of e in the
last syllable, and note the second meaning. Examples, un vol en correspondance
(“a connecting flight”); vente / achat par correspondance (“mail-order selling /
purchase”).

balader to stroll around. balade stroll (n.). Cognate with ballad (“narrative poem”,
“romantic song”). In the old times, a street entertainer strolled around while
singing ballads, ballades in French. While balade and ballade are etymologically
related, only the latter means “ballad”; it’s easy to remember as both have double
l’s. Example, faire une balade / se balader au parc (“to go for a walk in the park”).

pansement bandage, band-aid, dressing. panser to dress wound. Doublet with

penser (“to think”), peser (“to weigh”), cognate with pensive (“looking
thoughtful”), ponder (“to weigh”). Back in Latin, the word meant both “to think”
and “to weigh”. English weigh can also mean “to consider” as in “to weigh the
pros and cons”. The sense “bandage” of this French word may have come from “to
think”, “to examine or take care”, and then “to dress a wound”. Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “he felt intense pangs in the bandage / when the nurse put on a
bandage”. Examples, mettre un pansement sur une plaie (“to put a bandage on a
wound”); la Compagnie décide de faire une pause afin de panser ses blessures
(“the Company decides to take a break in order to heal its wounds”).

cramponner to attach, to clamp, to cling. From French crampon (“clamp”,

“cleat”), which has entered English vocabulary referring to a shoe accessory.

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Probably cognate with cramp (“muscle spasm”), which is from a Proto-Germanic
word meaning “clasp”. Use clamp as a mnemonic. Example, quoi qu’il arrive,
cramponne-toi / accroche-toi à moi (“no matter what happens, hold on to me”).

haricot bean. Possibly from a word in a Native American language. Use a

mnemonic such as “Harry cooked beans”, or “an apricot and bean recipe”, or
imagine certain beans with hairy shells as wearing a hairy coat. Examples, haricot
blanc (“white bean”, “haricot bean”; the latter is actually “bean bean” if translated
literally); haricot vert (“green bean”, “French bean”).

frange fringe (cognate); bangs (hair); marginal group, minority of people. The
second and third meanings derive from the first. Not to be confused with and
unlikely related to frangin (“brother”). Examples, un rideau à franges métallisées
(“a metallic fringed curtain”); une fille avec une belle frange (“a girl with beautiful
bangs”); cette frange de la population qui est la plus vulnérable (“this portion of
population / this fringe population that is the most vulnerable”).

craquement creak, crack, click. Onomatopoeia. But English crack literally sounds
like a perfect mnemonic. See also croquer (“to eat”, “to crunch”).

baguette rod, stick; baguette, French bread; chopstick; (music) drummer’s

drumstick or conductor’s baton; (magic) wand. This word has entered English
vocabulary and primarily refers to a long narrow loaf of French bread, while in
French this word is more diverse in meaning. Examples, manger avec des
baguettes (“to eat with chopsticks”); baguette magique (“magic wand”).

coquille shell, scallop; misprint, typo. coque shell (of nut or egg), hull (of boat),
casing. Cognate with conch (“shell of a type of sea animal”). One theory for
coquille to mean “misprint” is that a shell is of no value and selling it is considered
cheating, hence the sense of “error”. Coquille has entered English vocabulary
mainly as a word in restaurant menu. Unrelated to coq (“cock”, “rooster”). But if
you don’t know conch, use coq as a mnemonic and imagine a cock or rooster
trying to open the shell of a mollusk. Example, un œuf à la coque (“a soft-boiled
egg”).

crasse filth, dirt, grime; filthy. crasseux filthy. Cognate with crass (“insensitive”,
“crude”, “unintelligent”). Consider these two French words to be false friends with

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English crass as their meanings differ, even though you can still use it as a
mnemonic. Imagine an uncultured, under-educated, man wearing filthy clothes.
Examples, mains couvertes de crasse (“hands covered with dirt / filth”); sale et
crasseux (“dirty and filthy”).

posé calm, poised; past participle of poser (“to put down”; “to ask”). Cognate with
pose, pause, the root of compose or composure, but not with poised, which
nevertheless can serve as a good mnemonic. Since poser means “to put down” (as
in poser le sac sur la table, “to put down the bag on the table”), posé literally
means “put down” treated as an adjective, hence “calm”. Example, un homme posé
(“a composed / calm man”), une voix posée (“a calm voice”).

puce flea; (electronics) chip, microchip. This word has entered English vocabulary
meaning “brownish-purple color”, from the color of the skin after a flea bite. The
sense of “computer chip” may be due to resemblance of such a chip with a
multitude of pins to the pesky bug with many legs. You may also use a mnemonic
such as “our little puss (cat) got fleas on him”. Examples, marché aux puces (“flea
market”); l’industrie de fabrication de puces (“the chip making industry”).

supplice torture (n.), torment, ordeal. Cognate with supplicate (“to beg”, literally
“to bend down”) and possibly supple. The root is cognate with pleat and plait
(“fold in fabric”), pliers (literally “things that fold”), while the prefix sup- means
(“down”, sub-). One bows or kneels down to request or beg earnestly, which is a
torture if holding the posture for a while. Not to be confused with and unrelated to
English supply (fournir in French). Example, le supplice de la croix (“crucifixion”,
crucifiement, literally “the torture of the cross”).

tuile tile (cognate) on the roof; (colloquial) bad luck. From Latin tegula. Both
French and English lost the second syllable consonant g. The colloquial sense of
tuile (“bad luck”) is from a tile falling from a roof hitting the unlucky person. Note
a tile on the wall would be carreau in French because it’s square in shape.
Examples, un toit de tuiles (“a tiled roof”); il m’est arrivé une tuile (“I had bad
luck / got a problem”, “something bad happened to me”).

bredouiller to stammer, to mutter, to mumble, balbutier. Possibly related to

Breton, a person from Brittany, the British Isles in the 15th-19th centuries, now a
region in northwest France. The language they spoke sounded like meaningless

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mumbling to the French people. Instead of Breton, you can also use Bedouin (the
nomadic people living in the Arabian desert) as a mnemonic and imagine their
speech sounds like mumble. Example, bredouiller une excuse (“to mumble an
excuse”).

bâche tarpaulin, tarp, waterproof cover; cistern, tank (reservoir). Possibly cognate
with basket, which is somewhat helpful to us if you imagine a tarp and a basket as
part of a camping or picnic kit. Change â to as and pronounce che like k to make a
connection. Or use bath as a mnemonic by thinking of water and getting wet,
although the purpose of using a tarpaulin is to not get wet.

recette recipe (cognate); financial returns, receipts (opposite of expenses). The

primary meaning is the first one. This word does not mean “receipt” (paperwork
acknowledging receipt of service or money), which would be reçu.

taureau bull; Taurus (the zodiac sign or constellation in astronomy) (cognate).

gouffre gulf (in the sense of hollow place in the earth) (cognate), chasm, abyss, pit
cave. Doublet with golfe (“gulf of water”, “bay”). Note that English gulf mostly
refers to a bay (golfe in French), and occasionally to a deep ravine in the earth
(gouffre in French). If you need a mnemonic to remember which is which, maybe
think of u in gouffre as a ravine, and optionally golfe as a seaside bay area golf
course. You can also use a mnemonic such as “I made a goof; I drove my car into a
pit”. Example, la cryptomonnaie est un gouffre énergétique (“cryptocurrency is an
energy sinkhole”). See also golfe.

exhiber to show off; to display. Note the negative connotation in its primary sense.
An exhibition is better translated as une exposition in French, not une exhibition.
See also exposer (“to show”, “to exhibit”).

berceau cradle. Related to bercer (“to rock a baby”). English bassinet (“a baby's
wicker cradle”) is from French and is related. Also possibly related to basin. See
also bercer.

paresseux lazy; lazy person; sloth. paresse laziness. Etymology doesn’t help
unless you know at least one other Romance language. Use a mnemonic such as “a
lazy, relaxing life in Paris”, or “lazy people are parasites in this society”.

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sérail seraglio, harem; inner circle, closed world. Arabic or Persian origin. But
Europeans used an Italian word seraglio in translation because it happened to be
pronounced similarly and means about the same, and has entered English
vocabulary known mostly to people familiar with Turkish history. Cognate with
serried (“crowded”, “compact”). The sense of “inner circle” is obviously from the
first, referring to the closed palace where concubines were kept. English serai
(“caravansary”, “roadside inn, especially in West Asia”) is related to this word.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “the powerful sultan’s harem is a series of
palaces”.

tituber to stagger, to sway left and right when standing or walking, to totter.
Etymology doesn’t help. Use totter as a mnemonic. Or imagine you tip (standing)
on a tube, or try to tiptoe on a tube.

musulman Muslim (cognate). From Ottoman Turkish muslimân. Imagine -mân

means “man”, although it actually does not.

contrarier to upset, to thwart. Cognate with contrary. Examples, contrarier le

plan de l’ennemie (“to thwart the enemy’s plan”); il se sent contrarié / bouleversé
(“he feels upset”).

boisson drink (n.), beverage. Related to boire (“to drink”). Not to be confused with
bois (“wood”), besoin (“need”). See also boire.

jambon ham. From jambe (“leg”). See also jambe.

éclaircir to brighten, to illuminate (both literally and figuratively); to make thin.

Related to éclairer (“to illuminate”). The root is cognate with clear. Example,
éclair et tonnerre (“lightning and thunder”). See also éclairer.

carrelage tile (on floor or wall), carreau. Cognate with square (excluding s-,
which is from ex-), quarry (literally or originally “place where stones are squared”).
Note that a tile on the roof is tuile.

frein brake. freiner to brake. Cognate with the root of refrain.

douer to endow. doué gifted, talented. English endow is from en- + douer.

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bûche log (of wood). bûcher (informal) to work hard or cram for exam; to fell
trees, to hew. Cognate with bush if traced to Proto-Germanic, doublet with bois
(“wood”). The informal sense of the verb (“to work”) may be because logging
work is hard and tedious. To remember bûcher “to work hard for exam”, use book
as a mnemonic and pretend to read ch like k. To remember “to work hard”, use
“Work is bullshit!” and imagine extraordinarily frequent workers’ strike in France.

bourse stock exchange, bourse; financial grant. Partially cognate with purse. This
word has entered English vocabulary meaning “stock exchange”.

dirigeant leader, ruler; ruling (adj.), managing. From diriger (“to direct”, “to
manage”). Note that director in the sense of “manager” (normally between
company executive and lower-level manager) is simply directeur in French, and
director for a movie is réalisateur. Example, la classe dirigeante (“the ruling
class”). See also diriger.

saoul drunk, ivre. Cognate with satiate, with the first element of satisfy (literally
“to make enough”, where -fy means “to make”). Medial t, as in this case the second
syllable consonant t originally in Latin, often disappears (also seen in Latin
maturus “mature” to French mûr, imperator to empereur). To drink to being drunk,
one must be satiated with wine. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “drink to
the soul’s content”. American slang soaked could mean “drunk”.

étincelant sparkling, scintillating. étincelle spark (n.). étinceler to sparkle, to

twinkle. Cognate with scintillate (“to give off sparks”). From Latin scintilla
(“spark”). Even after we change é- to s-, the form still doesn’t quite match
scintillate, because metathesis (transposition of sounds) occurred in history; ci and
ti swapped in this case.

pathétique pathetic, moving, arousing pity. Traditionally, both French pathétique

and English pathetic meant “arousing sympathy and pity”. Nowadays English
pathetic in colloquial language is becoming more pejorative and this negative
connotation has somewhat influenced French pathétique.

louche fishy, suspicious, shady; ladle. In the first sense, or rather, the sense of the
first word, it’s cognate with light, luminate if traced to Proto-Indo-European. This
sense has entered English. But a mnemonic may be more helpful; think of a fishy

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person, named Lucy, as loose, lousy or infested with louses. In the second sense, it
may be cognate with ladle, lade if traced to Proto-Germanic. Example, un
lobbyiste louche (“a sleazy lobbyist”).

soi-disant supposedly; supposed, so-called, self-styled. Literally “self-saying”.

Sometimes it’s incorrectly spelled as soit-disant. Why does “self-saying” change to
“supposed” or “supposedly”? Maybe what someone self-claims is what he
supposes or hopes, without verification. This word has entered English vocabulary.

mare pond, pool, puddle. Cognate with marine. This word has entered English
vocabulary as a term in astronomy, referring to the dark-colored plains on a planet
or the moon, because early astronomers mistook them for seas. This is a false
friend of English mare in the sense of “female horse”.

grisâtre grayish, greyish. Suffix -âtre is like English -ish, said of color. See also
gris (“gray”), jaunâtre (“yellowish”), verdâtre (“greenish”).

soyeux silky. From soie (“silk”). Not to be confused with soja (“soy”) or its plural
sojas. See also soie.

bretelle strap, suspender, brace; ramp, access road (leading to highway etc.).
Possibly cognate with bridle. The second sense may be due to the fact that this
short road resembles a strap.

poteau post (cognate), pole, stake.

comédien actor (particularly in a theater). This is a false friend of English

comedian, since un comédien (or une comédienne, “actress”) does not necessarily
play in a comedy or an amusing show or drama. French humoriste matches English
comedian better. Also note that in common parlance, French acteur differs from
comédien in that it refers to an actor in a movie, not on a theater stage.

cuvette bowl, basin. Cognate with cup, doublet with coupe (“cup”). (In Romance
languages, there were often changes between p, b, and v.) Suffix -ette is diminutive.
This word can also refer to “a small tube-like container ... to hold samples for
spectroscopic measurement” (according to Wikipedia) and has entered English
vocabulary with this sense. See also coupe.

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dévoiler to unveil, to reveal. From dé- (“removing”) + voile (“veil”) + -er. The
root of English reveal also means “veil”.

champignon mushroom; (informal) accelerator pedal (of a car). Cognate with

camp, campus, campaign. A mushroom grows in the field (French champ, “field”).
Not to be confused with champion, champagne (the wine originally from
Champagne, France; the name of the place is traced to the same Latin source
meaning “open level ground”). The sense of “accelerator pedal” is likely due to
resemblance of the standing pedal to a mushroom. (Modern vehicles more often
use hanging pedals instead.) If you prefer a mnemonic, imagine a meal where
champagne and mushrooms are served.

engueuler to scold, to shout at, to tell off. From en- + gueule (“animal’s snout”;
“person’s mouth”) + -er. A word based on gueule and related to the mouth
generally describes something unpleasant or ugly, as scolding or yelling is. See
also gueule, gueuler (“to yell”).

saleté dirt, dirtiness. From sale (“dirty”). See also sale.

teinte tint (cognate), shade. teinter to tint, to color. Also cognate with taint. But
English taint emphasizes contamination instead of the color itself, therefore
equivalent in meaning to French tache (“stain”, “taint”).

pilule pill (cognate). From Latin pilula (“small ball”), from pila (“ball”) + -ula
(diminutive suffix, from which English -ule is derived; capsule literally means
“small box”, nodule “small node”).

racheter to redeem, to buy back. From re- (“back”) + acheter (“to buy”). See also
acheter.

empresser (reflexive) to hurry, to rush, to hasten; (reflexive) (of a crowd) to gather

(around). The root is cognate with press. Think of “pressed for time”. This word
can be considered a false friend of English empress (which would be impératrice
in French). It may be considered cognate with impress but the meanings differ.

chapelet rosary, beads; string, series. Cognate with chapel, cap, related to chapeau.
While chapel in English refers to the part of a church or a standalone place for
worship, its Latin origin refers to “cloak”. Chapelet literally means “little head-

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dress” referring to a crown of flowers, later “series of things” due to the makeup of
the crown. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “A monk counts the rosary
beads in the chapel.”

virage turn (n.), change (n.), bend (n.), curve. Cognate with veer. Not to be
confused with visage (“face”). See also virer (“to change”).

bourreau executioner (person that executes legally condemned persons), hangman.

Origin unknown or controversial. Some dictionaries consider this word related to
bourrer (“to cram”, “to stuff”), therefore related to bureau, without explaining its
sense development. As a mnemonic, imagine there was an executioner’s bureau in
administration. Surname Borrero of Spanish origin is from this word meaning
“executioner”. It may help to remember the phrase bourreau de travail
(“workaholic”), and think of the fact that too exhausting work could kill a man.
See also bourrer.

blottir (reflexive) to snuggle, to huddle, to crouch. Uncertain etymology. Possibly

related to ballot (“bundle”), therefore balle (“ball”). When bending down, the body
looks like a ball. English blot is a false friend. Use a mnemonic such as “The guy
crouched in the corner to plot for something bad.”

écurie stable (for horses). Cognate with squire, esquire, nowadays referring to
some dignitary, was originally a knight’s assistant, holding the horse and shield for
him among other duties. Change é- to s- or es- to see the cognation. See also étable
(“cowshed”).

masser to massage. English massage is from French, which is of Arabic origin.

Not related to mass in any sense, or amass.

broncher to stumble, to trip; to budge, to flinch. Cognate with break according to

one theory. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “He stumbled when his head hit
a low-hanging tree branch.” Unlikely related to English bronchus, bronchial,
bronchitis.

olivier olive tree. Cognate with olive. Now you know the origin of the popular
French given name Olivier or its English variant Oliver. Note olive, the fruit, is
still called olive in French.

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chignon hair bun. Cognate with chain. But the semantic connection between “bun”
and “chain” is obscure; maybe through the chain of bones on the back of the neck
(cervical vertebrae) the word is related to nape, hence the hair combed toward the
back (bun). Alternatively, use “chic knot” as a mnemonic. Or if you know mignon
(“cute”), think of a cute person with a chic (fashionable) hair bun. This word has
entered English vocabulary.

stylo pen (for writing). From English stylograph, which is from stylus (“stick used
for writing”) + -graph. English and French style is from the same Latin source,
which originally referred to the writing instrument, later to “manner of expression
or writing”, and finally to “style”.

slip underwear, underpants, sous-vêtements, culottes. This word is from English

slip in the sense that underpants are easy to put on (slide on). English slip has this
sense as well, especially in the word slip dress. But in French this word only means
“underwear”. While English slip in general implies downward direction or getting
more loose, it is appropriate here to think of the opposite. English slip in the sense
of “to slide accidentally” is glisser in French.

querelle quarrel (cognate). Obviously unrelated to query, which would simply be

question in French.

fourmi ant. Cognate with formic (“about ants”, or name of a chemical acid),
formication (“the feeling that an ant crawls on the skin”). As a mnemonic, imagine
seeing four ants.

chevaucher to ride (horse), to straddle; to span, to overlap. Related to cheval

(“horse”). Interchange between al and au is common. See also cheval.

anéantir to annihilate, to ruin, to destroy. From a- + néant (“nothingness”, “nil”) +

-ir. Annihilate does not appear to be a cognate but nevertheless serves as a good
mnemonic. See also néant.

petit-fils grandson. petite-fille granddaughter. Note that due to the hyphen in the
words, petit-fils does not mean “little son”, and petite-fille does not mean “little
daughter” or “little girl”. See also fils (“son”), fille (“daughter”).

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emplacement location, site. This word has entered English vocabulary. Example,
surveiller l’emplacement physique des voitures (“monitor the physical location of
the cars”).

pèlerin pilgrim (cognate). pèlerinage pilgrimage. From Latin pelegrinus. Latin g

before a few consonants such as r, m, etc., often dropped out in French, as in Latin
legere (“to read”) to French lire, malignum (“evil”) to malin (“clever”), hence gr to
r in pèlerin.

commissariat police station. This word does not mean “military department that
provides food” nor “the government office in the Soviet Union” as in English.

croquer to munch, to crunch, to eat. Probably a variant of craquer (“to crack”), an

onomatopoeia. Imagine the cracking sound when eating crunchy food. Or imagine
a crocodile eating his prey. See also craquement (“crack”).

museau muzzle (cognate), snout; (colloquial) face. Not to be confused with

English museum, which would be musée in French, with a much nobler origin
traced to the Greek goddesses Muses.

osier wicker (as in pannier en osier, “wicker basket”); osier tree, willow. English
osier is from French. If the word doesn’t ring a bell, as a mnemonic, think of a few
roses in a wicker basket. Or “The branches of an osier or willow tree oscillate in
the wind.”

trébucher to stumble, to trip, broncher. According to one theory, the root is

related to bouche (“mouth”). If a person trips and falls, his mouth as well as teeth
may be hurt. Alternatively, just use trip as a mnemonic. Or if you know bûche
(“log of wood”), think of tripping on a log.

mercredi Wednesday. From Latin Mercurii dies (literally “Mercury day”).

tien (preceded by le, la, les accordingly) yours. Related to ton (“your”). Although
English thine (archaic “your”, “yours”) is not cognate, it looks like a useful
mnemonic. Not to be confused with the interjection tiens (“oh”, “well”, “listen”).

flingue (informal or slang) gun, firearm, shooter. Cognate with flint. The derived
verb flinguer means “to gun down”, “to kill” and is often used in various figurative
senses.
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bosse bump, hump. bossu hunchback (adj. and n.). Cognate with boss in the sense
of “lump”, with the root of emboss. Absolutely unrelated to boss in the sense of
“manager”. Suffix -u forms an adjective. The meaning “lump” or “raised hump” of
English boss is largely forgotten but is preserved in emboss.

farcir to stuff, to fill (in preparing food). Cognate with the root of infarction
(“obstruction of blood supply”). See also farce (“farce”; “stuffing”).

aménager to develop, to convert (a room into an office, e.g.), to arrange, to adjust,

to lay out, to set up. From ménager (“household” used as an adjective; “to handle
tactfully”). Think of a- as French à (“to”) so the word would in a way refer to
changing a house to something else. Or use manage as a mnemonic; the meaning
of aménager is not very specific anyway. See also ménager.

ravitaillement supplies, supplying, provisioning, refueling. The root is cognate

with vital, vitality. There are two prefixes, re- (“again”) and a- (“toward”), which
merge into ra-.

chandelle candle (cognate). Chandelle is made out of tallow, which is animal fat,
while bougie is made of wax (cierge). Therefore it’s not surprising that nowadays
the latter has a higher word frequency. Change cha- to ca- to see the cognation.
The related word chandelier has entered English vocabulary, which in French is
lustre, not chandelier. See also bougie, cierge, lustre.

charrier to carry (cognate), to transport; (colloquial) to tease, to kid, to hoax. The

related word chariot has entered English. The colloquial sense probably came from
an old sense of “to swindle”, as in giving metal lead instead of gold as promised
and quickly running away (according to French criminal and criminalist Eugène
Vidocq).

racler to scrape, to scrub, to clear (throat). Cognate with raze, razor, with the root
of erase. Due to the difference in the consonant (cl- vs. z or s), it’s not easy to
utilize the cognation. Use rake as a mnemonic.

salaire salary (cognate), wage. This word is easy but note the position of i in this
and in its derived word, salarié (“salaried”, “having a salary”; more commonly
used as a noun, “waged worker”, “employee”), where -é indicates an origin as a

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past participle like -ed in English. The Latin etymon refers to the money given to
soldiers for salt (sal in Latin, sel in French).

farce farce; stuffing (for meat, chicken, etc.). Note the second meaning, in which
the word is cognate with the root of infarction (“obstruction of blood supply”). See
also farcir (“to stuff”).

cliché stereotype; (photography) negative, snapshot image; cliché, cliche. From

clicher (“to click”), probably ultimately imitative of the clicking sound. When you
take a picture, you click the button and the camera clicks. Having the image of
something in mind forms a stereotype. The word has entered English vocabulary
taking the sense of “overused expression”.

relevé list, summary, (bank etc.) statement; past participle of relever (“to lift”). It’s
not clear how this word has acquired the sense of “list”, “summary”. At least as a
mnemonic, imagine extracting (lifting up) the essential elements (hence summary
or list) from something more complicated. See also relever.

froisser to crumple (paper, fabric, etc.), to crease, to cause wrinkle; to offend

(people). Cognate with frustum (“shape of a cone with top cut off”). Obviously, it’s
better to use a mnemonic. For example, associate froid (“cold”) or low temperature
with wrinkled skin. To remember the sense of “to offend”, think of frustrate.

conséquent consequent; consistent, logical; large, significant, substantial,

important, considerable. Note the second and third meanings. English
consequential has the sense of “significant” as well, but not “consistent” or
“logical”, which may be made easier by thinking of con- (“with”) and sequent
(“following in sequence or logic”) literally.

pic peak; woodpecker; pickaxe. Instead of relying on etymology, all the three
meanings of this word given here can easily rely on the sounds for mnemonics.
Note c has the sound /k/; it’s not silent. Just don’t think of pic as a shorthand for
picture as in informal English.

vaisseau ship, vessel (cognate). Also cognate with vascular.

dégringoler to tumble, to fall down. Related to English cringe, crinkle (“to fold”,
“to crumple”). The word has entered English vocabulary as degringolade (“rapid

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decline; tumble”). Unrelated to gringo (“American”, a pejorative slang used in
Spanish-speaking countries especially in Latin America). If you prefer a mnemonic,
think of an American soldier, a gringo, falling down. If you know the ginkgo tree,
imagine such a tree falling down.

tonton (informal, childish) uncle, oncle. Children tend to repeat a simple syllable
of a noun in their language, and t in the word may be an imitation of that in tante
(“aunt”). This word is often used in creating tongue twisters such as “Si ton tonton
tond ton tonton, ton tonton sera tondu par ton tonton” (“If your uncle shaves your
uncle, your uncle will be shaved by your uncle”).

vestiaire locker room; vestry, vestiary (“dressing room in church”). English

vestiary is from Old French. Cognate with vest.

salé salty; costly. saler to add salt. Cognate with salt if traced to Proto-Indo-
European. Not to be confused with sale (“dirty”), salir (“to make dirty”, “to dirty”;
past participle sali). See also sel (“salt”).

épine thorn, prickle. Cognate with spine. Related to épingle (“pin”). Change é- to
s- to see the cognation. See also épingle.

blindé (vehicle) armored; armored vehicle. Etymologically, this word is probably

unrelated to blind, but happens to be from a Germanic word meaning “to dazzle”,
“to blind”. Imagine the dazzling shiny armor that blinds eyes. Or imagine a good-
quality armor that blunts the tip of a sword.

baver to drool, to slobber. Ultimately an onomatopoeia. So are English babble,

French bavarder (“to chat”). In Romance languages, b-v interchange is common.
See also bavarder.

recoin hidden corner. Prefix re- serves as an intensifier, emphasizing the fact that
the corner is very much out of way. See also coin (“corner”).

saveur flavor, taste, savor (savour) (cognate). This word looks easy but do not
confuse it with sauveur (“savior”), where -au- corresponds to -al- in salvage.

peiner to struggle, to labor, to toil; to cause pain. Cognate with pain. English has
the idiom to take pains to do something. But note English pain is douleur in French,
and French pain is bread in English.
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dortoir dormitory (cognate), dorm. From Latin dormitorium, which lost the
unstressed medial syllable -mi-, and -torium changed to -toir.

astre star. Cognate with astral (“of star”), asterisk, with the root of astrology,
disaster. Astre is any celestial body and is more general than étoile.

autrui (literary) others, other people. From autre (“other”), from Latin alter
(“other”). English altruism is from French altruisme, a term coined by Auguste
Comte in 1830 from autrui.

tourment torment (cognate); torture. This word should not be confused with
English tournament, which would be tournoi in French.

dénouer to unknot, to untie, to untangle, to unravel. From dé- + nouer (“to tie”).
The root is cognate with node, noose. The noun dénouement (“outcome”, “ending”)
has entered English vocabulary as a literary term for “conclusion of a plot”. See
also nouer.

sillon furrow (long narrow trench made by a plow), wake (n.), groove. sillage
wake (track of waves a ship left behind). sillonner to furrow, to cut a groove.
Etymology doesn’t help. Use le sillon est si long (“the furrow is so long” in French)
as a mnemonic and imagine the furrows look long especially when seen from one
end. Example, dans le sillage de (“in the wake of”, à la suite de).

ignoble disgusting, mean, base, despicable. English ignoble is from Middle French
but the meaning is relatively mild, “not noble”, “not honorable”.

mâcher to chew. Cognate with masticate (“to chew”). From Latin masticare,
which lost the unstressed medial syllable -ti-, ca changed to che (as in caballus >
cheval), and as changed to â. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “chew food
into mash”.

grappe bunch, cluster (of grapes, flowers, etc.). Cognate with grape. This French
word itself does not refer to a grape, as English grape does. But a common
dictionary example using this word is une grappe de raisin (“a bunch of grapes”),
which is helpful.

défier to challenge, to defy (cognate); (reflexive, followed by de) to distrust, to

mistrust. From dé- (reverse action) + fier (“to trust”). Note that except for the
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usage se défier de, this word does not mean “to distrust”, which would be better
translated as méfier, although défiance is a noun meaning “mistrust” (not
“defiance”) just like méfiance. Not to be confused with défiler (“to parade”). See
also fier.

serment oath, pledge. Cognate with sacrament (“sacred act or ceremony in

Christianity”), doublet with sacrement. But it may be easier to use the
etymologically unrelated sermon as a mnemonic and think of its religious
connection.

cicatrice scar, cicatrice. This Latin word has entered both English and French. But
in English, it’s a medical term for which non-specialists simply substitute scar,
which you can use as a mnemonic (pretend ci- is English s-). Or think of a lit cigar
that accidentally touches the skin leaving a scar for a few days.

épave wreck (of ship, car, etc.), wreckage. The root is cognate with a rare word
pavid (“fearful”; “timid”). But that hardly helps. As a mnemonic, think of the word
as “off (é-) pavement (-pave)” and imagine the scene of a car wreck. See also
naufrage (“shipwreck”).

noix nut, especially walnut. Cognate with nut if traced to Proto-Indo-European.

Plural is also noix. Unrelated to noir (“black”) but you can use une noix noire (“a
black but”) as a mnmonic. See also noyer (“walnut”; “to drown”).

braise embers (“remaining burning or glowing coal or wood”). This word has
entered English vocabulary meaning “to fry food lightly and then stew it”. Cognate
with Brazil (named after brazilwood tree, whose color resembles that of embers),
braze (“to join metal pieces with heat”). Alternatively, use blaze as a mnemonic.
Or “At Brazilian restaurants such as Fogo de Chão, some cuts of meat are stacked
on metal skewers and roasted above the embers of a charcoal.”

démonstration demonstration, showing (of a product, appliance, etc.), display.

démontrer to show, to demonstrate (cognate), to prove. Note that English
demonstration and demonstrate can also mean “public protest”, which in French
are not these two words, but manifestation and manifester. Do not confuse
démontrer with démonter (“to dismantle”). See also manifester.

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gourmand Food lover; fond of food or of fine eating (adj.). This word has entered
English vocabulary but only as a noun. Related to gourmet, which has also entered
English. Note that some dictionaries equate this word with English greedy, which
is not quite correct due to the pejorative connotation associated with the latter.

tonneau barrel. Cognate with ton, possibly with tunnel and tuna. The metric unit
ton is etymologically derived from the capacity of a large barrel. This word has
entered English vocabulary meaning “the open back seats of an automobile”,
probably due to its resemblance to a barrel.

évier (kitchen) sink, basin. Cognate with aquarium. From Latin aquarium, in
which u changed to v, and q before v was dropped. Unfortunately that etymology is
too convoluted to be helpful. Use a mnemonic such as “Heavy objects sink in
water.” and remember h in French is silent.

formation training, education; formation (cognate). Note that the primary meaning
of this word is “training” or “education”. It makes sense because a person’s skills
and knowledge are formed or built up through education. Compare with English
formative (e.g. the child’s formative years). See also former (“to form”; “to train”).

tapir (reflexive) to crouch, to squat, to cower, to hide. Unhelpful or unconvincing

etymology. As a mnemonic, if you already know tapis (“carpet”, “mat”), which is
cognate with tapestry, think of crouching down on the carpet as if in hiding.

sot fool (n.); foolish, silly. sottise foolishness. Sot has entered English vocabulary
meaning “drunkard”, which is helpful if you associate a drunkard with a person
with a low IQ. If you don’t know its English meaning, use sodden (“soaked”;
“drunk”; “stupid”) or soaked as a mnemonic. Note that French words sot and
sottise only indicate foolishness, not drunkenness.

couchant (of the sun) setting (adj.). From coucher (“to lay down”; “to sleep”),
which is cognate couch. See also coucher.

déverser to pour, to dump. From dé- (“off”) + verser (“to pour”). Not to be
confused with English diverse (divers or diverse in French). See also verser.

remise discount, reduction, rabais, remission (cognate); remittance (cognate),

delivery; conjugated form of remettre (“to put back”, “to reset”). The primary

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meaning is the first one. In the sense of “reduction”, it overlaps with English
remission, which among other things means “reduction in intensity of a disease”.
In French, remise and rabais both mean “discount”, but remise is to promote sales
while rabais is offered due to product defect or late delivery, although non-
specialists may not be aware of this difference. In the sense of “delivery”, you may
see cérémonie de remise des diplômes (“graduation ceremony”), where diplomas
are delivered or handed out.

impérieux compelling, imperative, pressing. You could translate it as imperious,

but this English word is uncommon and readers could mistake it for imperial.
Example, les Français de l’étranger non vaccinés pourront rentrer sans motif
impérieux (“French nationals living abroad who have not been vaccinated will be
able to return without compelling reasons”).

châle shawl (cognate). This is a rare case where the English and the French words
are both from the same Persian etymon. They do sound about the same.

bah well, eh. Onomatopoeia. Note that bah is simply a place holder, signifying
hesitation in speech. Not related to English bah, which some English dictionaries
include as an interjection expressing a negative feeling such as contempt, but often
fail to point out that the word is rather archaic except in the idiom “Bah, humbug”.

verrou bolt (on a door), bar. Etymology doesn’t help. Use fer rouge (“red iron”) as
a mnemonic and think of the door bolt made of red iron. English ferrous (“of iron”)
can be used too. Or if you know ferrule (“metal ring or cap that keeps a handle or
tube from splitting”), imagine a store that sells both ferrules and door bolts. Note
that verrou does not refer to the metal fastener bolt (boulon in French) that fits a
nut (écrou).

trône throne (cognate). Back when throne was in Middle English, it did not have h,
which was later added by the Renaissance scribes. If you pronounce th as t as if h
is ignored, it sounds close to the French word. Obviously the word is unrelated to
drone.

manuel manual; textbook. Note the second meaning, e.g. un manuel scolaire (“a
school textbook”), les manuels du secondaire (“highschool textbooks”).

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couver to hatch, to brood; to smolder. Cognate with cubicle. Their common Latin
origin has the sense of “to lie down”. A hen sits down on eggs. A cubicle is for
people to lie down for a rest, originally. Not related to English cover or French
couvert (“covered”; “cutlery on table”), couverture (“coverage”, “blanket”). But
you can still make a good mnemonic such as “The hen covers the eggs with her
body in hatching.”

frêle (of a person’s health) frail (cognate).

cadet (of a person) younger, (with definite article) youngest; younger (or youngest)
child; cadet. Although English cadet almost exclusively means “military school
student”, the primary meanings of this French word are not that.

chanoine canon (priest, not religious law or rule) (cognate). Latin ca- often
changed to cha- or che- in French. See also canon (“canon”; “cannon”).

déguster to taste, to savor. The root is cognate with the root of disgust, related to
French goût (“taste”), goûter (“to taste”) and to the root of dégoût (“disgust”).
However, the prefix dé- serves as an intensifier here as opposed to that in dégoût
where it means “removing”. If you need a mnemonic to help remember which
means which, consider the vowel sound in -goût, which sounds like that in good,
and the opposite (dé-) of “good” is “bad” or “disgusting”, while u in déguster
sounds totally different (like the beginning of Yiddish). See also goût, goûter,
dégoût.

averse (rain) shower, downpour. From verser (“to pour”). This word is a false
friend of English averse (“having a strong dislike”). See also verser.

crosse butt (of rifle etc.); crosier (hooked staff carried by a bishop as a symbol of
office). Cognate with crutch. Another theory considers it cognate with cross
(therefore doublet with croix, “cross”), and crosse is literally a cross-shaped crutch.
In any case, the modern meaning is not “cross”, and a rifle butt is likened to the
head of a crutch.

pognon (colloquial) money. Think of English slang dough, meaning “money”.

Dough can be held in a fist (poing in French). Related to poignée (“grip”;
“handle”), poing.

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bougre (colloquial, especially used with a negative connotation) guy. Cognate
with Bulgaria. The negative connotation may be related to Bogomilism, a
Christian sect practiced in Bulgaria but considered a heresy in the 10th century.
This word has entered English vocabulary, spelled bugger, used in Britain and
Australia, mainly meaning “foolish or worthless person”, and in the US meaning
“small critter”. Alternatievly, use “a Bulgarian guy” as a mnemonic.

renard fox. Cognate with reynard (“male fox”), Reynard (the sly red fox in
medieval fables), with German or American name Reinhardt or its variants such as
Renardo. The -ard part is cognate with hard, but ren- has lost its cognate in
modern English. Reynard Motorsport used to be the world's largest racing car
maker; its company logo looks like a red fox. Alternatively, as a mnemonic,
imagine the Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo as cunning as a fox.

rouquin redhead (person with red hair); red-headed. From rouge (“red”) or roux.
Suffix -quin is diminutive, as in mannequin, harlequin, but often written as -kin in
English, as in devilkin, napkin, pumpkin.

disponible available. Think of disposable. The -pon(e)- element means “to put” as
that in English postpone (literally “to put behind”).

dépôt warehouse, depot; deposit (for both banking and geological deposit)
(cognate). English depot is from this word. Note the meaning “deposit”, which is
missing in English depot.

amorcer to prime, to start, to boot up (computer); to bait. Originally the word

referred to fish biting the bait and the fisher reeling in the fish. The root is cognate
with mordant (“biting”), related to mordre (“to bite”). Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “put on armor and start to fight”. See also mordre.

cuillère, cuiller spoon. It’s one word with two acceptable spelling forms, the latter
less frequently occurring. Cognate with cochlea (“spiral cavity of the inner ear”)
and with Spanish cuchara (“spoon”), from Latin cochlea (“snail”). It’s said that a
spoon is used to eat a snail. Alternatively, use “kit to eat with” or “kit for eating” as
a mnemonic. Not to be confused with cueillir (“to gather”, “to pluck”).

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prime bonus, free gift, reward, prize; first (adj.), prime (cognate). Note the primary
meaning of this word is “bonus” or “reward” (given for free or earned,
respectively), in spite of the fact that English prime is borrowed from French.

infime tiny, minute (adj.). Cognate with inferior. Instead of using the cognate, it
may be better to use infinitesimal as a mnemonic. Ignore the fact that infinitesimal,
if analyzed, would literally mean “unlimited” because its root means “finite”. Not
to be confused with infirmier (“male nurse”).

allégresse joy, happiness, glee. Cognate with alacrity (“cheerfulness”), with Italian
allegro (“cheerful”, “lively”), as you would see on a music sheet.

romancier novelist. A female novelist is romancière. See also roman (“novel”).

susceptible touchy, sensitive, delicate, easily offended; (followed by de) likely, apt.
Note that this word in the first sense is not quite the same in meaning as English
susceptible. And the second meaning is absent in the English word.

quinzaine about fifteen people, things, or days (i.e. about two weeks). From quinze
(“fifteen”) + -aine (equivalent to -ish, informal English suffix). See also dizaine
(“about ten”).

fringues (informal) clothes. Unknown etymology. As a mnemonic, think of the

fringes of clothes.

pendule pendulum (masc. n.) (cognate); pendulum clock, small clock (fem. n.). To
remember the genders, as a mnemonic, consider the fact that men like the
mechanism of a machine (such as the pendulum) while women like the whole
machine as a usable gadget.

dauphin dolphin; successor, dauphin. English dolphin is from Old French and
dauphin is from Modern French (hence the unchanged spelling). It is justifiable to
give two distinct etymologies to these two words, spelled the same in French. The
latter, meaning “successor”, is from the title assumed by Guigo the Count in 1140
and by the eldest son of King of France in 1343. It’s possible that the adoption of
this title was originally related to the sea animal dolphin, commonly seen in
Southeast France.

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aboyer (dog) to bark; to yell, to scream. aboiement bark (n.). The noun is from the
verb, whose stem, -bo-, is said to be ultimately from an onomatopoeia, which is
supposed to sound like a dog’s bark. So English bark serves as a good mnemonic.
Otherwise, use a mnemonic such as “A boy yells like a dog barks.”

vachement (informal) very, really, damn, bloody (in British English). From vache
(“cow”). It’s said that a cow is, or was, considered a wicked, sly animal, and
vachement meant “wickedly”, but later changed to a general adverb only taking its
emphatic nature, as many swear words have evolved in sense development. See
also vache.

écorce (tree) bark; (fruit) peel. Cognate with cortex (as in “cortex of brain”),
cortical. The root is cognate with the root of excoriate (“to remove the skin”; “to
criticize harshly”). The original Proto-Indo-European word already split into two
words beginning with scort- and cort- within Latin, inherited by French and
English, respectively. It may be better to use excoriate as a memory aid, even
though é- in écorce does not mean “removing” as ex- in excoriate does.

mendiant beggar, mendicant (cognate). mendier to beg. From Latin mendicans,

where the medial -ca- changed to ga, ja, and finally ia in French. Not to be
confused with mentir (“to lie”).

tinter to chime, to tinkle, to ring. Cognate with the medical term tinnitus (“ringing
sensation in ears”). Onomatopoeia in origin. Alternatively, use din (“loud noise”)
as a mnemonic. Not to be confused with teinter (“to tint”, “to color”).

haleter to pant, to gasp. haletant breathless. Cognate with the root of inhale and
exhale. Related to haleine (“breath”). See also haleine.

squelette skeleton (cognate). This is one of the very few French words beginning
with sq-. It is from Latin, in turn from Ancient Greek, which English skeleton
directly derives from.

gibier game (wild animal hunted for food). Cognate with giblets (“edible internal
organs of poultry birds”, a culinary term). The -bier part may be cognate with bait,
bite. A game is for eating. Or a game is captured through a bait. Alternatively, use
a mnemonic such as “Animals have their language except it sounds like gibberish
to humans.”

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verger orchard, fruit garden. Cognate with verdant (“green”), verdure (“green
color of vegetation”). Doublet with vert (“green”). This is a false friend of British
English verger (“church official”). And it’s unrelated to French verge (“rod”) or
English verge (“edge”). See also vert.

liasse bundle (of paper money, etc.). From lier (“to link”). Suffix -asse usually
adds a pejorative connotation (e.g. dégueulasse, “disgusting”), but sometimes it is
neutral. Cognate with ligature. Imagine all paper bills are tied together. See also
lier.

panne breakdown (n.). Cognate with pen (writing tool). Their common Latin
source means “feather”, from which French “sail of boat” is derived. A sail can be
oriented against wind to stop the boat, hence the sense of “breakdown”. Obviously
such long chain of sense development may not be helpful. Use a mnemonic such as
“We hear a loud ‘bang’ and the machine broke down.”

aigre sour; sharp. Cognate with acrid (“sharp”), acrimony (“sharp, bitter hatred”),
acrimonious, acetic, with the root of exacerbate.

senteur scent (cognate). From sentir (“to feel”; “to smell”) + -eur (forming an
abstract noun).

aurore dawn; aurora (cognate). English Aurora Borealis (literally “northern dawn”
in Latin) referring to the polar lights or northern lights was coined by Galileo from
the Roman goddess of the dawn. There’re different conjectures as to why Galileo
chose the word for “dawn”. Maybe the lights make the sky look like dawn, as if
it’s close to sunrise. As far as I know, Galileo in his Discorso delle comete
(“Discourse on the Comets”) directly used the term aurora without explaining his
choice of this word.

entraver to impede, to hamper, to hinder. The root is cognate with trave

(“crossbeam” in architecture; “frame to confine a horse or ox for shoeing”). A
crossbeam is like a bar blocking the road. Unless you know trave, use a mnemonic
such as “Entry Aversed”, “Entrance Diverted”, or “The security guard intervened
in the argument to prevent a fight.” “An introvert manager hesitates and blocks this
decision.”

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naufrage shipwreck. The nau- element of this compound word is cognate with
navy and -frage with fracture. Note that naufrage refers to the ship wrecking event
or process, while another word épave refers to the wreckage or the abandoned and
probably damaged ship or fragment, and is not limited to a ship. See also épave.

rame oar, paddle; subway train; ream (of paper) (cognate). ramer to row (a boat).
In the first sense of rame, the word is cognate with row (“to propel a boat with
oars”) if traced to Proto-Indo-European. Or if you have a friend whose name is
Ramon or Rameau, imagine him paddling a kayak or canoe. In the second sense,
the phrase rame de métro may be more commonly seen than rame alone.
Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “The train runs like a ram.” Or
associate the subway train with the truck model Ram or Dodge Ram.

extase ecstasy (cognate).

frayer to clear (path), to open up; (reflexive) to find (one’s way). This word has
entered English vocabulary as fray meaning “to become worn” as said of the edge
of cloth. The edge unravels just as a path is opened up. Unrelated to effrayer (“to
scare”). Example, se frayer un chemin dans / sur le champ de (“to make /find one’s
way into the field of”).

dé dice (cognate), die (cognate); thimble, dé à coudre (“thimble for sewing”). In

the second sense, the word is cognate with digit (originally “finger”). Not to be
confused with de, where the vowel is pronounced differently.

pourpre crimson. Cognate with purple. In spite of the cognation and the fact that
some French-English dictionaries give the definition of “purple”, this French word
refers to a color more like crimson, magenta or burgundy, which is redder than
purple, which would be violet in French.

mollement softly; feebly, weakly. mollesse softness. See also mollet (“calf of
leg”), mou (“soft”).

brise breeze (cognate); conjugated form of briser (“to break”). This word is easy
but note that multiple conjugated forms of briser happen to be brise. See also
briser.

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gitan gypsy (cognate). Also cognate with Egyptian. Suffix -an indicates people’s
origin, like English -ese. From Spanish gitano (“gypsy”), whose earlier form is
egiptano, where p in -pt- was dropped. Historically, Gypsies were incorrectly
identified as coming from Egypt. Spanish gitano and French gitan lost the initial
vowel (apheresis) of the word for Egypt.

crisser to screech, to squeak, grincer. Etymology is not helpful. Think of it as an

onomatopoeia since the sound is like a screech anyway.

passerelle footbridge, bridge, gangway. From passer (“to pass”) + -elle

(diminutive suffix). The central meaning of this word is “small passageway”.

sous-marin submarine (cognate).

prodiguer to lavish. Cognate with prodigal (“wastefully extravagant”). Not to be

confused with and unrelated to prodigy (which would be prodige in French). As a
mnemonic, imagine a man that was a prodigy, made fortunes in his life, and lived a
lavishing life.

affranchir to release, to set free. English affranchise (“to free from obligation”) is
from this word. The root is cognate with English frank, whose Old French etymon
means “free”. A free man is outspoken, and so frank. English franchise is cognate
but their meanings only overlap on “privilege” or “right”. Alternatively, as a
mnemonic, think of the French people as free people; in world history, they were
indeed early in freeing themselves from monarchy. See also franchir (“to cross”).

trêve truce (cognate). Also cognate with true, i.e. “true or faithful (to the pact)”.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “After the truce was announced, he went
back to his home to retrieve his belongings.” Or if you know the word trivet (“mat
under a hot bowl to protect the dining table”), think of the heat shielding function
of a trivet like that of a mediator in war to negotiate a truce. Or imagine a truce is
trivial (although in reality it rarely was).

guéridon small round table, guéridon, gueridon. Named after a character in a 17th-
century comedy. Use a mnemonic such as “This antique guéridon is Gary’s
donation.” This word has entered English vocabulary, sometimes spelled gueridon.

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dériver to derive; to deviate, to turn away from its proper course, to divert. dérive
drift, diversion; a political trend, tendency or ideological undercurrent that deviates
from the doctrine mandated by the government, a drift. Note the second meaning
of dérive, which is quite common in news and political essays.

écaille scale (flake of skin of fish, reptile, etc.) (cognate); shell. Change é- to s- to
see the cognation. Not to be confused with échelle (“scale”, “proportion”).

fée fairy (cognate). English fairy is from this French word plus suffix -erie, which
later changed. Unrelated to English fee, which would be frais in French. Example,
un conte de fées (“a fairy tale”).

affût gun carriage (mount that supports a gun barrel); hiding place in hunting.
From fût (“barrel”). To remember the second meaning (“hiding place”), as a
mnemonic, think of where the foot stands. A common phrase is à l'affût (“on the
lookout”). See also fût.

garnison garrison. This word is from garnir (“to furnish”; “to decorate”), whose
obsolete meaning is “to protect”. It is not cognate with garrison, which
nevertheless serves as a good mnemonic due to similar pronunciation and spelling.

abruti idiot, fool; foolish. The root is cognate with brute, one basic meaning of
which is “dull or unintelligent like an animal”. See also brut (“gross”, “raw”,
“crude”).

aigle eagle (cognate).

cerise cherry (cognate); cerise color (bright red).

hardi bold, daring, impudent, audacious, courageous. English hardy (“able to

endure harsh conditions”) is from Old French. It’s French that changed the
meaning over the centuries.

épars scattered. Cognate with sparse (“widely scattered”, “not dense”). Change é-
to s- to see the cognation. This word is not etymologically related to éparpiller (“to
scatter”), which nevertheless can serve as a memory aid. See also éparpiller.

cartable school bag, backpack. Cognate with card, chart. Their Latin source
means “paper”. A few centuries ago, such bags were used to carry sheets of paper.

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Suffix -able is from a Latin suffix meaning “instrument” or “place” related to the
root of the word, not etymologically related to English able.

confrère coworker, colleague. From con- (“together”) + frère (“brother”).

reporter to postpone, to push back; (reflexive) to refer, to check; reporter (n.). The
sense of “reporter” is from English. In other senses, the word is a false friend of
English reporter, and may be better understood literally as re- (“back”) + porter
(“to carry”). (And French report, meaning “postponement”, is the noun for the
verb reporter.) While a schedule is said to be pushed back in English, it is “carried”
back in French. English reporter is journaliste in French, and English report is
rapport (n.) or signaler (v.) in French. Note this word, reporter, should not be
confused with rapporter (“to bring back”). There exists a French word rapporteur,
which denotes a person in charge of court or government records, or the angle
measuring tool protractor.

déferler (violence, emotion) to break out, to surge; (wave) to break; to unfurl (flag,
sail, etc.). The root is cognate with furl (“to fold the sail or flag”), and de- means
the same as “un-” here. Note the literal meaning has a lower frequency.

estrade podium, raised platform. Cognate with stratum, stratus, strata. Think of
the flat surface or layer of the podium. This word has entered English vocabulary.

lard bacon. Note that English lard, which derives from Old French meaning
“bacon”, now means “fat from the pig” (which would be saindoux in French).

costaud strong, beefy, tough, sturdy; strong person. From côte (“rib”; “coast”;
“hill”). The word originally may refer to a person with strong ribs; note the ô-os
change. Suffix -aud is either augmentative (“big”) or pejorative. Alternatively, use
a mnemonic such as “The muscular man is cool and stout.” Or think of a muscular
man holding a knife (couteau). See also côte.

affaisser (reflexive) to subside, to go down, to sink, to collapse. The root is

cognate with fascism, faggot, fagot, from a Latin word meaning “bundle of sticks”.
The root of this French word here means “load”. A boat with too much load would
sink. But that etymology hardly helps. Use a mnemonic such as “The buildings
were effaced when the land subsided.” Unrelated to faire which has conjugated
forms fais, faisais, etc.

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rayer to cross out, to wipe off, to mark with stripes. raie line, streak, stripe;
parting of hair; ray (a type of fish, of which stingray and skate are subtypes)
(cognate); conjugated form of rayer (“to cross out”). It’s debatable whether these
two words are cognate with English ray in the sense of “line of light beam” or
related to French rayon (“ray”). But as a mnemonic, think of the straight lines of
light rays; the lines to cross out text are lines, just as light rays look like.

nuire (followed by à) to harm, to injure. Cognate with nuisance, noxious

(“harmful”), with the root of innocuous (“harmless”). Nuisance can be a good
memory aid if you notice many conjugated forms of nuire begin with nuis-. Also
note the third-person singular present form is nuit, not to be confused with nuit
(“night”). Also don’t confuse nuire with nourrir (“to nourish”, “to feed”), which
has almost the opposite meaning. Try to remember nourrir les oiseaux peut nuire à
leur santé (“feeding birds can harm their health”).

masculin male; masculine. Note that this word can mean either “male” or
“masculine” depending on the context. Mâle does exist but it means “male” (adj. or
n.) about a species, often in the context of animals or plants. See also féminin
(“female”; “feminine”).

exploiter to operate; to exploit. exploitation exploitation; operating. The reason

these easy words are listed is this caution: exploiter primarily means “to operate”
and systèmes d’exploitation means “operating systems”, not “systems of
exploitation” (in IT industry, English word exploitation is about hacking). You
may as well also remember French exploit primarily means “achievement” instead
of “exploit” or “exploitation”.

tisser to weave. Cognate with tissue, textile, texture. Latin x changed to ss in

French, as seen in French laisser (from Latin laxare) and of course in English
tissue, which is from Old French.

carabine rifle, carbine. English carbine is from this French word. Not to be
confused with and not related to Caribbean. If needed, think of the high crime rate
in certain Caribbean countries.

dispenser to exempt, to execuse; to dispense. Note the first meaning. Doublet with
dépenser (“to spend”). See also dépenser.

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déceler to detect, to reveal. The root, -cel-, is cognate with the root of conceal, -
ceal, which is remotely related to cell if traced to Proto-Indo-European. Prefix dé-
simply reverses the hiding. This word is a false friend of English decelerate, which
would simply be ralentir (“to slow down”) in French.

rincer to rinse (cognate).

accroître to increase. Cognate with accrue. Example, Poutine pourrait accroître

ses exigences vis- à-vis de Kiev (“Putin could increase his demands on Kiev “). See
also croître (“to grow”).

toc sound of tock; fake thing. The sound is obviously an onomatopoeia, said to
represent the sound of knocking a hollow object, hence the sense of “fake” or “fake
object”, implying deprivation of value.

réprimer to repress (cognate), to suppress. Note that English reprint is réimprimer

in French.

ronronner to purr. Onomatopoeia. Although the sound of a cat’s meow (miauler in

French, “to meow”) is quite unambiguous, a purr of a felid (i.e. cat) or other
animals is so unclear that it sounds like ronron to a French ear.

bise cheek kiss; north wind. In the first meaning, the word is doublet with baiser
(“kiss” as a noun); grosses bises means “lots of love”. In the second meaning, the
origin is unknown. Use a mnemonic such as “a breeze of north wind”. See also
baiser.

assoupir to make sleepy. The root is cognate with sopor (“abnormally deep sleep”).
If you don’t don’t know that medical term, use a mnemonic such as “The soup
makes me sleepy.”

pétrir to knead. Cognate with pestle (“rod used to grind and pound in a mortar”),
piston. What’s common to kneading and pounding is in applying downward
pressure. Change -ét- to -est- to see the cognation. Unrelated to petrol, petroleum.

charnel carnal (cognate), sensual. Change cha- to ca- to see the cognation. Or use
a mnemonic such as “This Chanel dress looks so sensual.”

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brousse bush. Cognate with brush, doublet with brosse (“brush”). The bush is
likened to a brush. The bush denoted by brousse may be more wild than buisson
and is associated with a tropical region as on a savanna; also, buisson is a more
frequent word. See also buisson.

adoucir to soften, to smooth, to alleviate. Related to doux (“sweet”). See also doux.

tilleul lime tree, linden. Cognate with tilia (“linden”), teil (“lime”, “linden”). This
word may occur in English referring to “yellowish green color” (the color of a
lime). Although color teal is “darker green”, you may use that as a mnemonic.

gouttière gutter. From goutte (“drop of liquid”) + -ière (noun suffix).

enfler to inflate (cognate), to swell up, gonfler. See also gonfler.

bosser (informal) to work, to work very hard. Uncertain etymology. Some say it’s
related to bosse (“bump”, “hump”, cognate with the root of emboss); if you work
very hard, you’ll become a hunchback. Definitely not related to English boss.

malice mischief; malice (obsolete). malicieux mischievous; malicious (obsolete).

English malice is from Old French. But Modern French has apparently made light
of the connotation of the word.

émission (TV) program, show; emission. Note the first meaning, which does not
exist in English emission. Think of it as broadcasting, as if the electromagnetic
radio signals are emitted from a TV station.

sur-le-champ immediately, on the spot. The origin of this phrase is not clear;
champ may originally refer to the farmer’s field or a battlefield. In any case,
English on the spot quite naturally matches this phrase almost word for word.

déconner (slang) to talk nonsense, to act like an idiot, to screw up. The etymology
is not as helpful as a mnemonic; imagine the word means the opposite or loss (dé-)
of connaissance (“knowledge”).

clochard tramp, vagrant, beggar, hobo, mendiant. This word may be related to
cloche (“bell”; “clumsy person”) or clocher (“bell tower”). Suffix -ard has a
pejorative connotation, as in drunkard. A person with a bell-shaped body is
probably dull, clumsy (and unhealthy by modern standard). Such can be a

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homeless tramp. Or use a mnemonic such as “The tramp wears a cloak.” This word
has entered English vocabulary but mainly refers to a beggar or tramp in France.

desserrer to loosen. The opposite of serrer (“to tighten”). Note the first vowel is
not é but is pronounced like that. See also serrer.

river to drive a rivet, to rivet. Cognate with rivet. This is a false friend of English
river, which would be rivière or fleuve in French.

mécontent unhappy, discontented. Prefix mé-, as well as més-, is cognate with

mis-. Content is adj. meaning “happy”, “satisfied”.

rade road; harbor, roadstead (water shelter for ships). According to one theory, this
word is cognate with ride, which in English can be used for a vehicle and, less
frequently, a ship. Use a mnemonic such as “Ships moor at the roadstead or harbor
before the coming storm and they communicate with radio.”

pompier firefighter. Cognate with pump. Water pumps are needed in fighting a
fire. Not to be confused with pomp, pompous.

entente understanding; agreement. From French entendre (“to agree” when used
reflexively; “to understand”, an archaic sense). But entente does not carry over all
senses of entendre e.g. “to hear”. This word has entered English vocabulary
meaning “informal alliance between two countries”.

goulot neck (of a bottle). From gueule (“animal’s mouth”, “snout”). Suffix -ot is
diminutive just like -et. The neck of a bottle is likened to a small mouth. Goulot
d’étranglement (literally “neck strangling or throttling”) is bottleneck in the
figurative sense. As a mnemonic, think of gou- as cou (“neck”) and of course -ot is
-et as said. See also gueule.

arête fish bone; mountain ridge. Not to be confused with arrête, a conjugated form
of arrêter (“to stop”). Etymology doesn’t help unless you know the biological term
arista (“bristlelike structure on grains or fish”). As a mnemonic, think of eating
fish and being choked (stopped, arrêté) by a fishbone. Or if you know crête
(“ridge”), use that.

peigne comb (n.). From Latin pecten (“comb”). Cognate with English pecten (“a
genus of scallops or saltwater clams”, which may resemble a comb; comb-like
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structures, a biological term). Use a mnemonic such as “A paintbrush with rough
and sparse hairs is like a comb.” See also peignoir (“light dressing gown”).

ingrat ungrateful (cognate), thankless; unrewarding, fruitless, barren.

réverbère streetlight, streetlamp; conjugated form of réverbérer (“to reverberate”).

The first sense is apparently due to the flickering light of the street lamp.

siffloter to whistle lightly or carelessly. Suffix -ot is diminutive (like -et) and -oter
is its variant for verbs. See also siffler (“to whistle”).

ardoise slate (rock); (colloquial) debt, unpaid bill; chalkboard. The most likely
origin is from the place Ardennes, mostly in southeast Belgium, where slates were
quarried. The meaning of “unpaid bill” comes from the fact that account
information was historically written on a slate. Use a mnemonic such as
“Quarrying slates is an arduous task.” or “work arduously to pay the debt”.

dru thick, dense; vigorous, (rain) hard or heavy or heavily (adj., adv.). Celtic or
Gaulish origin. Use as a mnemonic dur (“hard” in various senses), which is related
to English durable, to the root of endure. Unrelated to English dry; you would
need to think of the opposite if you wanted to associate heavy rain with dry.

peloton small ball; (military) platoon. Cognate with pellet, pill. English platoon is
from French; the soldiers form a group like a small ball. Suffix -on is diminutive.

ahuri amazed, stunned, dumbfounded. Possibly related to English hair. Related to

Huron, the name of the second largest lake between the US and Canada. The name
of the lake is from an outdated French word meaning “bristle-haired”, from which
ahuri is derived; when one is amazed or frightened, his hairs are said to stand up.
Imagine a Frenchman was amazed when he first saw the vastness of Lake Huron.
Alternatively, use huge as a mnemonic.

nuée thick cloud, thunder-cloud; multitude. Suffix -ée is like English -ful, e.g.
brassée (“armful”), implying a lot. See also nuage (“cloud”).

transpirer to sweat, to perspire. English perspire is not a rare word; recall Thomas
Edison’s quote that genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.
Prefixes per- and trans- are semantically equivalent, both meaning “through”; so
perspire is a good mnemonic. English does have the word transpire, which
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nowadays means “to happen” more than “to perspire”. Example, je transpire / je
suis en sueur (“I’m sweating”).

cible target, aim, goal. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “He
practiced swordsmanship by thrusting his sabre to the target.”

îlot islet (cognate), small island. Suffix -ot, like -et, is diminutive. See also île
(“island”).

clôture fence; closing, closure (cognate). English cloture (“a legislative assembly
procedure for ending a debate and taking a vote”) is from this word.

craie chalk. Cognate with crayon. But note English crayon is craie de cire
(literally “chalk of wax”) in French, and French crayon means “pencil”. See also
crayon.

marais swamp, marsh (cognate), marécage (doublet). Not to be confused with

marée (“tide”), where the second syllable vowel is pronounced more closed than
that in marais.

reçu passed (in an exam), admitted, received, past participle of recevoir (“to
receive”); receipt (cognate). -çu is the past participle form of -cevoir in recevoir, as
in the case of déçu (“disappointed”) and décevoir (“to disappoint”). Note that être
reçu à un examen is “to pass an exam”, equivalent to réussir un examen (literally
“to succeed in an exam”), while passer un examen is “to take an exam”. The latter
can be considered a false friend of “to pass an exam”.

remporter to win, to carry away; to carry back. From re- (intensifier prefix) +
emporter (“to take or carry away”). Think of English carry off, which can mean “to
win”. See also emporter.

arborer to raise (flag); to show off, to sport (clothes etc.). Cognate with arbor.
When you raise a flag, it goes straight up like a tree (arbre in French). Hence the
analogy. Showing off fashionable clothes is likened to flying a flag.

jucher to perch. Etymology doesn’t help or is uncertain. As a mnemonic, think of

the word as a shorthand for “jungle chair”. Or imagine a judge sitting in his chair
in the courtroom as if perching up there. Actually, by the way, the technical term
for the judge’s seat is bench.
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hameau hamlet (cognate). English hamlet is from Old French in its diminutive
form with suffix -let. French suffix -eau is diminutive.

préjugé prejudice (cognate), bias. This word is better linked to English prejudge
(“ to judge in advance”). Note that French préjudice, a related word but with less
frequency, means “harm”, “damage”, “injury”, not “prejudice”.

va-et-vient up-and-down, coming-and-going. Note this noun is not vient-et-va. As

is often the case, different cultures could have different orders of things that have
no inherent order.

aïeul ancestor, grand-parent, old man. Cognate with the root of atavism
(“reappearance of biological traits that had disappeared generations before”), uncle,
with the first element of avuncular (“like an uncle”), Spanish abuelo
(“grandfather”). But none of them are really helpful to most learners. Use age or
age-old as a mnemonic. Or use vieux or vieil (“old”). This word is interesting in
that four vowels are together, which is quite rare.

bourdonnement buzz (n.), humming, drone. bourdonner to buzz, to hum. From

French bourdon (“bumblebee”). Use a mnemonic such as “The continuous buzz
sound causes the feeling of boredom.” or “The bulldozer is making a humming
noise.”

souche (tree) stump; (viral) strain, (animal or human) stock, (cell) stem; (ticket)
stub. Although this word may be cognate with English stock, that’s not helpful.
Use a mnemonic such as “A typical Japanese sushi is round, short, wrapped by
black seaweed and looks like a tree stump with black bark.”

chameau camel (cognate). The Latin etymon began with ca-, which changed to
cha- in Modern French but is preserved in English.

tâtonner to feel one’s way, to grope around, to fumble. From tâter (“to feel”) + -
on (diminutive) + -er (to form a verb). Cognate with taste. Change â to as to see
the cognation. See also tâter.

apprivoiser to tame. The root is cognate with the root of deprive (“to take away”).
To tame an animal is to deprive it of the freedom of being wild. Not related to
prévoir (“to foresee”); note the vowel é instead of i. Not related to voir (“to see”).

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colis parcel, package. Cognate with collar. From Italian. Related to cou (“neck”),
collier (“necklace”), col (“collar”). When you carry a heavy package on your
shoulder, the neck feels the big weight. Not to be confused with colline (“hill”).
See also cou, collier.

cafard cockroach; depression, blues. Cognate with kafir or kaffir (“unbeliever,

especially one not believing in Islam”). Suffix -ard implies pejorative (e.g. English
drunkard). Unfortunately, there’s no convincing theory linking the Arabic word for
“unbeliever” to a cockroach; perhaps they are equally unpleasant. The word
doesn’t appear to be related to English chafer (“flying beetle”), which nevertheless
can serve as a mnemonic if you know the word. Alternatively, imagine a café
(either a small restaurant or a coffee shop) with cockroach problems (remember -
ard implies something bad), or imagine a cockroach drinking coffee. The sense of
“depression” (as in the idiom avoir le cafard) came from French poet Charles
Baudelaire’s famous poem Les Fleurs du mal (“The Flowers of Evil”). Note cafard
is more frequent or common than blatte, a more formal name for “cockroach”.

somnoler to doze, to drowse, to slumber. Cognate with the root of insomnia. See
also sommeil (“sleep”).

dédaigner to disdain (cognate), to despise. dédain disdain (n.). Change é to es and

then to is to see the cognation.

miner to mine (coal, etc.) (cognate); to undermine, to sap, to erode. Note the
second meaning. But the figurative sense does not extend to information
technology; data mining in English is l’exploration de données in French.

grenouille frog. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “Frogs are
greenish.”

lande wasteland, heath, moor (n.). Possibly cognate with land.

carriole cart; sleigh. Cognate with chariot.

lieue league (about one hour’s walking distance, two and half to three miles)
(cognate). This unit of distance was used in the ancient times. Unrelated to lieu
(“place”), which is a homophone (pronounced the same); but lieue is feminine (as

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most nouns ending with e are) while lieu is masculine. The word lieue used
figuratively may simply imply “far away”. See also banlieue (“suburb”).

itinéraire route, path, way to reach a place; itinerary. Note the first meaning.

pâleur paleness, pallor. Not to be confused with English parlor (French parloir),
which is related to French parler (“to talk”). A parlor is literally a room where
people talk.

effectif headcount (number of people); staff, work force; effective, actual. Note the
first and second meanings, when it’s used as a noun. Examples, à petit effectif
(“with a small staff / headcount”); sureffectif (“overstaffed”); sous-effectif
(“understaffed”).

noircir to blacken. From noir (“black”). The ending -cir is not a suffix per se, but
is from Latin suffix -sco (or -esco) indicating the starting (inchoative state) of an
action. The ending in French durcir (“to harden”) is the same. For our purpose
though, just think of it as a verb suffix.

marteler to hammer, to strike with a hammer. English martel (“hammer”) is from

Old French.

lugubre gloomy, lugubrious (cognate), dismal. If the word lugubrious sounds too
literary or pedantic, as a mnemonic, think of the sounds gu, glu, gloo, or gru as
implying sullenly unhappy, also in e.g. grumble, grumpy, groan, and of course
gloomy. They may be of imitative origin. Phonosemantics or sound symbolism
may be right on certain words.

râler to moan, to groan, gémir. râle groan (n.). The words have entered English
vocabulary as rales (where a is pronounced like that in palm) as a medical term
referring to the rattling sound heard with a stethoscope, and rail referring to a type
of bird. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think “Dissatisfied people moan and groan,
and rally for a protest.”

écureuil squirrel (cognate). Change é- to s- to see the cognation.

valable valid (cognate), good or acceptable by authority under certain conditions.

French valide is a much less frequent word and almost always can be replaced by
valable. (Valide has another meaning, “able-bodied”, as opposed to invalide.) Not
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to be confused with English valuable, which would be de valeur or précieux in
French.

rappel reminder; vaccination booster. Examples, c’est notre dernier rappel (“this
is our last reminder”); une piqûre / dose de rappel (“a booster shot”). See also
rappeler (“to remind”, “to remember”).

croître to grow. Cognate with crescent, with Italian crescendo (“to increase”),
which has entered English as a musical term (“play gradually more loudly”). From
Latin crescere, where the first e, long and stressed, changed to oi in French as
usual. The moon in the waxing crescent phase is growing in its bright shining side.
Not to be confused with croire (“to believe”); although a number of their
conjugated forms are pronounced the same, those of croître tend to contain letters î
and û instead of i and u when spelled out. As a mnemonic, think of the upward-
pointing circumflex in croître and its conjugated forms as the direction of growth.

déménager to move (change residence). From dé- + ménage (“household”) + -er

(verb suffix). Think of dé- as dis- meaning “to displace”. Examples, déménager au
Texas (“to move to Texas”); où les Français déménagent-ils? (“where do the
French people move to?”; to say “where from”, add de, i.e. d’où). See also ménage.

jument mare, female horse. The ju- part is cognate with join and yoke while -ment
simply forms a noun. The original Latin word referred to an animal (not
necessarily a mare) used to draw a cart or carry load, usually working with another
one joined through a yoke. The meaning narrowed to a mare when the word came
into French. Unless you know another Romance language, use a mnemonic such as
“In the medieval times, a yeoman ploughed the field with a mare”, or La jument
donne naissance à des jumeaux (“The mare gives birth to twins”). See also
jumeau (“twin”).

béant gaping (adj.), yawning. The adjective is apparently from the verb béer (“to
gape”, “to open wide”), which is rarely used. Use a mnemonic such as “He poured
a whole bottle of beer into his gaping mouth.” This word is etymologically
unrelated to bâiller (“to yawn”), which, especially its present participle, bâillant,
can nevertheless be used as a mnemonic if you already know the word.

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suer to sweat (cognate), to perspire, transpirer. This word is obviously related to
sueur (“sweat”, n.). See also sueur, transpirer.

engourdir to numb. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “A bitter

gourd is poisonous. Eating it will numb your body.” Actually, only the first
statement in this mnemonic is scientifically correct; the symptoms of this
poisoning may not include numbness. Example, j’ai le pied engourdi (“my foot is
asleep”, literally “I have the numb foot”).

vautrer (reflexive) to sprawl, to wallow, to roll body on the ground. Cognate with
the root of convolute, revolute, revolve, meaning “to roll”.

encaisser to collect (especially money). From en- (“in”) + caisse (“box”, “case”) +
-er. See also caisse.

blafard pale, livid, pallid, wan, white-faced, pâle. The first element of this
compound, bla-, is cognate with bleak (“pale”; “lacking vegetation”) and possibly
bleach, and if traced to Proto-Indo-European, with blank, which serves as a good
memory aid. The second element -fard entered English but is now archaic meaning
“color”.

épicier grocer. épicerie grocery store. From épice (“spice”) + -ier. Historically, the
word was more about spices than goods in general. The word épicerie has entered
English vocabulary commonly written without the accent mark.

crinière mane. crin horsehair. Possibly related to crest (“plume or hair on top of
an animal’s head”). As a mnemonic, think of cranium or skull on which hair grows,
and mane is a type of hair except on the neck.

grignoter to nibble, to munch. Cognate with grin, related to grogner (“to grunt”).
In all these cases, grignoter or grin or grogner, teeth are involved, and it may not
be simply coincidental that they all start with gr. See also grogner.

jeton counter or token (as in playing a game, or for paying for public telephone,
etc.). From jeter (“to throw”). This word has entered English vocabulary,
sometimes spelled jetton.

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saurer to smoke (food). Cognate with sear (“to scorch”; “to dry”). Alternatively,
use a mnemonic such as “The sorcerer made smoke in his magic.” or think of the
first part of sausage.

grelotter to shiver, to tremble, frissonner, trembler. Etymology doesn’t help. As a

mnemonic, think of “gray lot” or “grim lot” where lot means “fate”. Or use
gallows. Unrelated to grêle (“hail”).

griser to gray out (said of a button in a computer program or on a web page); to

make drunk, to intoxicate. From gris (“gray”) + -er. The second, figurative, sense
may be due to unclear vision of a drunkard.

cachet seal (as of a letter), postmark; official stamp (made with a rubber stamp);
medicine tablet or pill. From cacher (“to hide”) + -et (diminutive, or indicating
completion of an action according to another theory). Literally, the word means “a
little thing for hiding”. When you seal a letter, what’s inside is hidden.

digue dam, dike or dyke (cognate), seawall, barrage.

diffuser to broadcast; to spread, to distribute, to diffuse. Note the first i.e. primary
meaning. In speaking of a film, you may use the words tourner (“to shoot”; in the
pre-digital days, the tape was turned in shooting), monter (“to edit”; French word
montage has entered English), and diffuser.

crépiter to crackle, to rattle. Cognate with crevice (“crack”), with the root of
decrepit (“old and worn out”), decrepitate (“to crack when heated”, said of salt or
crystal). From Latin crepito. Latin p could change to v or remain as p in later
development.

natte mat (cognate); braid, plait. Latin initial m occasionally changed to n, also
seen in Latin mappa > French nappe (“tablecloth”). Hair braid is woven just as a
mat is made in like manner. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “Take a nap on
the mat.” Or liken a mat to a net.

insu ignorance. From in- (“not”) + su (past participle of savoir, “to know”). Idiom
à son insu means “without him knowing”, “without his knowledge”.

usure usury (cognate); wear and tear. Most dictionaries list the two meanings
under two headwords. But they actually share one Latin origin, from which
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English usury and use, respectively, are derived. In the second sense of usure,
“wear and tear”, recall the French word user (“to wear out”). See also user.

frisé curly, curly-haired, twisted. friser to curl; (figuratively) to get near, to verge
on, to almost do. Cognate with frizz (“to form into a mass of tight curls” said of
hairs, “hair in such state”). Unrelated to English freeze. But it can be used to make
a mnemonic such as “Some plants exhibit leaf curling at freezing cold temperature.”

hêtre beech tree. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “Beech trees
are often used to build a hedge. The tallest and longest hedge in the world,
Meikleour Beech Hedge, is in Scotland.” Or imagine a hectare of area full of beech
trees.

génial brilliant, great, fantastic, ingenious, as done by a genius. Cognate with

genius, with the root of ingenious. The word is easy if you associate it with genius.
But English genial (“friendly and cheerful”), while also a cognate, must be
considered a false friend due to its different meaning. See also génie (“genius”;
“genie”).

torchon rag, dish-cloth, tea towel. Cognate with torch, torque. English torch or
French torche is from a Latin word meaning “twist”. In the old times, a torch was
made out of a twisted bundle of hemp or other fibers dipped in wax. A rag or dish-
cloth is twisted to dry washed plates. Think of twisting as the common feature.

horaire schedule. Cognate with hour.

pittoresque picturesque (cognate). This word is easy. Both French and English
words are from Italian, which has a tendency to change Latin ct to tt (as Latin
pictura > Italian pittura).

poignard dagger. Cognate with pugnacious (“aggressive”, “hostile”). From poing

(“fist”). English poignant (“incisive or penetrating”, “evoking strong sensation”)
does not appear to be cognate but can serve as a mnemonic if you think of a
poignant remark as a dagger thrust into somebody’s flesh. See also poing.

tutoyer to address someone with tu, to call someone in familiar or casual language
(socio-linguistically equivalent to calling someone by first name), to be familiar
with or close to. Suffix -oyer is factitive, i.e. the verb thus formed requires an

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object as a complement. The second t in the word is inserted for easier
pronunciation.

houle swell (of water, series of ocean waves), surge, billow. Cognate with hollow.
It’s so called probably because the ocean waves make sound as if from a big
hollow hole.

bride bridle (cognate if traced to Proto-Germanic), strap, restraint; flange (in

mechanics). The second sense may be due to the fact that a flange holds two tubes
in a fixed position as if strapping them together. This word is a big false friend of
English bride (“newly-married woman”), which would be mariée in French.

scie saw (cutting tool). scier to saw, to cut with a saw. Cognate with section, and
with serrated (“saw-like”) if traced to Proto-Indo-European. If you don’t know
serrated and prefer a mnemonic, think of scythe or scissors, which, although not
saws, are nevertheless cutting tools.

saillant salient (cognate), protruding, projecting, jutting-out. This word may be

easy if you can think of salient. Just don’t confuse it with English assailant
(agresseur in French) or sailor (marin in French).

rudement (informal) really, insanely, very; roughly, harshly. Cognate with rude.
Note the additional meaning of this word, “really”. Even in the sense of “roughly”,
“harshly”, this word is not quite the same as English rudely, which may be
impoliment in French. Not to be confused with rudiments (which simply means
“rudiments”). See also rude (“rough”, “harsh”).

fraise strawberry. Etymology doesn’t help. Use a mnemonic such as “fresh

strawberries” or in French “fraises fraîches” (fraîches is the feminine plural of
frais). But don’t confuse it with frais, a form taken by two words, one meaning
“fresh” and the other meaning “fee”. If you happen to know Spanish, fresa
(“strawberry”) is from this French word.

bouc male goat, billy goat; goatee (beard). Cognate with buck if traced to Proto-
Germanic. English buck can refer to a male of various animals, but French bouc
only means “male goat”, or through metonymy, “goatee”. French bouc émissaire,
literally “emissary goat”, means “scapegoat”.

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sûreté safety; security (cognate). Also cognate with sure. The distinction between
safety and security in English does not exactly match the distinction between
sécurité and sûreté in French (or the equivalents in other Romance languages). The
two English words have about the same usage frequency, while French sécurité is
many times more frequent than sûreté. Solely based on their frequencies, you may
tend to choose sécurité over sûreté whenever you’re unsure. But it pays to learn the
nuances between them. Instead of generalizing any rule, the best way to learn the
difference is to find a large number of phrases or sentences in which the two words
occur. See also sécurité.

faisceau bundle; beam, ray. Cognate with fascism, faggot (“bundle of sticks”; “gay
man”). Mussolini founded the Fascist Revolutionary Party in 1915 symbolically
modeling after the ancient Roman fasces, a bundle of rods tied around an axe; one
rod easily breaks while a bundle does not. English pejorative slang faggot referring
to a gay man came from the outdated sense referring to an old woman collecting
sticks for a living, according to one theory.

choir (literary) to fall. Related to chute (“fall”), hence English parachute. This is a
false friend of English choir, which would be chœur or choeur in French. See also
chute.

lucarne dormer window (“vertical window built on a sloping roof”; dormer is

related to dormitory or French dormir, “to sleep”, since that window is supposed to
be for a bedroom), garret window; skylight. Etymologist A. Brachet believes this
word is related to a Latin word from which English lucid (literally or originally
“bright”) is derived, and is related to the name Lucas. As a mnemonic, imagine a
boy named Lucas living in the attic with such a window, or say “Look out of the
dormer window”. This word has entered English vocabulary as a term in
architecture.

confectionner to make (clothes, food, etc.), to create. confection making; ready-

made or ready-to-wear clothing. Cognate with English confect (“to make”),
confection (“food prepared very sweet”). The root, -fec-, is from Latin facere (“to
do”, “to make”). In spite of cognation, French confection should be considered a
false friend of its English counterpart; the only thing common is the action or
process of making or preparation.

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gravure engraving. Cognate with the root of engrave.

peuplier poplar (cognate) tree. This word and its English equivalent poplar are not
related to people, popular or French peuple, peupler, populaire.

branler to shake, to be unstable; (informal) to touch, to do. Cognate with brandish.

See also ébranler (“to shake”).

jaunâtre yellowish. From jaune (“yellow”) + -âtre (-ish, said of color). See also
jaune, verdâtre (“greenish”), grisâtre (“grayish”).

pétard firecracker. Unless you know another Romance language, etymology

doesn’t help. From péter (“to fart”) + -ard (“little thing”). This word has entered
English vocabulary, spelled petard, historically referring to an explosive device to
blow a hole in a door or wall. See also péter.

juron swear word, curse, blasphemy. From jurer (“to swear”) + -on (suffix served
as an intensifier). See also jurer.

gomme rubber, eraser. Cognate with gum (as in chewing gum, gummy bear). Note
that this word refers to the rubber eraser, sometimes at the end of a pencil. The
material rubber is caoutchouc in French. See also caoutchouc.

émaner to come from, to emanate (cognate). While English emanate also means
“to come from”, it’s often used literarily on something abstract. This French word
is less literary and more literal.

verbe speech, speaking, language, words; verb (cognate). To remember the first
meaning, think of English verbal, which obviously is not generally understood as
related to a verb except in the context of language grammar.

répartir to share, to distribute, to divide. Not to be confused with repartir (“to

leave again”, “to restart”), which has a higher usage frequency. Historically, the
sense of “to share” appeared first. When the sense “to leave again” appeared, the
form for “to share” changed its prefix from re- to ré- to avoid confusion. Only as a
mnemonic, think of re- for simple repetition (“again”) and the slightly less simple
ré- for a less intuitive meaning, in this case, “to share”.

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routier truck driver; road (used as adj., as in carte routière “road map”), of road.
Cognate with route. Not to be confused with routeur (“router”, network device).

maintes, maints, mainte, maint (literary or archaic) many. Cognate with many if
traced to Proto-Germanic. The headwords here are ordered by their usage
frequency. They are feminine plural, masculine plural, feminine singular, and
masculine singular forms, respectively. Unrelated to French maintenant (“now”) or
English maintenance.

désinvolture casualness, nonchalance, flippancy, lack of seriousness or respect.

désinvolte casual, off-hand, detached, nonchalant, flippant. Italian origin. The -
volt- part means “turning” (as in English revolt). English flip happens to have two
distinct meanings, “to turn over”, and in British English, “lacking seriousness”.
Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of involve and then negate (dés-) it; not being
involved in something or staying away from it shows lack of seriousness.

âpre rough, harsh, severe. Cognate with asperate (“to make rough”, not aspirate),
asperity (“harshness of tone or manner”), and the root of exasperate (or more
common words exasperated, exasperating). Change â- to as- to see the cognation.
Or as a mnemonic, think of a rough aperture or opening of a tube or on a door or
steel plate. Obviously unrelated to après (“after”).

abeille bee. Cognate with bee if traced to Proto-Indo-European according to one

theory. Cognate with apiculture (“beekeeping”), apiary (“place where bees and
their hives are kept”). Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “a bee”, or associate
a spelling bee with the first two French letters pronounced like A-Be.

faïence earthenware, faience (cognate). The word is from Italian Faenza, the name
of an Italian town, well-known for this tin-glazed faience earthenware. As a
mnemonic, think of such earthenware decorating a fence.

vernis varnish (cognate), polish, veneer (n.). vernir to varnish (cognate), to polish,
to veneer. If you can’t think of varnish, think of veneer, which is not a cognate but
sounds close.

infirme disabled (adj.); disabled person. Cognate with infirmity (“physical or

mental weakness”). Think of en- (in-) as negation and -firm- as firm or “strong”.
Note as a noun, infirme is for both masculine and feminine. Also note that the word

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refers to a disabled or handicapped person, not a patient (“sick person”), which
would simply be patient/patiente in French. Not to be confused with infirmier
(“nurse”), where -ier indicates a job. See also infirmier.

éclabousser to splash. Etymology may not be reliable. The first element écla- may
be onomatopoetic. Or at least as a mnemonic, think of éclater (“to burst”). The
second element -bousser is cognate with English beat if traced to Proto-Germanic.
Or as a mnemonic, think of push, or bousculer (“to push”) if you know it. So you
push (water) to burst. Some etymologists believe the word is from éclat de boue
(“burst of mud”).

épouvante horror, terror, dread. épouvanter to terrify, effrayer. Unhelpful

etymology. Use spooky as a mnemonic, if you remember to change é- to s-
(although not for etymological reason here). Or use spoof (“hoax”) and think of a
Halloween spoofing act.

coulée flow (n.). For example, coulée de boue (“mudflow”, “mudslide”). From
couler (“to flow”), cognate with colander (“a perforated bowl used to strain off
liquid from food”, “strainer”). The word has entered English vocabulary, spelled
coulee, referring to a land form with a valley or drainage zone. See also couler.

approbation approval, approbation. The English word came from Old French. But
this word is used much more frequently in French.

saindoux lard. From sain + doux (“soft”; “sweet”). The first element is actually not
the Modern French sain (“healthy”) but an obsolete word meaning “lard”.
Nevertheless, as a mnemonic, we may imagine that historically people thought lard,
which is soft, was good to health.

propice propitious (cognate), favorable, with a good chance of success.

astiquer to polish, to rub. Possibly cognate with stick. According to one theory,
cobblers used a stick or stick-like object such as a horsebone to polish shoes.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “polishing for aesthetic effect”, or “Aztec
Polishing, a car body shop, specializes in polishing the car body.”

miche round loaf (of bread); (used in plural, miches, informal) buttock. Cognate
with mica (a type of minerals that easily break into thin slices). Related to miette

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(“bread crumb”). Or use a mnemonic such as “This bread is so good. It won a
Michelin prize.” See also miette.

tricher to cheat (in a test or in playing a game). Cognate with trick.

bouillie porridge. bouillon broth. From bouillir (“to boil”). Bouillon has entered
English vocabulary. See also bouillir.

récompense reward; recompense. English recompense is a compensation for harm

done or for loss. This French word refers to “reward” in general, where nothing sad
happened. Example, deux fois récompensé par le prix Pulitzer (“awarded the
Pulitzer Prize twice”).

dégât damage (n.). Cognate with devastate. Consonant v changed to g. The root -
gât is related to gâter (“to spoil”), cognate with waste. Change the diacritically
marked â to as to see its origin. Alternatively, use decay as a mnemonic. See also
gâter.

verdâtre greenish. Suffix -âtre is like -ish in English. See also vert (“green”),
jaunâtre (“yellowish”).

cime summit, peak, top. Cognate with cyma and sima, two architectural terms. But
unless you know another Romance language, it’s better to simply use summit as a
mnemonic. Or think of the word as a shorthand for climax.

maladresse clumsiness, awkwardness. From mal- (“bad”) + adresse (“adroitness”),

or from maladroit. This word cannot possibly mean “bad address”. See also
adresse (“address”; “adroitness”).

noyau core, kernel, stone (of a fruit). Cognate with nucleus, with nut if traced to
Proto-Indo-European. Related to noyer (“walnut”) but not noyer (“to drown”). See
also noix (“nut”), noyer.

affamé hungry, starved, famished. The root is cognate with famine. See also faim
(“hunger”).

loque (used in plural) rags, chiffons; (figuratively) broken pieces. Cognate with
lock as in “lock of hair”. A lock or tuft of hair may hang down, like the frayed edge
of a rag.

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brouhaha uproar, stir (n.), hubbub, brouhaha. This word has entered English
vocabulary, but is much less used than in French. It may be from a Hebrew word
meaning “welcome” but altered as if it was an onomatopoeia. Imagine the scene of
a crowd making that noise.

écœurer, écoeurer to disgust, to nauseate, to annoy. From é- (“away”) + cœur

(“heart”) + -er (to form a verb). Something is disgusting and you or your mind
wants to be away from it. See also cœur (“heart”).

tortiller to twist, to twirl. Cognate with torque, with the root of contort, distort.
Spanish tortilla, which has entered English, may or may not be cognate; it may be
from Latin meaning “twisted bread”, or from Nahuatl (a native American language)
meaning “cake”.

fredonner to hum, chantonner. Uncertain or unhelpful etymology. Use a

mnemonic such as “Fred always hums the same annoying song; he’s a frequent
doer.” Or imagine the word as short for “free tone” (warning: no such phrase in
English) and a person humming a song out of tune.

assise (geology) bedrock; foundation, base. From asseoir (“to sit”). See also
asseoir.

égorger to cut throat, to kill. From é- (“off”) + gorge (“throat”) + -er (verb suffix).

maille stitch, mesh. Cognate with macula (“mesh-like structure inside the eye”),
mail in the sense of “armor”. The medieval armor or mail consisted of metal rings
linked together like a mesh. From Latin macula, which, as usual, lost the second
last unstressed vowel to become mac’la where c became i (possibly through g and
j).

écarlate scarlet (cognate). Change é- to s- to see the cognation. English scarlet

actually is from Old French, which is from Latin, ultimately from Persian.

argile clay. Cognate with argil (“potter’s clay”), argillite (“clay sedimentary”),
argillaceous (“about clay”). If traced to Proto-Indo-European, this word is related
to the Ancient Greek word meaning “shiny”, from which chemical element silver
takes its symbol Ag, related to the name of the country Argentina. Imagine that the
whitish color of gray was due to silver (although that’s not true). Alternatively, use

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a mnemonic such as “a clay sculpture of an angel”, or associate the quick and
nimble action meant by agile with the easy molding of clay in making a sculpture.

mât mast (post supporting sail etc.). Cognate with mast if traced to Proto-
Germanic. Change â, which has a diacritic mark, to as to see the cognation. With
this rule in mind, you won’t confuse this word with English mat (which would be
tapis, paillasson, or natte in French) or French mat (“matte”).

inlassablement tirelessly, untiringly. From in- (“un”) + lasser (“to tire”) + -able +
-ment (“-ly”). The root is cognate with lassitude (“lack of energy”). If the word
untirably existed in English, it would be a perfect match. See also lasser.

bâtisse building, construction. This word is less used than bâtiment, and it has two
connotations not necessarily combined or related: it refers to an old, possibly
unsightly house in a pejorative sense; it can also refer to a big house, for which
édifice may be a better word. See also bâtiment (“house”), bâtir (“to build”).

puéril childish, childlike, puerile (cognate).

entrevue meeting. From entrevoir (“to see briefly”). This word can mean
“interview (by a journalist)” especially in Quebec French. See also entrevoir.

librairie bookstore, bookshop. This word is one of the best known false friends. It
does not mean “library”, which would be bibliothèque in French. One hint that
may help remember the difference is that librairie is from Latin libraria, from
liber (“book”) + -aria. The suffix -aria is -ería in Spanish and the Spanish-
influenced words such as cafeteria, washateria, are easily understood to be a store
or shop due to the ending. Thus, in French, it’s librairie, not bibliothèque, that will
be understood as a store. Alternatively, just as a mnemonic, think of -thèque as
“high-tech”. A modern library has sophisticated high-tech equipment while a
bookstore does not. See also bibliothèque.

peinard (informal) carefree, comfortable, easy, laid-back, tranquil. Related to or

derived from peine (“hardly”) plus the diminutive suffix -ard. Think of “hardly
anything to do”. If you thought of peine as “pain” instead of “hardly” (as in à
peine), the meaning would be the opposite.

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perruque wig. Possibly cognate with pilus (“hair or hair-like structure”, a
biological term), but Oxford English Dictionary disagrees. This word has entered
English vocabulary alternatively spelled peruke. English wig is short for periwig,
an alteration of perruque, in which u sounds like wi (so wig matches -uque).
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “I bought this wig when I travelled to Peru.”

bouffe (slang) food, grub, eating. From bouffer (“to eat”). See also bouffer.

fouler to walk on, to tread, to tramp, to trample down, to crush; (reflexive) to

sprain (ankle). foulée stride of horse; feminine singular of the past participle of
fouler. Etymology doesn’t help. As a mnemonic, think of a crowd (foule in French)
and a stampede in which some people are trampled and crushed. Or use foot and
leg as a mnemonic. The noun foulée is often used in the phrase dans la foulée de
(“in the wake of”, “immediately afterward”, “while you’re at it”).

faille flaw; third-person singular present subjunctive of falloir (“to have to”, “to
need”); third-person singular present subjunctive of faillir (“to almost do”; “to
fail”). This word as a noun is from verb faillir. Example, une faille juridique (“a
legal loophole”).

dû what is owed (n.); past participle of devoir. Cognate with due. The word is
commonly seen in avoir dû + infinitive verb, which takes one of the two meanings,
assumption of a past action vs. obligation. While the context will make it clear, the
meaning of “must have done” occurs more frequently. Examples, il a dû partir en
voyage (“he must have gone on a trip” / “he had to go on a trip”); dû à (“due to”;
but this usage is frowned upon by l’Académie française as anglicism).

brèche gap, break (n.), breach. Cognate with break, breach if traced to Proto-Indo-
European.

manoir manor (cognate).

cartouche cartridge. English cartridge is from this French word. Completely

unrelated to car or touche (“touch”).

suédois Swedish. Suède Sweden. Note the different diacritic marks on these two
words. If e in the two English words were pronounced /e/, it would be much easier
to remember these two French words. Or imagine Swedish people sweat a lot.

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jacter to chat, bavarder. Etymology doesn’t help. Simply use chat as a mnemonic.
A less frequent English word yak (“to talk incessantly”) works, too.

menthe mint (cognate). Peppermint and mint contain menthol, which is a cognate.

invraisemblable improbable, implausible, unlikely. From in- + vrai (“true”, “real”)

+ semblable (“similar”). See also semblable.

raisin grape. While English raisin is from Old French raisin (“grape”), it now
means “dried grape” (raisin sec in French), not “grape”. Consider it a false friend.

humer to smell, to inhale. An onomatopoeia. It becomes more obvious if you strip

the -er suffix.

arpenter to survey (land), to pace or measure (distance). From arpent, a historical

French (as well as Québécois and Louisianian) unit of measurement. As a
mnemonic, imagine a carpenter doing measurement. If you know Apennine
Mountains, think of surveying this mountain range that stretches along the length
of peninsular Italy.

palme palm tree leaf; swim fin, flipper (for swimming or diving). Note that
English palm, a cognate, combines two meanings in one word: “palm tree or leaf”,
which is palme in French, and “palm of hand”, which is paume in French. To help
remember the difference, as a mnemonic, think of l in palme as the tree trunk while
u in paume indicates that the palm is spread out. The meaning “swim fin” is due to
a swim fin’s resemblance to a palm leaf. See also paume.

addition addition; check, bill (as in a restaurant). Note the second meaning, as in
l’addition s’il vous plaît! (“the check please!”). The bill adds up the items (here,
the dishes you ordered).

rosée dew. As a mnemonic, think of dews on a rose. See also arroser (“to water”,
“to sprinkle”, “to spray”.

louper (colloquial) to miss (train etc.), to botch (work), to fail (exam), rater.
Unhelpful etymology (loup has an archaic meaning, “default”, “flaw”). It’s not
related to loup in the sense of “wolf”. To remember the sense “to botch”, think of a
loop, the shape of 0, and the 0 mark the teacher gives to a student who fails a test.

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Or to remember “to miss”, “A tree branch is missing because it was cut off by a
lopper.” Note this word is informal, unlike rater or manquer (“to miss”).

brut gross (income, weight), raw (material), crude (oil). Cognate with brute, brutal.

latte lath (cognate), slat (narrow strip of wood under roof or tiles); ruler
(measuring device) (used in Belgium), règle. Also cognate with lattice. Not to be
confused with latte in Italian which has entered English as well as French meaning
“milk”, as in café latte.

entonnoir funnel. entonner to funnel; to strike up, to start singing a song or

playing music. In the sense of “funnel” or “to funnel”, -tonne- is from tonneau
(“barrel”). In the sense of “to strike up” of entonner, the word is cognate with
intone, intonate (“to say with little rise and fall of the pitch of the voice”). See also
tonneau.

étable cowshed, stable (for cattle) (cognate). Change é to s to see the cognation.
Note that English stable is mostly for horses, and stable in the sense of “firm”
(opposite of unstable) is still stable in French. These words are all related to each
other since they derive from the same Latin word meaning “to stand”. See also
écurie (“stable for horses”).

punition punishment. Cognate with punitive (“punishing”, adj.).

douane customs (authority controlling imported goods), customs office. douanier

customs officer. In spite of the Arabic origin, these words are cognate with divan
(“long low sofa”; “a legislative body, council chamber, or court of justice in the
Middle East”). Think of the customs office equipped with such furniture.

retrousser to pull up (trousers, sleeves, etc.), to roll up, to raise. The root is
cognate with torque, torture, torch (with metathesis i.e. sounds changing positions,
or to ro in this case) meaning “turning”, “rolling”. Alternatively, as a mnemonic,
think of -trousser as trousers.

hargneux aggressive, surly, bad-tempered. Cognate with harm if traced to Proto-

Germanic. When the word was inherited by Old French from Frankish, the second
syllable consonant changed from m to gn.

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embrouiller to confuse, to entangle. From en- + brouiller (“to blur”, “to mix up”).
See also brouiller.

restituer to restore (to previous condition), to restitute (cognate); to return, to give

back, to pay back.

collant panty hose, tights, leotard; present participle of coller (“to glue”, “to stick”),
sticky, skintight. Cognate with colloid. See also coller.

marronnier chestnut tree. From marron (“chestnut”) + -ier (suffix for the tree of
the fruit). English maroon (“dark red”) is from French marron.

daigner to condescend, to deign (“to do something considered below one’s

dignity”) (cognate). Also cognate with dignity, with the root of disdain.

cingler to whip, to lash, to beat with a strap, fouetter; to sail. cinglé (informal)
crazy. In the first sense of cingler, it’s cognate with cingle (“girdle”, “belt”), cinch
(“saddle girth”). In the second sense, it’s cognate with sail if traced to Proto-
Germanic, but probably influenced by the first sense (wind beats the sail). The
meaning “crazy” of cinglé is from an old idiom which literally means “to beat the
nose” but figuratively “to get drunk”. As a mnemonic, consider the fact that
unmarried or single people are, statistically, more likely to develop dementia
(become crazy) in later life.

advenir (literary) to happen, to befall. Cognate with advent, adventure. Example,

Facebook n’a aucune idée de ce qu’il advient des données des utilisateurs
(“Facebook has no idea what happens to user data”). See also avenir (“future”).

défoncer to smash, to break, to tear up. The prefix dé- means “apart”. The root is
cognate with foundation, with the root of profound, meaning “bottom”. Imagine
you hit something to its bottom. See also foncer (“to rush”; “to darken”).

atterrir (airplane) to land, to touch down. The root is terre (“land”, “earth”),
cognate with territory.

joncher to scatter, to strew, to sprinkle, to litter. Probably cognate with junk.

Imagine a scene of junk littered around.

flasque flabby, flaccid (cognate), not firm.

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essoufflé out of breath, breathless. essouffler (reflexive) to become breathless.
From e- (ex-, “out”) + souffler (“to breathe”). See also souffler.

crèche day nursery, day-care center; nativity scene (of birth of Jesus Christ in a
manger). Cognate with crib if traced to Proto-Germanic (where the second syllable
starts with bj, from which English took b, and j is not too far from French ch). This
word has entered English vocabulary. Alternatively use a mnemonic such as “The
teacher caresses the crying child in a daycare center.” Or imagine a reckless driver
crashing his car into a day-care building.

gaver to force-feed, to stuff, to cram. Doublet with joue (“cheek”); the original
Latin word begins with g which later softened to j. Possibly related to jabot
(“ornamental frill or ruffle on the front of a shirt or blouse”). A jabot is like a
baby’s bib, which is soiled when force-fed. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as
“The bad babysitter still gave the baby food even though he can’t take any more.”
See also joue.

indice sign, mark, clue, indication (cognate); index (for price, cost-of-living, etc.).
Note the primary meaning of this word is not “index”. The index at the end of a
book or index finger still uses index in French. See also index.

piquet picket (all senses). English picket is from this French word.

valse waltz (cognate).

colle glue (n.), adhésif. Cognate with colloid. Not to be confused with the
homophone col (“collar”, a masculine word). See also coller (“to glue”, “to stick”).

oie goose. Related to oiseau (“bird”). As a mnemonic, imagine the sound of a

goose honk is like /wa/. See also oiseau.

trombe waterspout, sea tornado or whirlwind. Cognate with trumpet. Doublet with
trompe (“trumpet”). A waterspout resembles a trumpet. Not to be confused with
tomber (“to fall”).

dévouement devotion (cognate). dévouer to sacrifice; (reflexively) to devote.

Although the verb dévouer exists, it has a much lower frequency than consacrer
(“to consecrate”, “to devote”). Not to be confused with dévorer (“to devour”).
Religious devotion is dévotion. See also dévotion, vouer (“to vow”).
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osseux bony, osseous (cognate). From os (“bone”) + -eux. See also os.

mercerie haberdashery (small articles for sewing, or a shop selling these items).
From mercier, which is cognate with English mercer (“merchant selling fabrics
and textiles”), ultimately related to merchant, merchandise through a Latin word.

halles (plural) covered market. Cognate with hall if traced to Proto-Germanic.

Note a hall is commonly called salle or hall in French, the latter actually from
English.

fléchir to bend; to persuade, to weaken, to provoke pity. Cognate with flex (“to
bend”). Unrelated to flèche (“arrow”).

sang-froid calmness, cool-headedness, composure. Note that this compound word

is not the same as English cold-blooded; it does not have the connotation of being
ruthless, for which glaçant (“chilling”) may be a good translation (although
American author Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood: A True Account of a
Multiple Murder ... is still translated as De sang-froid ...).

moule mold (in art or manufacturing or typography) (cognate), mould; mussel

(cognate). mouler to mold, to cast, to model. English mold in the sense of “fungus”
is a different word in French, moisissure.

brocanteur junk or second-hand goods dealer. Possibly cognate with broker.

fusée rocket. English fuse is from an Italian word but was influenced by this
French word. They are related because of the cylindrical shape. Alternatively,
imagine that a rocket is started by ignition of a fuse (or fuze).

canot small boat, dinghy. Partly cognate with canoe.

trinquer to clink glasses (with wine), to toast. Cognate with drink if traced to
Proto-Germanic.

crapaud toad. Possibly related to crampon (“clamp”, “cleat”), cramponner (“to

attach”, “to clamp”), plus suffix -aud. A toad’s hooked feet look like clamps.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “A toad creeps.” Or think of a toad as
unpleasant or as crap. See also cramponner.

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motte mound (of earth), clod, lump. Possibly related to English mud. Not to be
confused with English motto (which would be devise in French).

têtu stubborn, headstrong. Related to tête (“head”). This word, with Old French
suffix -u, looks like corresponding to English heady (“intoxicating”), but their
meanings differ. See also tête.

éplucher to peel (cognate), peler. With prefix é- (“off”) removed, the root is
cognate with the second part of capillary, -pilla- (“hair”). So literally the word
means “to remove hairs”, which is also the origin of English peel. Alternatively, as
a mnemonic, think of é- (“removing”) plumage (“feathers”).

orteil toe, doigt de pied. Cognate with article. But this etymology is not very
helpful because their Latin origin articulus has the meanings of “joint on human
body”, “limb or finger”, which are not passed into English article. But English
articulate and articulation do have a sense related to joint connection. Use “hurt,
toe” as a mnemonic as if someone cries “It hurts! My toe!”

châtiment punishment, punition. Cognate with chastise (“to punish”, “to scold”).
Change â to as to see the cognation.

pouffer to burst out (with laughter), to snigger. From the sound pouf (or in English
poof), which mimics the sound of sudden breakout of sound.

accoutumer to accustom (cognate), to get used to. See also coutume (“custom”).

netteté clearness, cleanliness, neatness. From net (“clear”, “clean”) + -eté (like
English -ity). See also net.

par-ci here, Used in par-ci, par-là (“here and there”).

relent lingering (bad) smell. Cognate with redolent (“reminiscent of”, literally or
originally “fragrant”), which lost o and then d. Some sources analyze this word as
re- + lent (“slow”), which appears to contribute the sense of “lingering”. In this
analysis, English relent (“stop”) or the more frequent word relentless (“non-stop”,
“persistent”) is cognate and helps remember the lingering of a smell.

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formel (said of a statement, denial, etc., or the action of issuing it) adamant,
positive, strict, categorical; formal. Note the first meaning, which does not exist in
English formal, which is more frequently translated as officiel in French.

brasserie brewery. Etymology does not help. Use a mnemonic such as “This
brewery uses brew kettles made of brass.” This word may be part of the name of a
French style restaurant in the US. Unrelated to French bras (“arm”), or English
brass. Not to be confused with brassière (“bra”).

guirlande garland (cognate), wreath.

flâner to wander, to stroll, to loiter. Cognate with flat if traced to Proto-Indo-

European. A flat field is easy to wander around. Or use a mnemonic such as “He
wanders around the word wearing his flannel jacket.” (Flannel is a soft-woven
fabric). English flaneur (“one who wanders aimlessly”) is from this word.

inconvénient drawback, disadvantage, inconvenience. Note this is a masculine

noun, not an adjective. English adjective inconvenient is incommode in French, i.e.
the opposite of commode (“convenient”), or inopportun.

trapu having a short and heavy build, thickset, squat, stout, stocky. Of the several
theories, etymologist Edward Pick’s link of this word to German tapfer (“brave”;
“stout”) is good. Thus, English dapper (“neat and trim”, said of a man) is cognate
when traced to Proto-Germanic. But that doesn’t mean this cognation is helpful to
us, especially when we consider that a handsome man may be too tall to be called
stout in modern culture. Use a mnemonic such as “People in the tropical areas are
short and stout.”

coulisse (plural) theater stage curtains; background; slide, groove. From couler
(“to flow”, “to run”). The stage curtains run or slide in the groove. See also couler.

solde (finance) balance; sale, selling at a lowered price. Cognate with solid, soldier.
Coins are solid, and soldiers are paid. These concepts are all connected. Example,
les soldes d’été ont commencé (“summer sales have started”).

crêpe (masc. n.) crepe (soft thin light fabric); (fem. n.) thin pancake, crepe.
Cognate with crisp. Both senses of this word have entered English.

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pardessus overcoat. Not to be confused with par-dessus (“over the top of”; “best
of all”).

doter to endow, to equip, to provide. Cognate with dowry, with the root of endow.
Unrelated to English dote (“to be excessively fond of”), dotard (“old and stupid
person”).

barbouiller to daub, to smear, to stain, to scribble. The origin of the first element
bar- may be onomatopoeia mimicking unclear sound (as bar- in barbarian). The
second element may be related to bouillir (“to boil”) or bouillon (“broth”), cognate
with boil. Imagine an uneducated barbarian splashing ink or water. Or simply use
barbarian as a mnemonic.

cheminer to walk, to plod, to keep walking. From chemin (“road”) + -er. See also
chemin.

poisseux sticky, tacky. Cognate with pitch (“sticky stuff from crude oil
refinement”). Latin i changed to e, ei, and then oi. Unrelated to French poisson
(“fish”), poison (“poison”). But you can use a mnemonic such as “The sticky stuff
is poisonous.”

foudroyer (lightning) to strike, to blast. foudroyant striking, crushing, devastating,

deadly. From foudre (“lightning”) + -oyer (verb suffix). As a mnemonic, think of
fou (“crazy”) plus destroy. See also foudre.

conter to tell, to recount (a story etc.). Think of the root of account (in the sense of
“statement”), recount.

récolte harvest. From Italian but further traced to a Latin word from which
recueillir (“to collect”, “to gather”) is derived. Cognate with recollect. Prefix ré-
may be an intensifier instead of meaning “again” as in English recollect. See also
recueillir.

harde herd (cognate if traced to Proto-Germanic). This word may be considered a

false friend of English hard.

farder to make up or paint (face); to disguise. fard makeup (n.). Germanic origin.
Use a mnemonic such as “Faded color disguises true appearance.”

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bassine big bowl, pan. Cognate with basin. As a feminine noun, une bassine
originally meant un petit bassin, and of course they now refer to different things
(“small pond”; “pelvic cavity”). See also bassin (“pond”; “pelvis”).

patauger to wade, to walk in shallow water, to paddle. From patte (“animal paw or
leg”). Or use paddle as a mnemonic. See also patte.

aisselle armpit. From Latin axilla (“armpit”), which has entered English as a
medical term. Cognate with axis, axle. Related to aile (“wing”) through a related
Latin etymon. Imagine two arms as wings, or consider that the armpit is near the
shoulder joint which is like an axle. See also aile.

châsse reliquary (container for holy relics), shrine. English chassis (frame, as
under the car) is from French and is related to this word. This word is cognate with
chase and related to chasser (“to hunt”, “to chase”). The circumflex is added solely
to differentiate this word from chasse (“hunt”). It may be easier to use chassis as a
memory aid by thinking of the frame on which a shrine is made.

pancarte sign, placard (as one carried in a protest). The root is obviously carte
(“card”). Prefix pan- is supposed to mean “all” (as in Pan-America). The word is
from a Latin word meaning “a card or document with general confirmation of the
rights and possessions of the recipient”.

milicien militiaman (cognate). Suffix -ien, like English -ian, denotes a person, as
in parisien (“Parisian”).

paumer to lose. paumé lost (literally or figuratively); (place) in the middle of

nowhere. From French paume (“palm of hand”), and cognate with English palm
(of hand). These words are very colloquial. Regarding the sense of “to lose” or
“lost”, one theory (Lazare Sainéan, L’argot Ancien) maintains that the palm
symbolizes seizing or capturing, but spoken in antiphrasis or ironically, it means
the opposite, losing. See also paume.

trousse kit (package containing tools). Cognate with torque, torture, torch (with
metathesis). Related to retrousser (“to roll up”, “to pull up”), trousseau, which has
entered English referring to a bride’s outfit and may serve as a good memory aid.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “The workman carries the tool kit in a
pocket on his trousers.”

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escale port of call (a port being visited by a ship), stopover (of a ship or airplane).
Cognate with scale (number used in measurement or grading), which originally
meant “ladder”. Doublet with échelle (“scale”). The sense development may be
that when a ship arrives at a port, the crew climb down the ladder. See also échelle.

alimenter to feed. French aliment (“food”) has entered English vocabulary

meaning “nourishment” and a more common word alimentary (“nourishing”) has
developed from it.

restant remaining (adj.); remainder (n.). Cognate with rest (what remains).

bafouiller to talk nonsense; to stammer, to babble. Uncertain etymology. Use a

mnemonic such as “The funny buffoon is talking nonsense.” This word is unrelated
to fouiller (“to search”).

flocon (snow) flake; flock (of wool). Cognate with flock (as in “a flock of wool”,
not in the more common sense as in “a flock of birds”), floccus (a type of cloud or
tuft of wool), floc (fluffy particle suspended in a liquid).

godasse (colloquial) shoe, chaussure, soulier. Named after Alexis Godillot (1816-
1893), who made military footwear. Suffix -asse usually adds a pejorative
connotation (e.g. dégueulasse, “disgusting”), but sometimes it is neutral. As a
mnemonic, imagine an ass (donkey) sent by God that serves the same function as a
shoe which helps you go to places.

écarquiller to widen, to open wide. Possibly related to écarter (“to separate”, “to
spread”). The word has a rare alternative metathetic form, équartiller, which shows
the root quart (“quarter”). Imagine opening eyes to square shape. Example,
écarquiller les yeux (“to open eyes wide”). See also écarter.

duvet down (soft, fluffy feathers) (cognate if traced beyond Old French); sleeping
bag, sac de couchage; duvet (quilt or quilt cover). English duvet is from this
French word, whose meaning obviously is not limited to “duvet”.

corbeau raven; crow. From Latin corvus (note the v-b change, which is common),
which has entered English vocabulary. The word ultimately comes from the harsh
sound of a crow or raven’s caw or calling. The genus of corvus includes various
species named with words crow, raven and a few others.

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broyer to crush, to grind. Cognate with break if traced to Proto-Germanic. The
second syllable consonant probably went through k, g, j, i, y. Alternatively, use a
mnemonic such as “Grind the coffee beans and brew coffee.”

estomper to blur. Cognate with stump through its Germanic origin. A stump, as of
a tree, is blunt, not sharp, likened to being blurry. This word is probably not
cognate with English stomp (“to trample”).

procédé process (cognate); past participle of procéder (“to proceed”). This word is
most often a noun, in spite of its -é ending. Not to be confused with procès (“trial”,
“lawsuit”). See also procès.

aquarelle watercolor. Italian origin. Cognate with aqueous (“of water”), aquarium.
Suffix -elle is diminutive and makes the noun feminine.

surplomber to overhang. From sur- (“over”) + plomb (“lead”, metal) + -er. Plomb
is cognate with plumb. Heavy metal lead is hung and the string is assumed to be
precisely vertical. See also plomb.

glaise clay, argile. Gaulish origin, which is not helpful. Simply use clay or glaze as
a mnemonic. Imagine a glazed pottery made out of clay.

échine backbone, spine. Cognate with shin (“shinbone”), chine (English word in
the sense of “animal spine”). Unrelated to épine (“thorn”, “prickle”) in spite of its
cognation with English spine.

soucoupe saucer. From sou- (“under”) + coupe (“cup”). A saucer is the plate to
hold a cup. See also coupe.

autocar coach (bus), motor coach. The difference between autobus and autocar is
the same as that between a bus and a coach. The former allows standing passengers
while the latter does not, among other things.

tresser to plait, to braid, to tress (“to braid or knot hair”) (cognate).

dénicher to unearth, to dig out, to find. From dé- + nicher (“to nest”). Literally the
word means “to take out from the nest”. English niche is from French.

saucisse sausage (cognate).

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marraine godmother; female sponsor (of an event, etc.). From Latin mater
(“mother”). Related to mère (“mother”). Cognate with prefix matri- (therefore with
the first element of matriarch, matrilineal, matrimony, etc.), with mother if traced
to Proto-Indo-European. Latin tr changed to rr (as in the case of putrere > pourrir,
“to rot”). It’s best to think of the word as mère + -aine (feminine suffix indicating
either approximation or diminutive). See also parrain (“godfather”).

rondin log, round piece of firewood. Cognate with round. A log is round if viewed
in cross-section. Or use a mnemonic such as “Auguste Rodin’s famous sculpture
The Thinker (Le Penseur) was originally made out of a log.”, which of course was
not true.

rugueux rough. Cognate with rugged (“having a rough surface”, said of a terrain),
rugose (“wrinkled”), with the root of corrugated. Alternatively, use rough as a
mnemonic as its spelling somewhat looks like rugueux.

pommier apple tree. From pomme (“apple”) + -ier. Suffix -ier indicates the tree
that bears the fruit, as in abricotier (“apricot tree”), bananier (“banana tree”),
cerisier (“cherry tree”), poirier (“pear tree”).

paillasse straw mattress; lab desk, bench top; clown. From paille (“straw”). In the
third sense (“clown”), the word is from the same Latin origin but by way of an
Italian word meaning “clown”, because “the traditional Italian character’s outfit
was made of the same fabric used to cover straw mattresses” (Wikipedia). This
word has entered English vocabulary meaning “straw mattress”. See also paille.

perroquet parrot. English parrot and parakeet are probably both related to this
French word.

pantoufle slipper (shoe). From Italian. The first part is doublet with patte (“paw or
leg of animal”). The second part of the word has unknown or debatable origin. Use
a mnemonic such as “Her painted toes are shown when she wears slippers.” See
also patte.

avare stingy, miserly; miser, miserly person. Cognate with avarice (“extreme
greed for wealth”). French playwright Molière wrote the famous L’Avare ou
L’École du Mensonge (“The Miser or the School for Lies”).

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à tâtons cautiously, hesitantly, (literally) fumblingly, gropingly. Tâtons is from
tâter (“to feel”, “to grope”), cognate with taste. “Avancer à tâtons” means “to
grope one’s way forward”. See also tâter.

bien-être well-being, welfare. To remember this compound word, just literally

read it like “being-well”, i.e. well-being.

agneau lamb (young sheep or sheep meat). English phrase Lamb of God (“Jesus,
symbolized as a sacrifice”) is a calque (word-for-word translation) of Latin Agnus
Dei, which has entered English Christian vocabulary, where agnus is the etymon of
this French word. According to folk etymology, female name Agnes in English is
related to Latin agnus and means “lamb”. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as
“Eating lamb triggers acne according to some dermatological studies.” Or associate
the word with agony, with Jesus’s Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then
Lamb of God, or simply with the agony or extreme pain Jesus sufferred on
crucifixion along with the saying Jesus, the Lamb of God.

fonte melting, smelting; typographical font. Probably cognate with foundry,

doublet with fondre (“to melt”). English font is from Middle French and is related.
See also fondre.

sanglier boar. Cognate with singular. In Old French, it was a phrase (porc senglier)
inherited from Latin literally meaning “singular hog”. A wild boar is a habitually
solitary animal. Not related to sanglot (“sob”), sangler (“to strap”), sanglant
(“bloody”), or English sanguine. You may use sanglant or sanguine as a
mnemonic since a wild boar is a ferocious animal and may attack humans.

garce bitch (derogatory slang). Doublet with garçon (“manservant”). Think of

garce as if it was grammatically the feminine form of garçon.

escadron squadron (cognate). From Italian. According to another theory, English

squadron is directly from this French word.

lessive laundry, washing; laundry detergent. Cognate with relatively rare English
words lixiviate (“to separate a substance into soluble and insoluble components
through percolation”), lixivium (“solution obtained by lixiviation”). Alternatively,
use laxative (“food or medicine to help with bowel movement”) as a mnemonic,
with some imagination.

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épater to amaze, to flabbergast. épatant amazing, stupefying, splendid. The root is
patte (“animal’s paw or leg”). It’s said the word originally referred to breaking off
(é-) the foot (patte) of a glass, by an angry gambler (Cf. Charles Virmaître,
Dictionnaire d'argot fin-de-siècle). Actually, this word is more about “to amaze or
impress (with talent etc.)” than “to surprise or alarm” in general. English idiom
knock off one’s feet (as on hearing one winning a grand prize) is a good match
literally and figuratively, although its origin is unlikely related to this French word.
If you know Spanish, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that Spanish
despatarrar (where pata means “leg”) can also mean “to amaze”, as well as, if
used reflexively, “to open legs wide” or “to manspread”. See also patte.

facture invoice, bill, note. Cognate with fact, feature. The common Latin source
facere means "to do", "to make", a meaning that understandably has developed into
a wide variety of meanings in later languages. Think of facture as your obligation
to pay for an already done deal (fact). Not to be confused with fracture, or its
doublet facteur (“factor”; “mailman”).

forain showman; stallholder; fairground (used as adj.). Cognate with foreign,

forum. A forum at the time of the Roman Empire was a public outdoor place. Folk
etymology believes the word is related to foire (“fair”, “exposition”,
“marketplace”). In somewhat older dictionaries, this word has the meaning
“foreign”, for which nowadays étranger in French is more common. According to
A. Brachet, an etymologist, “travelling pedlars are called forains in opposition to
home-staying traders.” As a mnemonic, read the word as “for rain” and think of a
showman, magician, or a sorcerer that calls for rain (but the word does not mean
“sorcerer”). The nickname of Marcel Campion, roi des forains, is variously
translated into English as “King of Fairegrounds”, “King of Funfairs”, “King of
Showmen”.

attentat assault, attack (n.). Cognate with attempt. English attempt has an outdated
sense of “attack”. Not to be confused with and unrelated to attente (“waiting”).

actualité current affairs, news. This word does not mean “actuality” (which would
be réalité in French), and it can be in plural (actualités), unlike English actuality
(rarely plural) and news (always singular). See also actuel (“current”).

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écossais Scottish (cognate). The Latin etymon is Scotia, where t was softened. As
usual, change é- to s- to see the cognation.

déesse goddess. From Latin dea (“goddess”) + -esse (suffix indicating female).
Cognate with divine if traced to a Proto-Italic word, which gave deus (“god” in
Latin) and, through intermediate forms, dea. Since Latin deus is frequently seen in
English text, it may be easier to use it to help remember déesse.

chavirer to capsize. Cha- is from a word meaning “head”, cognate with cap, and -
virer means “to change direction”, cognate with veer. The boat capsizing is likened
to the head veering or tilting to the side. Example, un bateau chavire à cause d’un
selfie de groupe (“a boat capsizes due to a group selfie”). See also virer.

asperge asparagus (cognate). This word should be easy but should not be confused
with asperger (“to sprinkle”), whose conjugated forms include asperge. As a
mnemonic, imagine spraying water onto asparagus as seen in a grocery store to
keep vegetables fresh.

hebdomadaire weekly. Cognate with hebdomad (“group of seven”; “seven days”),

with prefix hepta- (“seven”), which is widely used in mathematics and science, e.g.
heptagon (“seven-sided polygon”). The -ma- component is from the ordinal
number marker in the original Ancient Greek word, equivalent to French -ième (“-
th”). But when Latin (whence French) inherited the word, this marker lost its
meaning.

anodin trivial, harmless, mild; anodyne (cognate). Since English anodyne is close
in spelling and has the same meaning, this French word should pose no difficulty
in learning. But it is listed here because anodyne is a far less frequent word in
English text than anodin in French. On the other hand, anodyne is a pain-relieving
drug, so it helps to recall the word in the context of medicines.

soutien-gorge bra. Literally, “support-breast”. Gorge has an obsolete sense of

“breast”. As a mnemonic, draw an analogy between a gorge or valley and the
cleavage (between the breasts). See also soutien.

saule willow. Cognate with sallow (a type of willow). From Latin salix (the genus
of willows). Unless you know those technical terms, use a mnemonic such as “A

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willow tree, with the soft branches drooping down, traditionally symbolizes sorrow
and grief.”

pull, pull-over (sweater) pullover. French pull or pull-over comes from English
pullover. But unless the context is clear, its meaning of “pullover sweater” may not
be obvious. Trying to interpret it as a general action of pulling (tirer in French)
would be misguided.

espadrille espadrille (a type of casual, often flat-heeled, shoes). Historically, these

shoes were made of the esparto grass, which grows in north Africa and southern
Europe. The word esparto is possibly related to Sparta, named after a word
meaning “rope”. As a mnemonic, imagine the famously hardened Spartans in a
military drill, wearing espadrille shoes made of woven grass.

enivrer to make drunk, to intoxicate. From en- (“en-”, “to enable”, “to make”) +
ivre (“drunk”). Cognate with inebriated (“drunk”). See also ivre.

boxe boxing (sport). This word, borrowed from English, is easy but should not be
confused with English box in the sense of “container” (boîte in French).

piquant (food) spicy, hot; prickly, spiky; piquant, witty. The most literal meaning
is “prickly”, which is extended to the taste of food “spicy”, and further to the
figurative meaning shared by English piquant, which occasionally is also used in
describing the taste of food.

entrepôt warehouse, dépôt. The first element or prefix entre- means “in” or “to
enter” and the second part -pôt is from poser (“to put down”) but was formed
under the influence of dépôt. A warehouse is where people put things down and in.
This word has entered English vocabulary, more commonly written as entrepot.

buté stubborn, têtu. From buter (“to run against”, “to bump”; “to support”, “to
buttress”). Holding one’s opinion stubbornly is likened to running against
something that does not move. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “A good-
looking person, taking advantage of his beauty, may be harder to persuade and be
more stubborn.”

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veilleuse nightlight (small light fixture placed in hallway etc.).From veiller (“to
stay up”; “to keep guard”, “to watch”) + -euse (feminine equivalent of -eur,
indicating an agent or action performer). See also veiller.

ensevelir to bury, enterrer. The root (excluding en-) is cognate with sepulcher,
sepulchre (“burial chamber”, “tomb”); Latin p changed to French v (through b),
which is quite common. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “He died and was
buried in Seville, the capital of Andalusia, Spain”.

justesse correctness. This word commonly occurs in de justesse (“barely”,

“narrowly”, “just”) as in il a échappé aux flammes de justesse / d’extrême justesse
(“he narrowly / very narrowly escaped the fire”); j’ai failli rater l’avion, mais de
justesse (“I almost missed the plane, just by a little”).

atteler to harness, to yoke, to hitch; (reflexive) to get down to (work on), to tackle.
Possibly related to atelier (“workshop”, “studio”) through the sense of “place to
make planks”, although this is not widely agreed on. Alternatively, use attach as a
mnemonic. See also atelier.

pair (number) even. impair (number) odd. Note French pair and paire (“pair”)
have different meanings in spite of their common origin from the same Latin word.
And note impair (literally “un-even”) is a false friend of English impair. Examples,
2 est un nombre pair et 3 un nombre impair (“2 is an even number and 3 an odd
number”); elle travaille au pair dans une famille à Paris (“she works au pair in a
family in Paris”; pair in au pair means “peer” or “equal”, because the au pair is
considered equal in status in the family).

pou louse (insect). Etymology does not help. Use a mnemonic such as “Pooh,
you’re such a louse!” Or if you know puce (“flea”), associate a louse with a flea as
they’re both unpleasant insects.

frénésie frenzy (cognate). English frenzy, from an Old French word, lost the
second syllable in history.

égout sewer, drain. From égoutter (“to drain”), where the root is goutte (“drop of
liquid”), and prefix é- means “away”, “out”. See also goutte.

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chirurgien surgeon (cognate). English surgeon is, by way of Old French, from
Latin chirurgia, and chir- was eventually shortened to s-.

socle pedestal, plinth, socle. Cognate with sock. Their common origin is a Latin
word referring to a type of shoe. Both a sock and a pedestal are at the bottom of
something standing on the ground. This word has entered English vocabulary as an
architectural term.

patienter to wait, to wait patiently. While French patient has both senses of
English patient, “sick person” (n.) and “willing to wait” (adj.), French patienter
only means “to wait”, patiently or not, and does not mean “to become a patient”.
Veuillez patienter! means “Please hold!” during a phone call.

antenne antenna. This word is easy but the meaning of the phrase in which it often
occurs may need to be learned, i.e. être / passer à l’antenne (“to be / to go on the
air”).

fausser to distort, to warp, to bend; to falsify (cognate), to forge. Also cognate

with false. Doublet with faux (“false”).

guichet window or counter (at ticket office, post office, etc.). Cognate with wicket
(“small door or gate, especially one beside or in a larger one”, as in wicket gate).
The initial consonant rarely changed, except for w-to-g (which is the source of
French garantie but English warrant and guaranty, French gardien but English
warden and guard, etc.; see also the entries for gâcher, gâter, “to ruin”). As a
mnemonic, imagine you’re a tourist in Japan waiting outside the ticket window to
buy a ticket for a geisha show.

régir to govern. Cognate with regulate, regent, rule.

connard (vulgar) jerk, asshole. From con- (“cunt”) + -ard (a pejorative thing or
person, as in drunkard). The root con- may be related to English cunt, but is
definitely unrelated to con as in con artist. Not to be confused with canard (“duck”;
“fake news”).

meule millstone, grindstone; (hay) stack. Cognate with mill. Doublet with moulin
(“mill”). Unrelated to mule (still spelled mule in French), but it’s a perfect word in
a mnemonic if you imagine the scene of a mule driving the mill. See also moulin.

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esquiver to dodge (a blow), to avoid. Cognate with eschew (“to avoid”, “to shy
away”), in which w (which used to represent a syllable in Middle English)
corresponds to v of esquiver. Try pronouncing ch like k and w like v.

démesuré huge, enormous. Imagine a size that defies or negates (dé-)

measurement.

arrondissement district, borough. From arrondir (“to make round”). In a French-

speaking country or region, an arrondissement may be considered part of the place
name and is better left untranslated. See also arrondir.

nourrice wet nurse; babysitter, nanny, nounou. Cognate with nourish. Obviously a
nourrice is not the same as an infirmière (“nurse”, as in a hospital), which has a
masculine counterpart infirmier, while nourrice cannot.

piller to pillage (cognate), to loot, to plunder. Not to be confused with English

pillar.

moineau sparrow. This word is related to mouche (“fly”, cognate with mosquito),
and moine (“monk”, cognate with monk). A sparrow is a solitary (like a monk)
little bird (like a fly, although technically a fly is an insect). Suffix -eau means
“young animal”. See also mouche, moine.

toiser to size up, to look (someone) up and down. Cognate with tense. From a
former French unit of length, from Latin tensa meaning “(arms) stretched”.
Stretching arms is tense, and can do length measurement. Hence the sense of
“measuring” in general. As usual, French oi is from e, but in this case, n in en was
lost. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “A naturalist used tweezers to examine
the little creature.”

dégouliner to drip, to trickle. The root is doublet with gueule (“mouth”). Prefix dé-
means “off”. Imagine a mouth dripping saliva. See also gueule.

aïe (interj.) oh, ouch.

bahut (furniture) sideboard, chest, coffer, buffet; (slang) school. Probably cognate
with bail (“temporary release of an arrested person”), bailiff (“court security
officer”), with Spanish baúl and Italian baule (“trunk”, “box”). Unless you know
one other Romance language, the etymology is unhelpful. Since this word often
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occurs together with buffet (“sideboard”), use buffet as a memory aid. This word in
the sense of “chest” entered English but was later replaced by coffer, which in turn
has gradually been replaced by chest. See also buffet.

trac stage fright (feeling of fear when on stage). Use “trouble to act” as a
mnemonic. It’s not clear if the word in this sense is related to English track. It’s
possible that when tracking an animal in hunting, you go to and fro, which is also
what you do in fidgeting. See also tracasser (“to bother”, “to worry”).

saouler, soûler, souler to get drunk. Cognate with saturate. But there’s too much
change in the form of the word for the etymology to be helpful. Use a mnemonic
such as “Some primitive people believe that the soul will depart from the body
when a person is drunk.”

ensoleillé sunny. From soleil (“sun”). See also soleil.

d’emblée immediately, straightaway, out of hand. Etymology may be too

convoluted to be helpful (voler, “to steal”, with prefix in- later em-, v changed to b,
o lost). The phrase literally means “of a plundering”, hence “with no time to think”.
Use timely as a mnemonic since its pronunciation is close to that of d’emblée. Or
“the boy can quickly identifies the make of a car by looking at its emblem”.

pignon pinion (from this French word), small gear; gable (in architecture). To help
remember the second meaning “gable”, as a mnemonic, imagine a pigeon perching
on top of the gabled roof.

levant east (n.); present participle of lever (“to raise”). Cognate with levitate. The
sun rises from the east. As a historical geographical term, Levant refers to a large
area in the Eastern Mediterranean, or specifically to approximately today’s Syria.
In recent years, the terrorist state in its full name is Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant.

frime (informal) show, show-off. Doubtful etymology. Use a mnemonic such as

“She likes to show off just for vain fame.”

déraper to skid; to get out of hand. The root is cognate with rape, rap. The Latin
etymon means “to seize prey, to seize by force”, probably related to English rape.
Think of prefix dé- as negating the seizing action, as in slipping.

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dérobé hidden, concealed, secret; past participle of dérober (“to steal”). The root is
cognate with rob. Something stolen must be hidden away. Unrelated to English
disrobe, which nevertheless can be used to make up a mnemonic. See also dérober.

animation liveliness, hustle and bustle, lots of activity (on the street or in the
neighborhood); animation.

orgue organ (musical instrument) (cognate). Note that English organ as “part of
the human or animal body” or in other senses is organe in French, although all
these words are from the same Latin word. To help remember which is which, as a
mnemonic, note both orgue and fugue, a type of music perfected by Bach, have the
same ending, and thus are both related to music. Also note that the word orgue is
masculine when singular but feminine when plural, just like amour and délice
(“delight”). See also organe.

bruissement rustle (n.), rustling, murmur. bruire to rustle, to make noise. See also
bruit (“noise”).

harceler to harass, to hassle, to bother. Probably cognate with harrow (“to cause
distress”), hearse (“vehicle to carry a coffin”). Alternatively, use a mnemonic such
as “He was bothered by the harsh living condition.” Incidentally, English harass is
not a cognate, but instead is from French harasser, a word that means “to tire out”,
“to exhaust” but is far less used than épuiser. Nevertheless, harass sounds like the
first part of harceler and serves as a mnemonic.

crouler to collapse, écrouler, to crumble. See also écrouler.

vareuse short blouse or vest or uniform made of heavy cloth for sailors or
fishermen, shell jacket. Doublet with garer (“to cover”). But it may not be easy to
think of the g-w/v initial consonant change (which happened to gâcher “to win”,
gâter “to spoil”, guichet “window”; see the entries for descriptions). Use a
mnemonic such as “a warrior’s vest”. See also garer.

calvaire ordeal, suffering, calvary, supplice. English calvary, not to be confused

with cavalry, refers to a representation of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; Calvary,
or Golgotha, is the place where Jesus was crucified. If you don’t know this and
keep confusing calvary with cavalry (which is cavalerie in French), you may resort
to a mnemonic such as “riding a horse to fight as a cavalryman is a suffering”.

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Example, ma famille a vécu un calvaire pendant la pandémie (“my family lived
through an ordeal”).

esclaffer (reflexive) to burst out laughing, to guffaw. From an onomatopoeia.

Probably related to clap. Think of the sound or noise of laughing. Unrelated to
esclave (“slave”), which you may use to construct a mnemonic.

happer to grab, to snap, to catch. From an onomatopoeia. Alternatively, use a

mnemonic such as “The frog hops up and snatches the insect.”

abat-jour lampshade (lamp cover). From abattre (“to bring down”) + jour
(“light”). A lampshade brings the lamp light down by blocking the light going up.
The word jour refers to “light” as in “daylight”. See also abattre.

pourboire tip (extra payment given for service), gratuity. From pour (“for”) +
boire (“drinking”). According to Wikipedia, the word for “tip” is literally “for
drinking” in French, German, Danish, and Polish, “from a custom of inviting a
servant to drink a glass in honour of the guest, and paying for it”. Lorayne and
Lucas The Memory Book suggests a mnemonic “you tip over a poor boy”.

proférer to utter, to express. Cognate with proffer (“to offer”) and with the
obsolete profer (“to utter”). Not cognate with profess, which nevertheless makes a
good mnemonic as in “On his deathbed, he uttered the words to profess his regret.”

bûcheron lumberjack, woodcutter, person that fells trees. From bûcher (“to fell
trees”) + -on (indicating occupation). The root of the word is indeed cognate with
bush if traced to Proto-Germanic. See also bûcher.

visser to screw. vis screw (metal fastener). Cognate with withe (“flexible tree
branch used for binding”), vise (“clamping tool”, spelled vice in British English).
You turn the screw to tighten just like you turn the handle of the vise to tighten. Or
use a mnemonic such as “The sun visor in my car is getting loose because one
screw came off.” Note vis in this sense is pronounced as /vis/, while the unrelated
vis as the conjugated form of voir and vivre is pronounced as /vi/. Also note visser
is not to be confused with viser (“to aim”). You could use that to build a mnemonic;
imagine working on small electronic or mechanical devices (such as a cell phone’s
motherboard) where you have to literally aim (viser) at a nut hole and screw (visser)

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the nut. Example, tour de vis sécuritaire (“tightening of security”, literally “turning
of security screw”).

tournure turn (n.); figure, shape, form, appearance. From tourner (“to turn”). The
second sense probably came from the frame formerly worn by women underneath
the skirt, called tournure or bustle. It was round, thus related to turning.

short shorts (short pants). From English. Note that this French word short is
singular (e.g. un short) and has the plural, shorts, while English shorts is always
plural and relies on pair for counting (e.g. one pair of shorts).

sirop syrup (cognate). English syrup is from Old French, which is from Arabic by
way of Latin or Italian. Letter p in sirop is silent.

courtoisie courtesy (cognate). As usual, change oi to e to see the cognation.

pédé (vulgar) homosexual man, fag. Cognate with the first element of pedophilia.
Note this word may be more offensive than English queer.

amande almond (cognate). In Old French, the dominant form was amande. There
was also almande probably due to confusion between a- and al- (Arabic definite
article “the”, which occurs in many Spanish words as a result of Moors’
occupation of the Iberian peninsula). Apparently, English almond inherited from
the latter form. Not to be confused with amant (“lover”).

éperon spur (device to prod a horse). Cognate with spur if traced to Proto-
Germanic. Change é- to s- to see the cognation. Letter -e- in the word can be silent.

tenture curtain, drapery. From tendre (“to tighten”, “to stretch”) + -ure (to form a
noun as a result of an action). Cognate with tent. A tent is set up by stretching the
canvas out just as a curtain is hung so the cloth is stretched.

fourche garden fork, pitchfork. Cognate with fork. With the diminutive suffix -ette
appended, this word becomes fourchette referring to the utensil fork, which is
obviously smaller than the garden tool. See also fourchette.

chalet chalet (“an alpine style of wooden building with a sloping roof and
overhanging eaves”, according to Wiktionary). This word has entered English from
Swiss French. If you don’t know it, analyze this word as cha-, which is cognate

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with casa (Latin or Spanish for “house”) as in Casa Blanca (“White House”), and -
let, the diminutive suffix.

fougère fern. Etymology does not help. Use a mnemonic such as “Ferns grow wild
outside of the foyer of this house”, and remember fou “crazy”, “mad”.

boulet cannonball, boulet de canon; (informal) useless person; (informal) drag,

millstone, unpleasant responsibility that must be fulfilled. From boule (“ball”) + -et.
The second and third senses came about probably because in the old days a
prisoner had a metal ball attached to his feet. A prisoner is not very useful, and is
hampered in any moving action. See also boule.

casier locker. Cognate with case. A locker is like a box or case.

censé supposed to, supposé. Cognate with censor, census. Their common Latin
etymon censere means “to suppose”, “to recken”. Example, “Je suis censé aller à
Paris” (“I’m supposed to go to Paris”). Be aware that in informal context as in
social media postings, some people mistakenly write sensé (“sensible”) instead.

gendre son-in-law. From Latin gener (“son-in-law”), from Latin genus (“birth”,
“origin”; “type”, “kind”, “species”, a sense also in English genus). According to
F.E.J. Valpy in his Etym. Dict. Latin Lang., a son-in-law is introduced into the
family (genus) of the wife’s father. Since the word can be traced to genus, it is
cognate with generate, generous, general, gender, genre. Note this word does not
mean “gender” (which would be genre in French), although you can make up a
mnemonic with it as in “A son-in-law is of male gender.”

cran notch, cog, (firearm) safety catch; (colloquial) guts, courage. Cognate with
cranny (“narrow opening”), as in (every) nook and cranny. The formation of the
second, colloquial, sense is unclear. As a mnemonic, imagine having the courage
to crawl into a narrow space in exploring a remote mountainous area.

rêche rough, coarse. Etymology does not help. Use a mnemonic such as “His skin
is rough and often has a rash.”

dévotion (religious) devotion, piety. This word looks easy but note that non-
religious devotion (as to one’s work) is dévouement. See also dévouement.

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ébrouer (reflexive) (dog) to shake (dry after getting wet), (bird) to flap wings;
(reflexive) to snort. Etymology does not help (probably cognate with brew). Use a
mnemonic such as “The dog is wet to his eyebrows, and shakes off water.”

bled small isolated village or town. From Algerian Arabic. If you know blé
(“wheat”), use a mnemonic such as le blé cultivé dans un bled. Not to be confused
with English bled or bleed.

refluer to flow back, to rush back, to surge back, to go back. Prefix re- means
“back”. The root is cognate with fluid and flux, not cognate with flow, which
nevertheless serves as a perfect mnemonic.

brancher to plug in,to connect (electric appliance etc.). branché (colloquial)

trendy, à la mode. Cognate with branch. If you plug in multiple devices to one
power strip, the wires look like tree branches while the power strip is the tree trunk.
It’s not clear how branché, literally “connected”, acquired its new sense of
“trendy”. (R. Trim in his Metaphor and the Historical Evolution of Conceptual
Mapping said that “the metaphoric image of branches being equated with the idea
of being connected to a fashion”.) As a mnemonic, imagine a fashionable person
well-connected to celebrities. Or think of the Wired magazine, which reports new,
trendy technologies. Or just focus on the first few letters and think of brand (as in
name brand). Not to be confused with broncher (“to stumble”).

retenue restraint, detention; feminine singular past participle of retenir (“to retain”,
“to hold”). Note the sense as a noun. Not to be confused with the English cognate
retinue, which would be suite, cortège in French.

souder to solder (cognate), to weld together. The ol combination existed in Old

French (as in Latin) but later changed to ou in Modern French. Not to be confused
with sourd (“deaf”).

bouder to sulk, to be sulky with, to be unhappy with, to stay away from, to ignore,
to give the cold shoulder, to frown upon. Possibly cognate with bud. The original
meaning in Proto-Germanic or Proto-Indo-European is “to swell”. To sulk or to
pout the lips is likened to swelling, so is a flower bud. If you really want a
mnemonic, imagine a very unlikely image, a sulking or unhappy Buddha with

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pouting lips. Or imagine someone eager to be blessed by a Buddha, which looked
cold and indifferent to his wish.

déclic click (n.). Prefix dé- is an intensifier.

étui case, box, holder, cartridge. English tweezers (“a pincer-like tool”) is from this
word (with loss of the initial vowel), by way of a now obsolete word that referred
to the case holding tweezers. It’s not likely this word has the same origin as study
as some suggested.

tripoter to fiddle with, to fumble with, to tamper with, to fool with, to mess about.
Possibly cognate with trip. The real sense development is hardly helpful. Use a
mnemonic such as “He messed up because he tripped.” This word also occurs in
reports of sexual harassment (“to grope”).

entre-temps, entretemps meanwhile, in the meantime. Literally, it means “inter-

time”. Mean- in English meanwhile literally means “intermediate”. Of the two
forms of this word, the one with hyphen, entre-temps, is more frequent.

gicler to squirt, to spurt, jaillir. According to one theory, this word is ultimately
from an onomatopoeia and is akin to English giggle. Use a mnemonic such as “The
little girls giggle while playing the water game, squirting water to each other.”
Alternatively, use eject or ejaculate as a mnemonic.

propreté cleanliness. From propre. Note that the adjective propre means “clean”
after a noun, but “own” before a noun. But propreté only means “cleanliness”;
English ownership is possession in French. French propriété means “property”, not
“propriety”. See also propre, propriété.

mets dish (of food), plat; conjugated form of mettre. Cognate with mess (which
has an archaic sense of “food put on the table”). A dish of food is indeed put (mis,
past participle of mettre) on a table. Entremet, literally “between dishes”, refers to
a French-style light dish served between two courses of a formal meal.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “a dish of meat”.

franchise frankness, honesty, sincerity; (insurance) deductible; (business)

franchise. The basic meaning is the first one. English frank and French franc

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(franche for feminine) are from the same Old French word. Example, en toute
franchise (“frankly”, “honestly”). See also franchir (“to cross”).

ébaucher to sketch, to draft, esquisser. ébauche draft (n.). The root is doublet with
bois (“wood), cognate with bouquet, balk (“timber beam”). Prefix é- means “out”.
Setting up the beams or balks of a building is likened to sketching out. Although
English debauch is also a cognate, its sense development is too obscure and remote
to be helpful. See also bois, embaucher (“to hire”).

sommier (bed) box spring, bed base. This word is not etymologically related to
somme (even in the sense of “nap”) or sommeil (“sleep”). But we can construct a
good mnemonic with it as in “On peut avoir un meilleur sommeil avec un bon
sommier.” (“We can have a better sleep with a good box spring.”)

péniche barge. It’s unclear whether English pinnace (“small boat”) is derived from
this French word, or the other way around. But it’s likely that the root is cognate
with pine (pin in French) by way of Latin. Imagine a small barge made of pine,
which is suitable for ship building due to its fast growth. Or as a mnemonic,
imagine it takes just a penny to take a barge for transportation. Unrelated to
pinnacle.

atteinte attack (n.), damage; conjugated form of atteindre (“to reach”, “to attain”,
“to achieve”). These two senses are related. Back in Latin, the word attingere has a
wide range of meanings including, in descending order of passivity, “to reach”, “to
touch”, “to strike”, “to attack”. English attain takes one sense, while French
atteinte and atteindre each take one. Example, il faut pas porter atteinte à le
principe de la mondialisation (“the principle of globalization must not be
undermined”).

frigo fridge, refrigerator. Note that the formal word for “refrigerator” is
réfrigérateur. But frigo, ending on -o, is a clipping of frigorifique (“refrigerating”)
or frigorifié (past participle of frigorifier, “to refrigerate”), unlike English fridge,
which is simply from refrigerator.

ail garlic. From Latin allium, the name of a genus to which onions and garlic
belong. Unless you know that botanical term, use a mnemonic such as “for
thousands of years, people around the world have used garlic to treat various

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ailments”. But to use a mnemonic with the correct French pronunciation, try
“garlic gives off a smell that may be irritating to eyes”. Lorayne and Lucas The
Memory Book suggests a mnemonic “a gigantic piece of garlic falls in your eye”.

maussade (mood) sullen, grumpy, sulky; (weather etc.) dreary, colorless. Prefix
mau- means “bad”, cognate with mal-. The root, cognate with English sapid
(“tasty”) and savory, is from Latin sapidus (“tasty”), which lost the unstressed
medial syllable -pi- when inherited by French. Bad taste causes unpleasant feeling.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “The spy working for Mossad, Israeli
intelligence agency, has a sullen look.”

délit offense, minor crime. Cognate with delinquent, delinquency.

scientifique scientist; scientific. Note the first meaning and it can be either
masculine or feminine.

sautiller to hop. From sauter (“to jump”) + -iller (diminutive verb suffix).

entrain liveliness, spirit, enthusiasm, vivacity. From entraîner or entrainer (“to

carry”; “to train”). English carry away (as in “She got carried away”) has the
figurative meaning of “to charm” as if carrying away one’s mind. See also
entraîner.

rajeunir to rejuvenate (cognate). From ra- (re-) + jeune (“young”) + -ir. Prefix ra-
is the same as re-, and is an oral deformation in Old French.

essouffler to make breathless. Prefix es- means “out of” just as ex- does. See also
souffler (“to breathe”).

ténébreux tenebrous (cognate), dark and gloomy; obscure, mysterious, secret.

renouer to re-tie, to reconnect. Not to be confused with English renew, which

would be renouveler in French. See also nouer (“to tie”).

hoquet hiccup. Both English hiccup and French hoquet are onomatopoeias. So is it
in many other languages, and the word likely starts with hic- or hik- if you check it
in Google Translate. Thus, it’s quite curious that a hiccup sounds like ok- to a
French ear.

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tanguer to sway back and forth, (boat) to pitch, (front of boat) to go up and down.
The word is unlikely related to tango, which nevertheless makes a good mnemonic,
as in “The boat moves up and down in the unquiet water as if she’s dancing a
tango.”

moisson harvest, récolte. Cognate with mow if traced to Proto-Indo-European.

Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “Harvest has to be completed before the
monsoon season.”

gamme range, gamut (cognate).

friche uncultivated land, wasteland. According to one theory, this word is cognate
with fresh. Newly acquired land has not been cultivated and is fresh.

saper to sap, to undermine, to destroy the foundation of. English sap as a noun
(“liquid in a plant”) is not etymologically connected. (If you trace saper to Latin,
it’s sappa, not sapa.) But development of English sap may have been influenced
by the Latin-French sense; to sap or weaken is likened to draining the vital sap
from a plant.

truite trout (cognate). If you were to read trout as a French word (pronounce ou as
/u/) and truite as an English word, they would sound close.

sève sap (both literal and figurative senses, “sap in a plant”, “vital essence”).
Cognate with sap if traced to Proto-Indo-European. From Latin sapa, where p
changed to v in French. Note è is pronounced more openly than é, although not as
open as a. Not to be confused with English sieve.

trier to sort, to sort out. English triage (“preliminary assessment of patients and
assigning them to doctors”) is from this word. Although cognate with English try,
the meaning is drastically different. Consider it a false friend.

fulgurant flashing, lightning (adj.). Cognate with fulgent (“shining brightly”), with
the root of refulgent (“shining brightly”), effulgence (“intense brightness”).
Doublet with foudre. See also foudre.

soustraire to subtract (cognate). Prefix sous- is equivalent to sub-. The original

Latin root changed to -tract in English but -traire in French as in distraire, extraire.

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licence license, permit; (roughly) bachelor’s degree, (more accurately) degree
awarded after 3 years of study after baccalauréat (high-school graduation) in
France. Note the second meaning of this word, which is lacking in English.
(Incidentally, in American English, the form licence is not used. In British,
Canadian or Australian English, licence is the noun and license the verb.) The
derived verb licencier means “to lay off (an employee)”, almost the opposite of
English license meaning “to have the license (to do work)”. Back in Latin, it had
the sense of “freedom” in addition to “authorization to do work”. “To give a
worker free time” evolved, as a euphemism, to “terminating his employment”.

croc hook; fang. Cognate with crook (“bend”, “turn”, “curve”; “a bad guy”),
crochet (“needlework done with a hooked needle”). See also crochet (“hook”),
décrocher (“to unhook”), raccrocher (“to hang up”).

punaise bug; thumb tack, drawing pin. This is a compound word, where the first
element pu- is cognate with putrid (“rotting”) and the second element -naise is
doublet with nez (“nose”), cognate with nasal. A bug is smelly. A thumb tack
resembles a bug. Alternatively, think of pu- as pouce (“thumb”) if you already
know the word, and punaise as “thumb easy”.

menotte small hand (as that of a child); (plural menottes) handcuffs. from main
(“hand”) + -otte (diminutive suffix). English manacle (“shackle”) is from Old
French, the first vowel a preserved as it was.

attabler to sit at a table. From a- + table + -er.

monceau pile, heap. Cognate with mountain, mount. The -c(e)- in monceau is from
the diminutive suffix in Latin. The -t- in the English words here is from a declined
(inflected) case of the Latin etymon. Just focus on mon- and think of mound (which
is only a mnemonic, not a cognate) or mount. Not to be confused with morceau
(“morsel”, “piece”, “small piece”), which is almost the opposite in connotation.

frite fried (cognate); (plural) French fries, pommes frites, patates frites; feminine
past participle of frire. frire to fry (cognate).

émoi emotion, excitement; agitation, commotion, turmoil. Cognate with dismay

(literally “loss of might”), where dis- semantically matches é-. The root is cognate

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with might (n., “power”, “strength”). The word is not cognate with emotion, which
nevertheless can serve as a mnemonic.

moisi mold, mould (wooly fungi); (adj.) moldy, mouldy. Cognate and doublet with
mucus, which is also the Latin etymon. The central meaning is “slimy” and
“slippery”. Due to too many changes in phonological development (first u to ui to
oi, second u to e, and c to s), it may be better to use a mnemonic instead, such as
“The places with lots of moisture are moldy.” Note English mold (“hollow frame
or model in art or manufacturing”) is a different word in French, moule.

gazon grass, lawn, pelouse. Etymology is not helpful. Use a mnemonic such as “Le
garçon tond le gazon.” (“The boy is mowing the grass.”)

moyenne average (fem. n.); feminine singular of moyen (“average”, masc. adj.). At
least as a mnemonic, remember the rule that abstract entities tend to be feminine
(see §3 of the Notes of this book); an entity, i.e. a noun here, is the feminine form
of the masculine adjective.

devise motto; (plural) currency. Cognate with divide, device. The word originally
referred to a part or a division of a heraldic coat of arms, conventionally the bottom
part, where a short sentence or motto is inscribed. In spite of the cognation, the
word is a false friend of its English counterparts due to different meanings.

palace luxury hotel. Although this French word is from English palace (itself from
Old French), it does not mean “palace”, which would be palais; French palace and
palais are a pair of doublets. See also palais.

dédier to dedicate (cognate). From Latin dedicare with loss of the medial c.

délaisser to abandon, to forsake. From dé- + laisser (“to leave”). This word is easy
if understood literally. It should not be confused with and is unrelated to délai
(“time limit”) or English delay.

démonter to disassemble, to dismantle, to take apart, désassembler. Note that “to

assemble” is not monter but simply assembler in French. Démonter is cognate with
dismount but does not mean “to dismount (from a horse)”, and is not cognate with
dismantle, which nevertheless can serve as a mnemonic. Not to be confused with
démontrer (“to demonstrate”).

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hublot porthole (the circular window on the hull of a ship, or similarly the round
window on an armored vehicle, aircraft, spaceship, etc.). Probably doublet with
houle (“surge of water”, “billow”), cognate with hole if traced to Proto-Indo-
European. Suffix -ot is diminutive. (Insertion of b may be an influence of two
western French words.) Alternatively, since a porthole is round, use hoop as a
mnemonic and think of -lot as a suffix (even though only -ot can be considered
one). See also houle.

boiter to limp. boiteux limping, lame; (furniture) wobbly; unstable. Doublet with
boîte (“box”), which originally could also refer to the socket of the joint. Joint
dislocation, i.e. removing the bone out of the joint socket, causes limping. As a
mnemonic, imagine a man limping along while carrying a box (boîte). Example, un
eunuque amoureux , un voyageur qui boite (“a eunuch in love, a traveler who
limps”, from Victor Hugo’s poem). See also boîte.

faillite bankruptcy; failure (cognate). Doublet with faillir (“to fail”; “to almost
do”). See also faillir.

cohue crowd of people, mob, foule. Use cohort (“a group of people sharing a
certain characteristic, especially as studied in statistics”) as a mnemonic. But note
that the pronunciation of cohue is much closer to that of English coy than cohort.
(If coy, “pretending to be shy”, were to mean the opposite, it could be used as a
mnemonic for cohue, too.)

assourdir to deafen. From a- + sourd (“deaf”) + -ir. The root is cognate with the
root of absurd. You may also use a mnemonic which is not deprived of
etymological basis such as “this absurdly deafening music”. See also sourd.

égrener to remove the outer covering or shell (of corn, peas, etc.), to gin (cotton).
From é- (“off”) + grain + -er.

maculer to smudge, to spoil, to stain. Cognate with macula (“a spot on the skin”;
“a spot in the center of the retina”) or the root of immaculate (“spotless”, “pure”).

fardeau burden, load. Arabic origin. Use a mnemonic such as “At that moment I
became befuddled as if there was something heavy loaded in my brain.” Unrelated
to farder (“to make up or paint face”; “to disguise”). There’s a slight possibility

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that the word is related to Latin fartus (“stuffed”, “filled”), and so is cognate with
the root of infarction (“obstruction of blood supply to an organ”).

coteau hill; hillside, slope. From côte (“hill”) + -eau (diminutive). This word has
entered English vocabulary. The Coteau des Prairies is a plateau in the US. Not to
be confused with couteau (“knife”).

déambuler to stroll. The root is cognate with ambulate (“to walk”), ambulance.
Prefix dé- is an intensifier. Even in English, prefix de- occasionally serves as an
intensifier and does not mean “off”, as in defraud (“to get something by fraud”).

guet lookout (n.). aux aguets on the alert, on the look-out, watchful. Guet is from
guetter (“to watch”, “to look out for”), cognate with guard. If it’s not easy to
mentally link aguets to guard, use agaze as a mnemonic for that word. See also
guetter.

cadran dial (of an old-style telephone), face (of a clock). Cognate with quadrant.
The Latin etymon refers to a sundial due to its square shape. As a mnemonic,
imagine a sundial divided into four quadrants.

fourgon minivan, van. The word originally referred to a metal bar that stokes the
fire. As a mnemonic, imagine four- as feu (“fire”) and think of the person
controlling the fire to control the steam engine of a vehicle. Or think of the
fournace (French four) as part of its engine. Or think of -gon as both the suffix for
a geometric shape and as the ending of wagon, and so this word suggests a wagon
of four-side shape (tetragon). Or imagine a minivan that goes on four wheels (even
though most vehicles do the same).

metteur film (or theater) director, metteur en scène, réalisateur. Metteur literally
means “person who sets or puts”. Note that “director” in general is directeur in
French.

caser to fit, to cram, to squeeze in; to find a place. From case (“box in a form”;
“hut”). Cognate with English case (“box”).

retrancher to deduct, to subtract, to cut, to retrench (“to reduce staff and cut costs”)
(cognate). from re- (intensifier) + trancher (“to slice”). See also trancher.

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chantage blackmail, extortion. From chanter (“to sing”) + -age (suffix for noun).
According to J.S. Farmer's Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present published in
1891, some bad guys extorted money from singers to be performing at a London
music hall. If they were refused the money, they would hoot and hiss during the
show. This word has entered Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, and a number of
other languages spoken in areas as far as Turkey, and Russia. It may be known to
some English speakers.

réticence reluctance; reticence. réticent reluctant; reticent. More common is the

first meaning, which English reticent may also have but “has developed in the
years since the end of the Second World War and is still not universally accepted”
(Wiktionary). Example, les réticents à la vaccination sont, sinon des déserteurs, du
moins des alliés du virus (“those reluctant to vaccination are, if not deserters, at
least allies of the virus”).

geindre to moan, to groan, to whine, to whimper, gémir (doublet, much more

frequently used), se lamenter. Use a mnemonic such as “She moaned because she
found that she gained weight.”

goudron tar (black viscous liquid of hydrocarbon). From Arabic. The name of the
oil-producing country, Qatar, probably came from this origin. But that’s not very
helpful. Use a mnemonic such as “Tar is the leftover from refining crude oil in a
cauldron.” Or if you know goutte (“drop of liquid”), imagine hot tar dripping down.

étourdir to stun, to daze, to surprise, éblouir. étourdi absent-minded, thoughtless,

stunned, dizzy. Cognate with sturdy; change é- to s- to see the cognation. Use
astound as a mnemonic.

parrain godfather; sponsor (of an event, etc.). Cognate with patron. Related to
père. -rr- is from Latin -tr-, as happened to Latin putrere which gives French
pourrir (“to rot”, cognate with putrefy). See also marraine (“godmother”).

huître oyster (cognate). Change î to is or ys to see the cognation. See §7 of the

Notes of this book.

croquis sketch, sketchy drawing. From croquer (“to crunch”, “to munch”).
Sketching with a pencil on paper makes the sound like that of a person eating
crunchy food. See also croquer.

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bienheureux blissful; blessed. From bien (“well”) + heureux (“happy”).

débile stupid; (obsolete) weak. Cognate with debilitate (“to make weak”). Think of
“too weak to make intelligent decisions or judgments”. English feeble-minded
associates the two senses “weak” and “not intelligent” together. Alternatively, use
imbecile (“fool”) as a mnemonic, but b and c should be replaced.

boudin black pudding (a type of sausage), blood sausage. English pudding is from
Old French boudin.

fané faded, withered; past participle of faner (“to wither”, “to fade”). Cognate with
fennel (a type of plant), with the first element of fenugreek (literally “Greek hay”, a
type of herb, spice, and vegetable). Related to foin (“hay”). When grass is made
hay, it loses its green color. Alternatively, use fainted as a mnemonic. See also foin.

acajou mahogany. English cashew is from this word. There is some name
confusion between these two different plants. For example, cashew nut is called
noix de cajou in French.

toiture roofing. Not to be confused with torture. See also toit (“roof”).

éperdu distraught, desperate, frenzied, frantic; past participle of éperdre (“to lose
one’s way”). From perdre (“to lose”). See also perdre.

cygne swan. You may know the English word cygnet (“young swan”) or Cygnus (a
constellation in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning “swan”).

surlendemain two days later; the day after tomorrow. From sur- (“over”) +
lendemain (“the next day”). See also lendemain.

rétrécir to shrink, to narrow. Cognate with restrict. The root, meaning “narrow” in
the Latin etymon, is cognate with strict, strait, doublet with étroit (“narrow”).
Change the first é to es to see the cognation. The acute diacritic of the second é is
not easy to explain.

mijoter to simmer, to stew. The first element mi- is probably cognate with mush if
traced to Proto-Germanic, and the second element is too obscure or debatable. Use
millet, both an English and a French word, as a mnemonic, and think of millets as

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part of the stew. In French, millet is pronounced somewhat like the first part of
mijoter.

moustique mosquito (cognate). English mosquito is a direct borrowing from

Spanish mosquito, while French moustique went through metathesis, transposing
the second and third syllables of the Spanish word. Philip Durkin in his Oxford
Guide to Etymology suggests that this metathesis may have been semantically
influenced by tique (“tick”, the bug).

défaillance failure; fainting. défaillir to weaken, to lose physical or moral force, to

fail. See also faillir (“to fail”).

coquin rascal, rogue; mischievous. Highly debatable etymology. The one

suggesting coq (“cock”) as its origin, at least as a mnemonic, serves our purpose in
this sense: the word cock is often used in a derogatory way, as unwelcome as a
rascal or rogue.

convier (formal) to invite. Related to invite. From Latin *convitare, probably a

cross of invitare (“to invite”) and convivium (“banquet”). As a mnemonic, imagine
the word is con- (“together”) + vie (“life”) + -er (verb suffix) and you invite friends
to come and live together.

altérer to worsen, to impair; to make thirsty. This word almost always means “to
change for the worse”, unlike changer or modifier, which simply means “to
change”, “to alter”.

rugir to roar. Cognate with rut in the sense of “sexual desire of animals”, which is
from Old French rut (“roar”), from Latin rugitus, past participle of rugire (“to
roar”). Due to drop of the second unstressed syllable of rugitus, rut offers little
help in remembering rugir. Use Roger! as a mnemonic and imagine someone
answering a command by loudly shouting that out.

bégayer to stammer, to stutter, balbutier. Etymology does not help. Use a

mnemonic such as “A beggar stammers.”

bocal jar. Italian origin. Use buccal (“about the cheek”) as a mnemonic and think
of the mouth of a person and that of a jar. Or think of a jar put in a bucket.

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affluer to flow, couler, (people) to flock, to come in droves. The root is cognate
with fluid and flux, but not with flow, which nevertheless serves as a good
mnemonic. Prefix a- means “toward”, “to”. English affluence (“abundance of
wealth”) is from Old French but has long lost its original literal sense of “abundant
flow or supply” as in French heure d’affluence (“rush hour”). See also refluer (“to
flow back”).

trottiner to trot (cognate) with short steps, to scamper. Diminutive of trotter (“to
trot”).

godet mug, cup; bucket. Unhelpful etymology. Use goblet (“drinking vessel”) as a
mnemonic. This word has entered English vocabulary meaning “a triangular piece
of fabric inserted in a garment or glove to give fullness”.

chanceler to totter, to stagger, to wobble, to falter. Cognate with cancel, chancel

(“the space around the altar in a church”). But semantic evolution is obscure and
the proposals are unconvincing. Use a mnemonic such as “The old chancellor in
his poor health walks unsteadily.” If you are into modern art, you may have seen
German painter Max Ernst’s La femme chancelante (“The Wavering Woman”).

côtoyer to rub elbows with, to rub shoulders with, to mingle with. From côte (“rib”;
“coast”) + -oyer (verb suffix). If you prefer to use coyote as a mnemonic, imagine
coyotes are social animals, which is actually true to some extent. Example, un
marché où chineurs et touristes se côtoient (“a market where bargain hunters and
tourists rub shoulders”). See also côte.

bibelot knick-knack, bauble (cognate), trinket, cheap ornament. The word may be
a reduplication of bel (“pretty”) with -ot (diminutive suffix).

prêcher to preach (cognate); to advocate.

paquebot passenger ship, liner. From English packet boat (“medium-sized boats
designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European
countries and their colonies” according to Wikipedia).

suie soot (cognate).

velu hairy. velouté velvety, downy, smooth. Cognate with velvet, villus (“long
slender hair”), villous (“covered with villi”). See also velours (“velvet”).
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accoucher to give birth (to a baby). See also coucher (“to lay down”; “to sleep”).

bilan balance sheet; (figurative) appraisal, assessment; report. Cognate with

balance.

sursis reprieve, suspended sentence (in law); (figurative) reprieve, respite;

deferment (of a loan etc.). Cognate with supersede (“to displace”, “to replace”),
which came from a Middle French word meaning “to defer”. The original, literal,
sense was “to sit on top of”. As a mnemonic, imagine you get a temporary nice
respite and sit (-sis) on top of (sur-) something comfortably. Or “The creditor’s
willingness for the loan deferment is a soothing relief.” Not to be confused with
souris (“mouse”), surpris (“surprised”).

raffinement refinement, sophistication. raffiné refined, sophisticated. raffiner to

refine, to purify. Prefix re- is an intensifier, and a- denotes entering a state, a fine
state in this case.

cageot crate (container used to transport or temporarily store beverage bottles,

vegetables, fruits, etc.), cagette, punnet. From cage + -ot (diminutive).

ployer (literary) to bend, to fold. Doublet with plier (“to fold”). Cognate with the
root of deploy (literally “to unfold”, “to unroll”, i.e. “to roll out”). See also plier.

rayure stripe, streak, ray; scratch (n.). Related to raie (“stripe”, “streak”). Possibly
cognate with ray. See also raie.

chétif puny, thin, sickly, meagre. Cognate with captive. Change ché- to ca- (as in
the case of cheval “horse”, cheveu “hair”) to see the cognation. Latin pt was
reduced to t in French. A captured prisoner becomes thin, malnourished, and sickly.
Or as a mnemonic, think of a sickly meagre chef, although a chef is normally
plump in body shape.

refouler to repress (literally or figuratively), to suppress, to hold back; to repel.

From re- (intensifier) + fouler (“to tread”, “to trample”). See also fouler.

imbiber to soak. Cognate with imbibe (“to drink”). In spite of the cognation, this
word does not mean “to drink” (which would be boire in French).

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chatouiller to tickle. Cognate with tickle if traced to Proto-Indo-European
according to one theory. According to Albert Douzat et al., it may be from chat
(“cat”). Imagine a cat lightly nudging you and you feel ticklish.

vanne floodgate, sluice gate; (informal) tease (n.), jest, playful remark or joke.
Cognate with fan (“hand-held wind-inducing device”). A floodgate resembles a fan.
The informal sense of “tease” may be etymologically related to the first sense. But
it may be better to use fun as a mnemonic.

parsemer to strew, to sprinkle, to scatter, arroser, joncher. From par + semer (“to
sow seeds etc.”). Letter s is pronounced /s/, not /z/. Don’t be tempted to split the
word into parse or parsem plus an ending. See also semer.

panache plume (used figuratively); panache (ornamental plume on a helmet).

Cognate with pinnacle. Examples, un panache de fumée (“a plume / column / trail
of smoke”); avec panache (“brilliantly”, “with panache”; the French phrase occurs
much more often than with panache in English).

chaux lime (calcium-containing mineral). Cognate with calcium. Not to be

confused with the homophone chaud (“hot”).

meute pack (of dogs or canines); group (of people etc.). Cognate with move,
mutiny (literally “group that revolt”). A pack of hounds move together. The second
sense is obviously an extension of the first.

extravagant eccentric, wild, fanciful, extravagant. Note that this French word does
not mean “wasteful”, “profuse in expenditure” as in English.

scander to chant (slogan), to read (poem) with rhythm, to articulate words

distinctly; to scan (poem) (cognate). Scanning a poem or scansion of a poem is to
determine the metric system of a poem. English scan in general literally means “to
examine sequentially, part by part”, which would be scanner (from English) or
balayer in French. Do not confuse scander with scandaliser (“to scandalize”),
scandale (“scandal”).

sceller to seal (cognate).

arbuste shrub, bush. Cognate with arbor (“shady place with trees and shrubs
covering the top”).
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bouclier shield. Cognate with buckle. Derived from boucle (“buckle”; “loop”). The
inside of the shield has a buckle for the hand to hold on.

brancard stretcher. Cognate with branch, according to Auguste Brachet. A

stretcher is a made of tree branches stripped of leaves.

anarchiste anarchist. This word is easy but note that ch is pronounced /ʃ/ as in
most French words, not /k/ as in English anarchist. (In contrast, ch in chœur or
choeur is pronounced /k/.)

dandiner to walk awkwardly. Cognate with dandle (“to move a child up and down
in a playful way”). Possibly ultimately imitative. Alternatively, use dance as a
mnemonic.

asperger to sprinkle, to spray. Cognate with sparge (“to moisten by sprinkling”),

asperge (“to sprinkle with holy water”), sparse (“thinly dispersed”), with the root
of disperse. Not to be confused with French asperge (“asparagus”), which happens
to be some conjugation forms of asperger. But as a mnemonic, imagine spraying
water onto asparagus as seen in a grocery store to keep vegetables fresh.

buis boxwood (tree or its wood). Doublet with bois (“wood”), buisson (“bush”). Or
from Old French bois. See also bois, buisson.

blanchâtre whitish. From blanche (“white”) + -âtre (“-ish”). The suffix also
occurs in verdâtre (“greenish”), jaunâtre (“yellowish”).

culot base, bottom; (informal) nerve, cheeck, guts, boldness, audacity (normally in
avoir du culot). From cul (“bottom”) + -ot (diminutive suffix). The informal
meaning probably comes from the fact that if you have something heavy at the
bottom, you’re stable and not afraid of lose balance. See also culotte (“pants”,
“knickers”, “shorts”).

voleter to flutter, to flit. From volet (“shutter”) + -er. See also volet.

saugrenu ridiculous, preposterous. From sel grenu. The phrase literally means “a
large-grained salt” (per Auguste Brachet). Think of the English idiom with a grain
of salt. If something has a large grain of salt, it must be absurd and not trustworthy.

369
reconduire to renew. When used as a legal term, reconduire is “to renew (a
contract) automatically” while renouveler is a more general word for “to renew”.
To renew a contract is like to re-conduct the work.

escargot snail. Partly cognate with conch (“shell of a type of sea animal”) or
cochlea (“spiral-shaped structure in the inner ear”). It’s better to use a mnemonic
such as “a snail carries a bulky body as if it was his cargo”. Lorayne and Lucas The
Memory Book suggests a mnemonic “a gigantic snail is carrying a cargo of S’s - S
cargo”.

niais foolish, simple, silly. Doublet with nid (“nest”), cognate with nest if traced to
Proto-Indo-European. Originally the word meant “caught in the nest (before the
bird learned to fly)”. A young bird not having learned to fly is inexperienced,
hence silly. Alternatively use a mnemonic such as “My niece is simple-minded.”
The spelling niais also happens to be the first- or second-person singular imperfect
form or nier (“to deny”), which is unrelated. See also nid.

fouillis mess, jumble, confusion, désordre. From fouiller (“to rummage”, “to
search”). When you rummage in a pile of things to find something, you create a
mess. See also fouiller.

rieur laughing (adj.), joking, cheerful; person who laughs. From rire (“to laugh”)
+ -eur (suffix to form agent noun, “-er”).

zut (interj.) damn, shoot, heck. Probably an onomatopoeia. There doesn’t seem to
be any convincing argument on not just the origin of this language-specific
interjection but why. It may be better to use English Shoot! as a mnemonic.

persienne window shutter, blind, louver. Cognate with Persia, Persian. Window
blinds were introduced into Europe from Persia. When they reached Venice,
Venetian blinds were created.

agrément approval, authorization; consent; pleasure, amusement, pleasantness,

charm. In the first sense, think of this word as a simple noun of the action “to
agree”. The second sense, as in voyage d’agrément (“pleasure trip”), is that in
English agreeable, and confers the verb agrémenter (“to embellish”, literally “to
make charming”). In either case, avoid confusing the word with English agreement,
which would be accord, contrat, pacte in French.

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façonner to shape, to fashion (cognate), to form, to make. See also façon (“way”,
“fashion”).

mamelon nipple. From mamelle (“mammary gland”, “breast”, “udder”) + -on

(diminutive suffix). The root is cognate with mamma, mama, mammal.

pare-brise windshield. From parer (“to parry”, “to ward off”, “to deflect”) + brise
(“breeze”). A windshield sure can deflect a breeze or wind. (Note brise means
“breeze”, not “breaking”, which would be bris.)

charogne carrion (cognate), decaying flesh of dead animals, carcasses. Also

cognate with carnage, doublet with carne (“meat”), chair (“flesh”). Change cha-
to ca- to see the cognation. See also chair.

caniveau street gutter (depression running along a road to collect rainwater and
divert it to a storm drain). Unknown origin. Possibly cognate with canal, channel
according to one theory. False friend of English carnival (French carnaval). Note
the street gutter is different from the gutter on a house, which would be gouttière in
French.

broussaille brushwood, undergrowth. From brosse (“brush”) + -aille (suffix with

pejorative sense). The root is cognate with brush, doublet with brousse (“bush”).
See also brosse, brousse.

faste splendor, pomp, ostentation; auspicious, lucky. Cognate with the first
element of fastidious (“very picky and hard to please”). From Latin fastus
(“haughtiness”, “disdain of others”). Imagine a fastidious person that is also
pompous or affectedly grand. Unrelated to English fast (either vite or jeûner in
French depending on the meaning). As a mnemonic, imagine a fat aristocrat
showing his pompous lifestyle. But note that this word is not derogatory.

inhabituel unusual, uncustomary. Since habituel means “usual”, “customary”,

“habitual”, this word with the in- prefix means exactly the opposite. Just don’t
confuse it with English inhabit (which would be habiter in French) or its related
words. The key to remember is that English prefix in- here means “in”, “within”,
“inside” while French in- signifies negation. Thus, for instance, English
inhabitable is French habitable, English uninhabitable is French inhabitable.

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arche arch (cognate); ark (cognate). This word is easy but note the two unrelated
senses merged in one form, while in English they are separate.

mi-clos half-closed. Prefix mi- is mid- in English, and clos is an adjective meaning
“closed” or the past participle of clore (“to close”). See also clore.

bleuté bluish, bleuâtre. This adjective is from the past participle of bleuter, a much
less frequent word than bleuir (“to make blue”). Letter t was added probably for
euphonic reasons. Synonym bleuâtre may have a slightly pejorative connotation
due to the -âtre suffix.

flambeau torch, torche. Cognate with flame, flamboyant. See also flamber (“to
flame”, “to burn”).

store blind (of window). Etymology is unhelpful and remote. Use a mnemonic
such as “a store of window blinds”. Note English store is a false friend and is
etymologically unrelated.

trimbaler to drag, to lug. Possibly cognate with tribulation (“suffering”), tribulate.

As a mnemonic, think of a tired and sick man in tribulation dragging himself along.
Or think of a tram dragging a ball.

lorgner to ogle, to leer. The derived word lorgnette (“opera glass with one handle”)
has entered English vocabulary. Etymology does not help. Use lunettes (“goggles”;
“sunglasses”) as a mnemonic. You may also use ogle, and imagine the initial l is
dropped as if it was the definite article on a noun and pronounce gn like g plus l
distinctly.

chaume thatch. Cognate with calamus (“sweet flag”, a type of wetland plant).
Alternatively, use chaud (“hot”) as a mnemonic and imagine a thatched roof keeps
the house cool in summer due to good insulation provided by the air pockets in the
straw thatch. Or think of thatch as chow mein (Chinese stir-fried noodles).

cachot dungeon. From cacher (“to hide”) + -ot (diminutive suffix). A dungeon is a
prison deeply hidden from ordinary view. Example, les ténèbres d’un cachot
(“darkness of a dungeon”).

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jonc rush, reed, cane. Probably cognate with junk (originally referring to old
useless ropes). Alternatively, use jungle as a mnemonic. Note: as in tronc (“trunk”),
c is silent, unlike that in donc.

caissier cashier. English cashier is from this word, which is from caisse (“box”,
“case”) + -ier. Also, English cash is derived from French caisse. The feminine of
this word is caissière; note the grave diacritic mark. See also caisse.

écorcher to remove skin, to skin, to flay. Cognate with excoriate (“to remove
skin”; “to harshly criticize”). Letter é- corresponds to ex- in the original Latin word.
This word and écorce (“tree bark”; “fruit peel”) are related only if their respective
roots are traced to Proto-Indo-European. Specifically, é in écorce is not a prefix as
é in écorcher is. Nevertheless, for word study purposes, we can consider them
related. See also écorce.

comptable accountant. comptabilité accounting. Suffix -able does not necessarily

mean “able” (e.g. English fashionable). Also note another word, compteur, means
“counter” “meter”; that’s a device, not a human.

muer to molt (cognate, also spelled moult), to shed feathers; to change, to mutate
(cognate). From Latin mutare (“to move”; “to change”), which as usual lost the
medial t when inherited by French (except in learned words). As a mnemonic,
compare shedding feathers with mowing a lawn. Or if the word molt is familiar to
you, directly use it as a mnemonic.

labourer to plow, to till. labour cultivation, plowing. Note that English labor is
labeur in French; labour in French, on the other hand, refers to plowing or the hard
labor of plowing the field only. To help remember which is which, as a mnemonic,
recall boue (“mud”), which sounds like the second syllable of French labour or
labourer, but not labeur.

lièvre hare. From Latin lepus (“hare”), which has entered English as the name of a
constellation in northern sky; Lepus (“hare”, “rabbit”) is close to Orion (“hunter”).
Use a mnemonic such as “A hare mostly eats grass but sometimes ferns and leaves.”
This word is unrelated to livre (“book”) or English leprosy (an infectious disease).

faîte top, summit, sommet. From Latin fastigium, which has entered English
vocabulary (“highest point”, a medical term referring to the highest temperature of

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fever, the most intense phase of disease, etc.). Alternatively, use first as a
mnemonic; the rule that a vowel with a diacritic should be followed by s somewhat
helps. Unrelated to fait (“fact”; “done”), fête (“party”, “festival”).

guidon handlebar (of a bike); guidon (pennant or flag carried by infantry soldiers
to direct troop movement). Cognate with guide. The primary sense is the first one.
The handlebar controls the direction of riding the bicycle or serves as a guide.

jetée jetty, pier, wharf, dock. English jetty is from this French word. From jeter
(“to throw”). A jetty extends into water as if this narrow piece of land is thrown out.
See also jeter.

ouf (interj.) whew, phew; crazy (person). In the first sense, this is an onomatopoeia.
Sometimes the sound of interjections as onomatopoeias is hard to explain. In this
case, both ouf and phew or whew have the component of /u:/ and /f/, albeit in
different orders, which are uttered in relief after strenuous work or intense focus. In
the second sense, it is a verlan (word spelled backward) of fou (“crazy”). Tip:
when a word is short and hard to explain otherwise, try switching letters to see if
it’s a verlan.

butte small hill, mound, knoll. From but (“target”). Cognate with butt. A shooting
target is placed on top of a small mound or hill. See also but.

brebis ewe, female sheep. The plural takes the same form. Related to berger
(“shepherd”). Use a mnemonic such as “the sheep bleats (calls) as if saying Baby!”
Or use bleat or baa (French bêle) as a mnemonic as they represent the sound of a
sheep.

minutieux thorough, elaborate, detailed, meticulous, painstaking. Cognate with

English minute (pronounced /maɪˈn(j)ut/, as in “minute details”). Note the different
meanings between English minute and French minutieux.

badaud onlooker, gawker, gullible or simple-minded bystander. Suffix -aud is

pejorative. This word, which has entered English vocabulary, has a pejorative
connotation. The Wikipedia page has an extensive description, including its origin,
which unfortunately does not aid in word memory. Use a mnemonic such as “bad
audience”.

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rôti roast (n. and adj.) (cognate). rôtir to roast (cognate). Change the diacritic-
marked vowel ô to os to see the cognation.

soubresaut jolt, jerk, spasm, sudden movement. Doublet with sursaut (“to jump”;
“to start”). Prefix soubre- is equivalent to English supra- or French sur-. Don’t
split the word between u and b; sou is not a prefix here. See also sursaut.

mesquin mean, miserly, niggardly, stingy, small-minded. Ultimately from Arabic.

As a mnemonic, treat mes- as if it was English mean or the first part of miscreant
or French méchant (“unkind or bad person”), and -quin as a suffix, which in
French is diminutive, as in mannequin, harlequin (but often written as -kin in
English, as in devilkin, napkin, pumpkin).

ferrer to clad in iron or other metal. ferré clad with iron; strong, skilled (just as
English strong can also mean “skilled”). From fer (“iron”). See also fer.

hospice nursing home (especially for old people). Avoid translating this word as
hospice in English, which refers to a facility for the terminally ill persons.

échantillon sample, specimen, extract. Cognate with scan, doublet with scander
(“to chant (slogan etc.)”). From Latin scandere (“to climb”). Originally the word
refers to a graduated (scaled) standard to measure merchant’s goods. Change é- to
s- and cha to ca to see the cognation. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, associate
quickly scanning through something with sampling or taking a portion of it (for
inspection). See also scander.

pesanteur weight. From pesant (“heavy” or present participle of peser), from

peser (“to weigh”). Suffix -eur forms an abstract noun like English -ness. The
difference between this word and gravité is the same as that between weight and
gravity. Not to be confused with peasant (paysan in French). See also peser.

avoine oat. Etymology does not help. Use a mnemonic such as “Avoid oats or
oatmeals and eat gluten-free food if you have celiac disease.”

douillet cosy, snug; (colloquial) oversensitive to pain, soft, effeminate. Use doux
(“sweet”, “soft”) as a mnemonic.

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ballot bundle, package, paquet. From balle (“ball”) + -ot (diminutive). A bundle is
like a small ball. This word is a false friend of English ballot, which would be
bulletin de vote in French.

envoi dispatch (n.), act of sending. This word is easy if you think of envoyer (“to
send”), but should not be confused with English envoy (“diplomatic agent”, envoyé
in French).

avérer (reflexive) to prove (oneself), to turn out (to be). The root is cognate with
verify. Example, il s’avère être un imposteur (“he turns out to be a impostor”).

matelot seaman, sailor, marin. Etymology does not help. Use a mnemonic such as
“Seamen are mates.” or “The seamen in a ship are the mates sharing the same
treacherous lot or fate.” Not to be confused with marteau (“hammer”, “martel”).

jupon petticoat, underskirt. From jupe (“skirt”) + -on (diminutive). Not to be

confused with English Japan or French Japon. See also jupe.

amour-propre self-esteem, self-love, pride. Literally it means “love (of) oneself”.

poivre pepper (cognate). From Latin piper (“pepper”), in which i changed to oi in

French (through an intermediate ei). Change of Latin p to French v is also common.
Not to be confused with pauvre. You may combine this word with pois and
remember together, poivrons et petits pois (“pepers and peas”). Examples, sel et
poivre (“salt and pepper”); poivre du moulin (“ground pepper”).

layon trail, lane (probably cognate).

entêter to be stubborn. Think of the word as meaning “to enable or make (one)
heady”, although English heady describes strong liquor. See also tête (“head”),
têtu (“stubborn”).

motard motorcyclist, motocycliste. From moto (“motorbike”) + -ard (suffix for

person, often with a pejorative sense, as in drunkard). This word has entered
English vocabulary.

alléger to alleviate (cognate), to lighten. From Latin alleviare, where v changed to

vj, which later lost v. Think of léger (“light”). This word is unrelated to English
allege, which would be alléguer or prétendre in French.

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frayeur fright, fear. Cognate with fracture, but not with fright. Unrelated to
effrayer (“to scare”) or frayer (“to clear path”; (reflexive) “to find”). Use afraid as
a mnemonic. Or if you already know the French word effrayer, that’s even better.
Just don’t confuse the word with frayer (“to clear”).

larguer to loosen, to slacken, to unfurl; to drop (a bomb etc.), (colloquial) to dump

(break up with). Cognate with large. Related to French large (“wide”). If
something is loosened, it spreads wide. Note the spelling of this word. Suffix -er
indicates a verb. This word is not frequently used, at least when compared to
détendre or desserrer.

nef nave (of a church) (cognate). Also cognate with navy, naval. The body or
central portion of a church, the nave, resembles a ship.

forcené fanatic, frenzied. The root part of the word -cené is cognate with sense,
and the no longer productive prefix for- cognate with the for- in forget, forbid,
forbear, etc., meaning “away from” or “outside”.

brouillon draft (of a document); disorganized, muddle-headed. From brouiller (“to

blur”). A draft document may be messy or disorganized. See also brouiller.

auvent penthouse; porch roof; awning (rooflike cover) (cognate). Origin of

English awning is uncertain but may be from Middle French auvans, plural of
auvent (“a sloping roof”), according to OED. Consider the fact that letter w
literally means double u and that u and v were interchanged in ancient times. So
change auvent to awent, which is close to awn-ing, to help remember the word.
Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of the word as joining au vent (literally “to the
wind”) and imagine a penthouse taking a refreshing breeze.

vallon small valley. From val (“valley”) + -on (diminutive suffix).

vécu life experience, personal story; past participle of vivre (“to live”). Note this
irregular form as the past participle of vivre, and the unusual usage of a past
participle form as a substantive or noun. Alternatively, you may use a mnemonic
such as “I squandered many years of my life, which was like a vacuum when I
think back now.”

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soutane cassock (full-length gown worn by certain Christian clergy), soutane
(from French). From Latin subtus (“below”, “underneath”), where -tus is a
common Latin suffix. A soutane reaches down to the feet. Not to be confused with
soudain (“sudden”). See also vivre.

pupitre school desk; music stand. Cognate with pulpit (“raised platform in a
church”). Not cognate with pupil, which nevertheless can be used as a mnemonic,
as in “a pupil’s desk”.

dorénavant from now on, henceforth, à partir de maintenant, désormais. From

d’or en avant (“from now to the future”, “from this hour onward”), where or is
cognate with hour. See also or (“yet”, “and yet”, “well”, “now”; “gold”),
désormais.

gîte vacation home, holiday home, holiday house, rented tourist cottage. Cognate
with gist (“the crux of a matter”). The original meaning is “to lie down”. English
lie as in “the main point lies in ...” may be compared to that in “to lie down in a
comfortable bed at home”. Change î to is to see the cognation. It’s better to use a
mnemonic. Imagine hearing beautiful guitar music while staying at a nice vacation
home. This word has entered English vocabulary.

pondre to lay (eggs). Cognate with posit (“to assume”, “to postulate”, literally “to
put”), which is from a participle of Latin ponere (“to put”). Not to be confused
with pendre (“to hang”). Use a mnemonic such as “The turtle lays eggs in the
pond.” or “The hen sitting there laying eggs looks as if she’s pondering her fate.”

ortie nettle (a plant with leaves that cause skin rash). Etymology does not help. If
you know orteil (“toe”), use it as a mnemonic as in “Mon orteil touche l’ortie et me
démange.” (“My toe touches nettle and is itchy.”)

roupiller to sleep, to doze, to snooze. The root of this word is onomatopoeic.

Imagine the sound a sleeping man could produce. Alternatively use a mnemonic
such as “He rolls on the pillow while sleeping.”

sacoche bag. Cognate with sack. French word ending -che is common.

réchaud stove, burner. From ré- + chaud (“hot”). Prefix ré- probably should be
understood as an intensifier.

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embraser to set fire to, to set ablaze, to kindle. From en- (“to enable”, “to make”)
+ braise (“ember”) + -er. Not to be confused with embrasser (“to kiss”). You can
of course associate a kiss with an ardent fervor as a mnemonic. See also braise.

parterre flower bed in a garden; pit in a theater. From par (“on”) + terre
(“ground”). Both the flower bed and the theater pit are on the ground. This word
has entered English as a term in horticulture and performing art.

hébété dazed, stupefied, under the influence of drugs or drug-like substance.

Cognate with hebetude (“mental dullness”, a word used more frequently a century
ago) and related words. Use a mnemonic such as “Taking certain herbs causes
dazing and hallucination” or “Herbert was dazed”.

costard (informal) suit (clothing). From costume + -ard (suffix with a slight
pejorative sense as in drunkard). Not to be confused with costaud (“strong”,
“beefy”).

meeting large, public gathering; rally. Although from English, this word does not
mean “meeting” as a group of coworkers have in a conference room, which would
be réunion in French. See also réunion.

pellicule film, thin layer. From Latin pellis ("skin"). Cognate with peel, pellicle ("a
thin layer supporting the cell membrane", a biological term), pillion, pelt. Suffix -
cule is diminutive. Of these cognates, peel may be the best memory aid since it
reminds of a thin film.

rescapé survivor. Probably related to échapper (“to escape”), which is cognate

with escape. A survivor is one that has escaped from a danger. Think of re- as an
intensifier instead of “again” or “back”. See also échapper.

doudou stuffed toy, stuffed animal (especially teddy bear). Reduplication of doux
(“soft”).

glapir to yelp, to shriek. If we trust Auguste Brachet’s etymological dictionary,

this word is cognate with clap. Ultimately it is imitative of a sound.

brouette wheelbarrow. Literally “small barrow”. Cognate with barrow in the sense
of “wheelbarrow” if traced to Proto-Germanic. The first element wheel is
prepended to the English word to make the sense more clear.
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doyen dean (in university) (cognate); doyen (senior member of a group). This
word or its ancestor has entered English vocabulary, twice; the first time, Old
French deien developed to an Anglo-Norman word and entered English as dean,
and the second time, the Modern French doyen, which descended from Old French
deien, was directly borrowed by English. As usual, the older a borrowing, the more
likely the spelling and pronunciation differs. Tip to remember the word: since oy in
this word is pronounced /wa/, treat it like oi and so as a general rule change it to i,
then the spelling dien is close to dean.

crotte dung, animal dropping; (interj.) shit, bother. T. C. Donkin in his Etym. Dict.
Romance Lang. stated that this word is probably cognate with English clod (“a
lump of earth or clay”), clot (“solidified mass of any liquid”, now more commonly
“solidified mass of blood”).

gage pledge, guarantee, security deposit, guaranty (legal guarantee that debt will
be paid; property relinquished to ensure this). Cognate with the root of engage,
which originally meant “to pledge or pawn something”, later “to enter into a
contract”, and then “to involve oneself in an activity”.

ficeler to tie up, to bind; (reflexive) to get dressed. From ficelle (“string”). The
participle is often used in bien ficelé(e) (“well-crafted”), said of the plot of a story,
or of a scam. See also ficelle.

lampadaire floor lamp, standard lamp; street light. The -adaire ending is not a
separate word, but partly a derivative from Latin suffix -arius.

rebrousser to brush (hair); to retrace one’s steps, to go back, rebrousser chemin

(an idiom in which rebrousser frequently occurs). The root is doublet with brosse
(“brush”), cognate with brush, with metathesis (transposition of sounds in a word).
See also brosse.

maçon builder; bricklayer, mason (cognate).

oranger orange tree. From orange + -ier. Suffix -ier indicates the tree that bears
the fruit, as in abricotier (“apricot tree”), bananier (“banana tree”), cerisier
(“cherry tree”), poirier (“pear tree”), pommier (“apple tree”).

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illisible illegible, unreadable. The root is from lire (“to read”), an irregular verb,
some conjugated forms of which begin with lis-. See also lire.

Noël Christmas. From Latin natalis (“birth”), whose medial t was later dropped.
This word, sometimes spelled Noel, is shown frequently in the US during the
Christmas season.

déballer to unpack. From dé- (“un-”) + balle (“bundle of goods”; “ball”) + -er.
Packing is likened to rolling things into a ball. See also emballer (“to pack”).

désabusé disillusioned, disenchanted, corrected. The root is cognate with abuse.

English disabuse means “to free (someone) of a misconception” but is a rare word.
Abuse originally or literally means “misuse”. But French abuser can mean “to
mislead” in addition to “to misuse”. Example, qui n’a jamais été désabusé en
ouvrant un paquet de chips, bien gonflé, mais à moitié rempli? (“who has never
been disillusioned by opening a packet of chips, quite inflated, but half full?”). See
also abuser.

caleçon boxer shorts or pants or underpants. Doublet with chaussure (“shoe”),

chaussette (“sock”), chausser (“to put on (footwear)”). As a mnemonic, think of a
garçon wearing short pants. See also chaussure, chaussette, chausser.

casquer (informal) to pay, to cough up (money); to put on helmet. In the second

sense, the word is simply from casque (“helmet”) + -er. In the first sense, the word
is cognate with cascade. But sense development is obscure. As a mnemonic, think
of shelling out a large sum of money as pouring down what’s inside a money jar.
See also casque.

saccager to sack (cognate), to pillage, to loot, to ransack. Barbarians defeat and

sack a city; they put the loot into sacks or bags.

péripétie peripeteia (cognate), sudden change in circumstances especially

misfortune that suddenly comes. This French word is more than 10 times more
frequently used than its English counterpart. Ancient Greek origin. The prefix péri-
means “around”. The root component -pétie is cognate with petition if traced to
Proto-Indo-European. Use pity as a mnemonic. Or think of someone going through
mishaps petitioning to the government for aid.

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amarrer to moor (cognate). From Dutch aanmeren, prefix aan- means “on”, “to”.
Or use mer (“sea”) as a mnemonic and imagine a boat mooring when coming back
from sea. See also démarrer (“to start”).

échéance expiration date, due date, expiration, deadline. The root is doublet with
chute (“fall”). Expiration is likened to falling down. It may be easier to use échec
et mat (“checkmate”, “check”) or just échec (“failure”) as a mnemonic. The
deadline causes psychological stress just as the check in playing chess does.
Alternatively, think of asking for another chance to do something (to pay money
etc.) on the expiration day.

cribler to sift, to sieve; to riddle (to fill with holes, to punch many holes). If traced
to Proto-Indo-European, cognate with the root of discriminate, in which -cri- may
serve as a memory aid. Or as a mnemonic, imagine a picture of a crib and a sieve,
two things that in the old times represented a woman’s house duty, child rearing
and cooking. (But the word is unrelated to English crib, which is lit d’enfant or lit
de bébé in French).

braguette fly on clothing (which covers an opening equipped with a zipper or

buttons as over the groin in trousers); (historical) codpiece. Cognate with breeches
(a garment worn by men) if traced to Proto-Germanic. Not to be confused with
baguette (“rod”; “baguette”), braquer (“to aim a gun or camera”).

lanière strap, thong. Cognate with lanyard (a cord or strap with one end attached
to the body and the other holding keys or an ID card).

décroître to decrease (cognate), diminuer. See also croître (“to grow”), accroître
(“to increase”).

encolure neck opening of clothing, neckline, collar size; neck of a horse. See also
col (“neck”).

as ace (in card game) (cognate); ace (cognate), expert. Note that its pronunciation
is /ɑs/, unlike as as the conjugated form of avoir where it’s pronounced /ɑ/.
Obviously, this word is a false friend of English as.

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cantique canticle (cognate), chant (cognate), sacred song, hymn. This French word
is ten times more frequent in French than canticle in English according to Google
Ngram.

ballant slack, dangling. Cognate with ballet, ballistic. Traced to Ancient Greek,
the word meant “to throw one’s body” because ancient Greek dance was highly
active. English ballistic is from Latin ballista (“an ancient military engine used for
throwing large missiles”). Imagine a dance in which the arms have to be dangling.

chut shush, shh, hush (a request for silence). Onomatopoeia. The common element
in a request for silence is the sound sh /ʃ/. While the word in English repeats or
ends with this sound, the French word ends it with a weak, abrupt, voiceless dental
stop. Unrelated to chute (“fall”) except as a conjugated form of the literary word
choir (“to fall”).

paroisse parish (cognate). As a rule, change oi to i to remember this word,

although in this case, it’s not simply that the vowel in a common Latin etymon
developed to oi in French and i in English.

mobilier furniture. Cognate with mobile. Doublet with meuble (“a piece of
furniture”). This word may be used in the context of furniture industry and occurs
much less frequently than meuble. See also meuble.

fantassin infantryman, foot soldier. Cognate with infantry (infanterie in French).

This word has nothing to do with English fantasy or French fantaisie. The word-
initial in- was simply lost in usage (apheresis).

canette little duck, duckling; tin can. In the first sense, the word is from cane
(“female adult duck”) with a diminutive suffix. In the second sense, or rather a
different word with this form, it’s cognate with can (“container”). See also canard
(“duck”).

serre greenhouse; claw (of an eagle). From serrer (“to tighten”). A greenhouse is a
tightly closed environment. Examples, effet de serre (“greenhouse effect”); gaz à
effet de serre (“greenhouse gas”).

mallette briefcase. From malle (“trunk”, “suitcase”) + -ette (diminutive). Mallette

may be smaller than valise (“suitcase”) and is a much less frequent word. It is a

383
false friend of English mallet (“hammer”) and is unrelated to French maillet
(“mallet”, “hammer”). See also malle.

moutarde mustard (cognate). From Old French moustarde. Apparently Modern

French and English dropped s and o of the first syllable, respectively. It’s unusual
that u in moutarde has no diacritical mark.

décombres rubble, ruins. Plural only. According to one theory, the -combres
component means “heap” and is cognate with cumulative, from Latin cumulus.
Compare to the more frequent word encombrer (“to encumber”, “to hinder”),
cognate with encumber. A heap of rubble hinders or blocks the forward movement.
Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “The rubble contains decomposed rubbish.”

impôt tax. Cognate with impose. Tax is not what people naturally are willing to
pay and must be imposed on taxpayers. Unrelated to import, which nevertheless
can be used as a mnemonic as in “tax for imported goods”.

narguer to taunt, to mock, to jeer at, to defy with contempt. narquois mocking,
bantering, satirical. Probably from Latin naris (“nostril”), cognate with nasal,
doublet with narine (“nostril”). A person wrinkles his nose to show contempt.
Alternatively, use snarky (“sharply critical”, “sniding”) as a mnemonic, or use
argue and remember to prepend n. Taunting someone leads to an argument or even
altercation.

coquet pretty, charming, cute; flirtatious, coquettish. This word is an adjective,

from which the noun coquette is derived. Note the first sense of this word, which
does not have a negative connotation as in English. Unrelated to coque (“hull”;
“shell”).

carrosserie body (of a vehicle), (auto) body work. carrosse coach, carriage.
Etymologically related to chariot. Change ca- to cha- (see also cheval, “horse”) to
see the cognation. Carrosse should not be confused with carreau (“tile”; “square”).

brindille twig, sprig. From brin (“twig”) + -ille (diminutive). The intercalated d
was never explained with consensus. Use a mnemonic such as “a bundle of twigs”,
or “The brindle pattern on the dog’s fur looks like neatly arranged twigs.” (English
brindle refers to “a coat coloring pattern in animals, particularly dogs, ...”
according to Wikipedia.) See also brin.

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cabrer (reflexive) (horse) to rear up; (airplane) to lift nose up. Probably from
Spanish cabra (“goat”). Cognate with caper ("to leap, especially like a goat"), with
the first element of Capricorn ("zodiac sign for goat"), possibly with capricious.

moucher (reflexive) to blow the nose, to wipe the nose. Cognate with mucus.
Mouchoir (“handkerchief”) is from moucher + -oir (suffix indicating a tool).
Unrelated to mouche (“fly”), moche (“ugly”). See also mouchoir.

surnommer to give a nickname. surnom nickname, alias. Note the false friends:
English surname is not surnom in French, but nom de famille (literally “family
name”) instead. Incidentally, English first name or given name is prénom in French.

héberger to lodge, to accommodate, to house. Germanic origin, with no commonly

used English descendants. Use auberge (“hostel”) as a mnemonic.

convive guest (at a dinner, banquet, etc.), diner. The root component -vive means
“to live”. Apparently the sense has shifted from “living together” to “dining
together”. This word is both masculine and feminine.

truand gangster, crook; beggar. Cognate with truant (“absent from school without
permission”). A beggar wanders around. The sense of “wandering around”
changed to “wandering or being away from school” when the word entered English
now written as truant. Note this word does not mean “truant” (which in French
would be absent de l’école, or qui fait l’école buissonnière as if the pupil hides in
bushes away from school). Consider them false friends.

sourdine mute (device to reduce the sound of a musical instrument). Probably

from Italian instead of directly from Latin. Related to sourd (“deaf”). See also
sourd.

enfourcher to sit astride, to bestride, to mount, to get on (a horse etc.). From en- +
fourche (“pitchfork”, cognate with fork) + -er. When sitting astride, the two legs
are likened to a fork. See also fourche.

contrebas lower level. The word almost always follows en; en contrebas means
“below”, “at a lower level”. From contre- + bas (“low”). The prefix contre- is to be
understood as “facing” or “in front of one’s eyes”, as in contrée (“land”, “country”,

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a literary word). A similar example is German Gegend (“region”) from gegen
(“against”).

pion (chess) pawn (cognate), (board game) counter; (figurative) pawn, person
being manipulated. Also cognate with pioneer, from a Latin word that means “foot
soldier”. Derived words include pionnier (“pioneer”). It’s interesting that this word
(pion) could have a derived word semantically approbative or laudative (pionnier).

prune plum. While English prune (“dried fruit of plum”) is from Old French, it is
a false friend of French prune. English prune is pruneau in French. Suffix -eau is
diminutive.

golfe gulf (cognate). Doublet with gouffre (“pit cave”). English golf is a false
friend, which has entered French vocabulary also spelled as golf. See also gouffre.

complot plot, conspiracy. Unknown origin. As a mnemonic, think of it as

“together (com-) plot” or “plot planned together”.

rusé cunning, smart. Cognate with ruse (“trick”, “guile”, “deceiving action”).

héler to call out, to hail. This French word is from English hail, as some other sea
terms e.g. cabine (“cabin”), loch, paquebot (“liner”, “ship”), yatch. Letter é best
matches the sound of ai in hail and is not from a contraction of es.

loyer rent (money for rent) (n.). Related to louer in the sense of “to rent” (but not
“to praise”), and to location (“rent”, “rental”, a false friend of English location).
See also louer.

criard garish, overly colorful, showy, loud, noisy. From crier (“to cry”) + -ard
(suffix often with a pejorative connotation, as in drunkard).

condé (slang) cop. Cognate with count (“nobleman ranked lower than duke”), with
the first element of constable (originally and literally “officer of the stables”).
Condé obviously is not related to condemn, which nevertheless you may use to
create a mnemonic as it’s often used in the context of law enforcement.

volaille poultry. Cognate with volatile. Their common Latin source means “flying”.
While a poultry (chicken, duck, etc.) does not fly, it is a fowl, i.e. a type of bird.
English volatile literally means “flying”, as evaporating vapor does.

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sangler to strap, to lace tightly, to cinch (cognate). Doublet with cingler (“to beat
with a strap”). Not related to sanglant (“bloody”), sanglot (“sob”). See also cingler.

faune wildlife, fauna (cognate).

déchet trash. déchéance decay (n.), decline, downfall, degradation. Cognate with
decay. The roots of the two words are variants of French choir (“to fall”, a false
friend of English choir), cognate with chute (“slide for things or water to go down
on”) or the root of parachute, with cadence (literally “falling or closing”). If
English decay does not ring a bell, use deject (“to make sad”; originally but now
obsolete, “to throw down”) as a mnemonic; trash is something you throw down to
the trash can. Or “the used fuel tank is detached and ejected from the rocket as
trash”. Example, nettoyer les déchets (“to clean up the trash”). See also choir.

capuchon hood, cowl. Cognate with cape, cap. Can be traced to a Latin word
meaning “head”. Suffix -on is diminutive. According to Wikipedia, “[a] capuchon
is a cone-shaped ceremonial hat worn during the Mardi Gras celebration in the
Cajun areas of southwestern Louisiana.” Italian coffee drink cappuccino is named
after the habits (garments) worn by the Capuchin friars due to their black color.

à l’instar de just like, comme. English stand may be cognate with instar if we go
beyond Latin. To stand is to stay in the same place, hence the meaning “just like”
for the adverbial phrase à l’instar de. You can use it where you use comme.

maïs corn, maize (cognate). Both French maïs and English maize are from Spanish.

guêpe wasp. Cognate with wasp if traced to Proto-Germanic. As usual, the

diacritic mark of ê hides an omitted s so change ê to es. Gu- is from w-. This w-to-
gu change also occurred in the formation of gâcher (“to ruin”), gâter (“to spoil (a
child)”), which are cognate with waste, and is the reason behind the English
doublets warranty and guaranty.

pioche pickaxe. From pic (“pick”) + -oche (suffix). English pick (tool) is not
cognate with French pic but serves as a perfect mnemonic. Suffix -oche for a noun
is not common. Remember to split pioche between i and o, not o and c, in
analyzing it.

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ornière rut (groove in a road formed by the wheels of vehicles); habit or pattern of
behavior. Cognate with orbit (whose Latin etymon means “track”). Due to the
unusual change of the second syllable consonant, this etymology may not be
helpful. As a mnemonic, think of the ruts on the road as ornamental art. Or if you
know ornery (“stubborn”, “bad-tempered”), it may be used as a mnemonic as well.

hirondelle swallow (bird). This word is familiar to those specialized in taxonomy:

Hirundinidae as family and sub-family, Hirundo as genus, which includes the
species Hirundo rustica, commonly known as barn swallow. For others, try using
heron, also a bird, as a mnemonic.

brasier blaze, large fire. From braise (“embers”). This word has entered English
vocabulary commonly spelled as brazier (“a container for hot coals, for heating or
cooking or rituals”). Related to Brazil. See also braise.

échafaudage scaffolding, scaffold (cognate). Change é- to s- and cha to ca to see

the cognation. Note the suffix -age. Without it, échafaud, a much less frequent
word, refers to the scaffold where a criminal is executed, not that for building
construction work.

émail enamel (cognate). English enamel is from en- + a later development of Old
French esmal (“enamel”). Also cognate with smelt, whose relation to émail is
easier to see if é- is changed to s-. This word, in which é is read /e/, is an obvious
false friend of English email, which in French is email, e-mail or courrier
électronique. Diacritical marks in many French words are essential; this word is
one salient example. It has its verb émailler (“to coat with enamel).

minet kitty, pussy cat. Unknown origin. Possibly from Latin minimus (“least”),
with diminutive suffix -et.

fantasme (sexual) fantasy. Note that a fantasy without a sexual connotation (just
imagination, whim) is fantaisie. If you must use a mnemonic to help remember
which is which, consider the fact that fantasme contains both f (for female) and m
(for male).

indicible unspeakable, indescribable. Its root and French dire (“to say”) are from
the same Latin origin, decere (“to say”). Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of
decibel, the unit for measuring the volume of sound, and in- as negation.

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caméra movie camera, TV camera. Note that a camera used by consumers is
appareil photo in French.

loucher to squint, to be cross-eyed; (colloquial) to ogle, to lust after. From louche

(“suspicious”, “fishy”, but originally “cross-eyed”) + -er. Unless you know one
other Romance language or Latin, use a mnemonic such as “Lucy squinted.” See
also louche.

débit flow rate (of electric current, water, blood, network data, etc.); (accounting)
debit (cognate). This word looks easy but note the first meaning, which is missing
in English debit. As a mnemonic, imagine that something flows away (dé-) bit by
bit, whether it’s electric current, fluid, or network data. This word is doublet with
dette (“debt”).

conjurer to entreat, to beseech, to beg; to ward off (danger, bad luck), to exorcise
(demons). Although English conjure is from Old French, this French word does
not primarily mean “to conjure” in the sense of “to make appear magically” (faire
apparaître comme par magie).

démentir to deny (a rumor). From dé- + mentir (“to lie”). The opposing (dé-)
action of telling a lie is denying it. See also mentir.

auréole halo, aureola (cognate). From Latin aureola (“gold”). Recall that the
chemical symbol for metal gold is Au.

voguer to sail, to row, to wander, to drift. French and later English vogue is
derived from this word. A vogue or fashion is like a wave; it comes and goes.

louange praise (n.). From louer in the sense of “to praise” (not “to rent”). The -
ange ending (note this is not -age) appears to be a suffix (as cnrtl.fr claims). See
also louer.

meurtrir to bruise, to injure (also used figuratively). Cognate with murder if

traced to Proto-Germanic. In the entry for meurtrier (“murderer”; “murderous”)
and meurtre (“murder”), we say that there’s no verb in French matching English
murder as a verb; use assassiner or tuer instead. This word, meurtrir, does have a
sense of “to murder”, but it is obsolete; a dictionary published in 1882 gives both

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“to bruise” and “to kill” in the definition, and the latter sense is gone in newer
dictionaries. See also meurtrier, meurtre.

lierre ivy. The word results from a confusion of l’ierre, where the word ierre is
from Latin hedera (genus for “ivy”), which has entered English as a horticultural
term. Use a mnemonic such as “The wild boar’s lair is surrounded by ivy bush.” or
“This politician, a graduate from an Ivy League school, is a liar.”

effilocher to fray, to unravel, effiler. From é- (“off”, “away”) + fil (“thread”) + -

oche, which is an uncommon suffix, seen in brioche (pastry), pioche (“pickaxe”).

toison fleece; lots of hair, mane. Related to tondre (“to sheer sheep”, “to mow
grass”). Unrelated to toiser (“to size up”). Use a mnemonic such as “fleecing a
sheep in Tucson, Arizona”.

immonde unclean, filthy, foul, impure. The root is from Latin mundus, from which
French monde (“world”) and English mundane are derived. But this sense of the
Latin word is in turn from its original sense of “neat” or “clean”, as F.E.J. Valpy
explained in his Etym. Dict. Latin Lang. that mundus (“universe”, “world”) is
“from the neatness and grace displayed in the arrangement of things”. Prefix im-
negates the sense of “neat”. If you only think of the root meaning “world”, you
almost have to reverse the meaning of the whole word unless, as a mnemonic, you
read immonde as “in the (dirty) world” and ignore the negative effect of im-. Note
that im- or imm- is pronounced /im/, not /ɛ/̃ , since the /m/ sound is followed by a
vowel (this rule has a few exceptions, though).

feuilleton TV soap opera; feuilleton (part of newspaper or magazine with such

contents as art critique, literature, serial story, etc.). Nowadays the primary
meaning is the first one, “soap opera”. See the entry on Wikipedia for more
information. See also feuille (“leaf”, “sheet”).

apôtre apostle (cognate). Change ô to os to see the cognation.

enfilade row (of houses or rooms, etc.), series, string, line, rangée. From enfiler
(“string”). See also enfiler.

hongrois Hungarian. Hongrie Hungary.

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andouille andouille; (slang) fool. Andouille is a smoked sausage originating in
France and popular in Louisiana in the US as part of Cajun cuisine. The word is
from Latin *inductilis (“properly a gut into which minced meat has been
introduced” according to A. Brachet), where in- changed to an-, and -ctil- to -cl- to
-il-. If you prefer a mnemonic, imagine this sausage being sold at Randalls.

ternir to tarnish (cognate).

purée puree, thick soup or paste. Cognate with pure. Such creamy paste is purified
and refined.

apitoyer to make someone feel pity for; (reflexive) to feel sorry for. The root is
cognate with pity.

abreuver to water, to give water; (reflexive) to quench thirst. The root is cognate
with beverage, with the root of imbrue (“to stain”; note this is not imbue), doublet
with boire (“to drink”).

débouler to tumble down. Imagine a ball (boule) rolling down a pile of junk.

basque Basque (the language, or as an adjective); tail of a tailcoat. The second

sense is probably from Basque traditional dress. This sense entered English, but
unlike in Modern French, the word refers to part of a woman’s lingerie. See the
Wikipedia page for “Basque (clothing)” for the distinction. To remember this sense,
use bask (“to bathe”) as a mnemonic but remember the meaning in English (part of
lingerie) is not exactly the same as in French.

potage potage, soup, soupe. From pot (“pot”) + -age. This word has entered
English vocabulary. It means the same as soupe, just a little more formal or posh.

édredon eiderdown (soft feathers from an eider duck; quilt filled with these
feathers or down) (cognate). The French word is borrowed from Danish. The
English word is from Icelandic probably by way of a Scandinavian language.

tortue tortoise, turtle. There’s a difference between a tortoise and a turtle,

depending on whether it lives on land or in water. But this French word can refer to
either of them. To be clear, they can be called tortues terrestres, tortues aquatiques,
respectively. Don’t confuse this word with torture, which would be torture (n.) or
torturer (v.) in French. One theory, probably not a dominant one though, about the
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origin of French tortue or English tortoise is that its feet are twisted, thus related to
torture.

simulacre image, representation; feint, sham, travesty. Cognate with simulate.

From Latin simulacrum, where suffix -crum suggest the result of an action.

grue crane (bird); crane (machine). Unless you know the Grus constellation in the
southern sky, said to resemble a crane, it’s better to use a mnemonic such as “An
electromagnetic crane hoists scrap metal as if glue was used.” But the word is not
to be confused with English glue, which would be colle in French. If you know
goulot (“neck of a bottle”), use that as a mnemonic and think of the long neck of a
crane, the bird as well as the machine.

moelleux soft, supple, mellow. moelle bone marrow, moelle osseuse; spinal cord,
moelle spinale, (formerly) moelle épinière. Cognate with medulla (“inner soft part
of an organ or tissue”; “marrow”). From Latin medulla, which later lost the medial
d. Unrelated to mou (“soft”), which nevertheless can be used as a mnemonic.

désemparé distraught, at a loss, in distress, to be helpless, éperdu. désemparer to

disable, to cripple, to stop. From dés- + emparer (“to seize”, “to get hold of”). The
opposite (dés-) of holding onto something is losing it, hence figuratively, “at a
loss”, “distraught”. See also emparer.

draguer (colloquial) to chat up with, to flirt with, to try to seduce; to dredge. From
English drag. Sense development is peculiar. English dredge (“to clear the bottom
of water by removing mud, etc.”; “to catch fish with a dragnet”) may be from drag.
The sense of dredge, but the spelling of drag, entered French. But a more common
sense of draguer is its colloquial, figurative, usage: flirting with a girl is likened to
catching a fish. Example, sans les restos et les bars (fermés à cause du covid), je
ne peux plus draguer! je ne rencontre personne (“without the restaurants and bars
(closed due to covid), I can't flirt anymore! I don’t meet anybody.”).

chevalet easel. From cheval (“horse”) + -et (diminutive). An easel for painting
with four feet somewhat resembles a little horse.

rameau branch. Cognate with the first element of ramification (“consequence of

an action”; literally in botany or anatomy, “developing branches”), i.e. rami-.

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diversion amusement, entertainment, pastime, diversion. divertir to amuse, to
entertain. English diversion has a secondary sense of “pastime” as a result of the
primary sense of “diverting the mind away from tedious work”. English divert,
however, only keeps the original sense of the Old French word divertir, a sense
almost completely lost in Modern French (where dérouter or détourner are better
translations).

goguenard mocking, bantering, jeering, narquois. Etymology does not help. Use a
mnemonic such as “The comedian wears a pair of funny goggles and tells mocking
jokes.”

acheminer to transport, to carry, to send; (reflexive) to head for, to make one’s

way to. From a- + chemin (“path”) + -er.

contenance capacity, capacité. Cognate with content, contain. From French

contenir (“to contain”). Although English countenance (“facial appearance”) is
etymologically related, the meaning is completely different.

miauler to meow. Obviously an onomatopoeia. Suffix -er indicates a verb.

cocotte (baby talk) hen, chicken; casserole. Onomatopoeia, mimicking a small

chicken’s sound. This word has much more meanings in informal usage.

saccade jerk (n.), sudden movement; saccade (a medical term meaning jerky
movement of the eyes from one focus to another). Cognate with Spanish sacar (“to
take out”) in case you know Spanish. Otherwise use shake as a mnemonic. Or
imagine an angry man saying “Suck it!”, with the arm making a jerky swing.

piler to grind, to crush (in cooking); (colloquial) to slam on the car brake. Cognate
with pillar. The tool to crush food resembles a pillar. (The word is not related to
pestle though.) Slamming on the brake is like heavily pounding on it.

réclame advertisement. From réclamer (“to claim”, “to demand”). Literally

réclame means “loud shouting”. It does not mean “reclaim”. See also réclamer.

guignol glove puppet; puppet theater; fool, clown. From guigner (“to peek or wink
at”). Probably cognate with English wink (g-w connections are seen in guard-ward,
etc.). Use giggle as a mnemonic and pretend gnol in guignol is pronounced gle.
Imagine children laughing and giggling when watching a puppet show.
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bourguignon Burgundian. From Latin Burgundionem, where the -ndi- group
easily lost d. If we trace to Proto-Indo-European, the name Burgundy is cognate
with burg and borough, which are part of the names of many US towns.

charnu fleshy, plump. Cognate with carnal. Suffix -u forms an adjective, as in

pointu (“pointed”, “sharp”), poilu (“hairy”). See also chair (“flesh”).

bricoler to do DIY, to do home improvement. Etymology is unknown, or

unreliable and not helpful. As a mnemonic, imagine a DIY type of handyman
tinkering with bricks to fix his house.

empressement eagerness, enthusiasm, alacrity. From empresser (“to hasten”) + -

ment. An enthusiastic person does things quickly. See also empresser.

marécage swamp, marshland, marais (doublet), marsh (cognate, traced to Proto-

Germanic). Changing é to es makes it slightly easier to see the cognation. This is
not a compound word of which cage is an element; instead, -age is a noun suffix.
Some people think there’s a subtle difference between marécage and marais. See
also marais.

méprendre (reflexive) to make a mistake, to be mistaken. From mé- (“bad”, mis-)

+ prendre (“to take”). Although closely related to mépris (“contempt”) and
mépriser (“to despise”), this word has a different meaning and is not as strong, and
has a lower frequency; it’s more common to say se tromper or faire une erreur.
See also mépris, mépriser.

béquille crutch; (bicycle or motorcycle) kickstand. From bec (“beak of a bird”).

The crosspiece on top of the crutch resembles a bird’s beak. See also bec.

dévoué devoted (cognate). dévouer to devote (cognate); to sacrifice. English

devote is from devotus, a participle of Latin devovere, hence t, while French
dévouer did not go through that route. Note the word dévouer is not as common as
consacrer. See also dévouement (“devotion”).

frileux sensitive to the cold; cautious, timid, unadventurous, unenthusiastic.

Cognate with frigid. The l in frileux is due to the diminutive suffix back in Latin,
which did not survive into English. As a mnemonic, think of freezing low
temperature. If you know Spanish, use frío (“cold”) as a mnemonic. Unrelated to

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frill (“pleated edge of a dress”), but you can imagine “wearing frilled dress in
winter”.

flétrir (reflexive) to wither, to wilt, se faner. Cognate with flaccid (“flabby”, “soft
and hanging loosely”). As a mnemonic, imagine a flexed tree (bending tree) must
be withered and wilted.

amoncellement heap, pile. amonceler to pile up, to build up, to accumulate.

Cognate with mountain, mount. From monceau (“heap”, “pile”) by way of an Old
French word. See also monceau.

lin linen (cognate if traced to Proto-Indo-European); flax.

anse handle (of a bucket, cup, etc.), poignée; bay, cove. Etymologically related to
English ample. But that’s not helpful. As a mnemonic, imagine lots of ants on the
handle of a basket. Or think of Anne’s basket.

juré juror; past participle of jurer (“to swear”). A juror may be thought of as one
that has sworn an oath (to speak the truth, etc.). See also jurer.

échelon rung of a ladder; grade, level, echelon. From échelle (“ladder”; “scale”,
“proportion”) (cognate with scale) + -on (diminutive suffix). English echelon is
from this word. Note the first meaning, which is literal or not abstract. Example,
gravir les échelons (“to work one’s way up”, literally “to climb the rungs of the
ladder). See also échelle.

tapage noise, uproar, din. From taper (“to hit”, “to knock”) (cognate with tap).
Tapping makes noise, but tapage is more general than tapping noise. See also
taper.

gaspiller to waste. Uncertain etymology. According to one theory, it is cognate

with spill. Use a mnemonic such as “look, gas (gasoline) spills, you’re wasting it”
or “gas spillage is a waste”.

escadre squadron (of airplanes in air force or ships in navy) (cognate), wing. From
Italian squadra. Also related to English or French square, and French cadre
(“frame”).

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pleurnicher to whine, to whimper, to complain. The first element is pleur (“cry”).
The second may be traced to miche (“round loaf of bread”), which is related to the
concept of bread crumbs. But it’s easier to use a semi-mnemonic such as “to whine
over bread crumbs”, or a completely made-up one “to whine in a small corner or
niche in the house”.

téter to suckle. Cognate with teat. Not to be confused with and unrelated to tête
(“head”).

sous-entendu implied, hinted, implicite. From sous-entendre (“to imply”), a much

less common word than sous-entendu. Entendre (“to hear”) has an archaic sense of
“to understand”. Literally, “under-understood” is equivalent to “implied”. But if
instead you think of “under-heard” or “not clearly heard”, that’s not too far from
the sense “implied” either.

pelage fur (of animal). From poil (“hair”). Possibly related to pelouse (“lawn”).
Possibly cognate with the second component of capillary. This word has entered
English vocabulary. Generally, pelage refers to furs less dense than fourrure;
fourrure is also more frequent. See also poil, pelouse.

pie magpie. The second element of English magpie is from Old French pie, from
Latin, while the first element is from Margaret, the name of a character
traditionally associated with idle chattering. Though pronounced totally differently,
English pie (food) is actually from the same Latin source, semantically “from the
idea of the many ingredients put into pies likened to the tendency of magpies to
bring a variety of objects back to their nests” according to Wikipedia.

bourrasque gust of wind. From Latin boreas (“north wind”) by way of Italian. An
aurora in high northern lattitudes is called aurora borealis or northern light. You
may also have heard of boreal forest (literally “northern forest”), the world’s
largest land biome covering vast expanses in Canada, Alaska, and Russia. If you’re
familiar with military history, you may have heard of French Navy Bourrasque-
class destroyers. Alternatively, use blast as a mnemonic. This word is unrelated to
bourrer (“to stuff”), bourre (“wad”).

brouter to graze, (of animal) to browse (cognate). Nowadays English browse

almost exclusively refers to scanning through a book or navigating on the Internet.

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But its original meaning, still used in its context, is for an animal to move about
eating plants.

affleurer to be flush with, to be on the same surface. The root is fleur (“flower”)
but an alternative meaning evolved from that to “the best part” and to “the part on
top or surface”. As a half-mnemonic, imagine a large flat field of blooming flowers
whose tops are all of the same height. The idiom à fleur de peau, literally “to be on
the edge of skin”, means “very sensitive”, “on edge”.

mention mention; (exam) grade, merit. Note the second meaning, which includes
not just range of exam scores or marks but also level of distinction for an academic
degree. In American, Canadian and some other countries’ universities, cum laude,
magna cum laude, etc. are called Latin honors. In French universities, there are
mentions honorifiques e.g. mention honorable.

hacher to chop. Cognate with hack if traced to Proto-Germanic. English hash

(“cooked meat cut into small pieces”; “to chop into small pieces”) is from this
French word.

rêvasser to daydream. From rêver (“to dream”) + -asser (diminutive or pejorative

suffix). A daydream either understood literally or as a wishful thinking is a short
dream not taken seriously. See also rêver.

bruyère heath. Related to briar. Think of a heath where briars grow.

fourbu worn out, exhausted, extremely tired. Root -bu is actually the past
participle of boire. It’s said this word is related to a horse drinking an excessive
amount of water as a result of a disease. Use a mnemonic such as “For safety
reason, it’s forbidden to do this work if you’re extremely tired.” Or “If you want to
be listed on Forbes as a rich man, you have to work tirelessly.”

embaucher to hire, to employ. From en- + bauche (“wood beam”, from bois
“wood”) + -er. Here is one easy way to explain the sense development. English
debauchery (“indulgence in sensual pleasures”) is from French débaucher, literally
“to entice away from work”, presumably because erecting beams (as in roofing) is
hard work. The opposite of prefix dé- is en-, or em- in front of b (or p). Hence the
meaning of embaucher as the opposite of “to stay away from work”. Alternatively,
use employ as a mnemonic. See also ébaucher (“to sketch”).

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chausson slipper (footwear); dance shoe. If you know chaussure (“shoe”), just
remember -on is a diminutive suffix, a masculine one. (If you happen to know
Spanish, be aware that Spanish suffix -ón is augmentative, the opposite of French -
on.) Note that chaussette also ends with a diminutive suffix (a feminine one though)
but means “sock”. Some say chausson is short for chaussure de maison (“house
shoe”), which serves as a good mnemonic. See also chaussure, chaussette.

borgne one-eyed; disreputable, shady. Unknown etymology. Possibly linked to

English bore (“to make a hole”) through Latin forare (“to bore”, “to pierce”).
Think of boring out an eye to make a person one-eyed. One-eyed vision is shady,
less bright and so less reputable.

éprendre (reflexive) to fall in love with (de). Prefix é- means “away”, so the word
literally means “to take away”. Reflexive usage of prendre can mean “to get
caught (in)”. The past participle épris can be used as an adjective meaning
“enamoured”, “infatuated”.

arrière-pensée ulterior motive. A backside thought is hidden, real intention.

suinter to ooze. Cognate with sweat, doublet with suer (“to sweat”).

tête-à-tête face-to-face. Literally it’s translated as head-to-head, but that English

expression often implies confrontation or contest, while this French word implies
privacy or intimacy.

morsure bite (n.). Cognate with morsel (“a small piece of food”, literally “a small
bite”). Doublet with morceau (“small piece”), mordre (“to bite”). The second
syllable consonant s is due to suffix -sus within Latin. See also mordre.

greffe clerk’s office, registry; graft (in horticulture or medicine), grafting. In the
first sense, the word is cognate with both graph (-graphy, graphic, etc.) and graft
and carve. A clerk used a stylus (graphium in Latin) to write. Not to be confused
with griffe (“claw”; “scratch mark”).

écosser to remove outer shell, to shell. From é- (“to remove”) + cosse (“pod”) + -
er. Cosse may be cognate with cochlea (“coil-shaped inner ear”). Or use case or
caisse (“cash register”; “case”) as a mnemonic for it. Not to be confused with
écossais (“Sottish”). But you can think of a Scottish person removing nut shells. If

398
you know écorcher (“to remove skin”) or écorce (“bark of tree”; “peel of fruit”),
use that instead.

déroute defeat, rout, ruin, disorder. dérouter to lead astray, to derail, to baffle, to
set back. Note while the verb may still be understood literally (“off” + “route” + -
er), the noun is mostly figurative.

assortir to match, to pair up. assorti matching. Although cognate with English
assortment (“miscellaneous collection”), these words are better interpreted literally
to understand the meaning: to sort things is to systematically arrange them in
groups. If you sort socks as after washing and drying them, you pair up those that
match.

raccourcir to shorten. The root is court (“short”). The -cir ending may be like -cer
as in tracer (“to trace”), from Latin tractus. Not to be confused with accourir (“to
hurry”, “to rush”).

huissier usher (cognate); bailiff.

païen pagan (cognate). From Latin paganus, where g was lost, just as Latin ligare
lost it to become lier (“to link”). Use pays (“country”) as a mnemonic by thinking
of a country of many pagans.

miteux shabby, dingy, poor, seedy. From mite (“moth”). Literally “of moth”. If
traced to Proto-Germanic, cognate with English mite, as in dust mite.

fripé crumpled, crushed, chiffonné. This is an adjective as well as the past

participle of friper (“to crumple”), a relatively rare verb. Origin unknown or
uncertain. Use frapper (“to beat”) as a mnemonic, e.g. “frappé coffee with crushed
ice”.

entrebâiller to half open, entrouvrir. From entre- (“slightly”) + bâiller (“to

yawn”). Prefix entre- normally means “between”, but in some compound verbs
indicates a small action (e.g. entrevoir “to glimpse”). This word originally
probably referred to slightly opening mouth to yawn. See also bâiller.

pantin puppet; jumping jack. Origin unknown. It may be related to pan (“piece of
fabric”) or Pantin, a commune in the northeastern suburb of Paris, where the
people were known for their dance. If you know Panteen, as a mnemonic, an
399
American hair care product by Procter & Gamble, imagine a jumping jack puppet
showing her glossy hair in an ad for the Panteen product.

dédale maze, labyrinth. From Ancient Greek (through Latin). In Greek mythology,
the great craftsman Daedalus invented a huge labyrinth to hold Minotaur, a part-
bull part-man creature.

enliser to get (a ship, vehicle) stuck in mud, sand, etc; (figuratively) to get bogged
down. Etymology hardly helps; the root is cognate with slime if traced to Proto-
Indo-European. As a mnemonic, imagine you’re enlisted in the army and your
military truck is stuck in mud.

cafetière coffee pot, coffee maker. From café (“coffee”) + -ière (a suffix that has a
wide range of meanings or functions). This word looks easy but should not be
confused with English cafeteria, which is from this French word (via Spanish) but
has acquired a very different sense; its French equivalent is simply cafétéria.

tracasser (reflexive) to bother, to worry, to annoy. Maybe related to trac (modern

meaning “stage fright”), for which “trouble to act” may be a good mnemonic. Or
focus on casser (“to break”); breaking something is worrisome. Actual etymology
may link it to English track. When tracking an animal in hunting, you go to and fro,
which you also do in fidgeting. See also trac.

escabeau step ladder; stool, tabouret. Although cognate with English shambles
(originally “butcher’s shop”), the meanings differ too much to be helpful to us. As
a mnemonic, split the word into esca- and beau and associate the former with
escalate or escalator. A step ladder or a stool is like (part of) a beautiful escalator.

écrevisse crawfish, crayfish (cognate). Also cognate with crab. It may better to use
a mnemonic such as “Crawfish live in the underwater rock crevices”.

âtre hearth, fireplace, foyer. The word is probably unrelated to astre (“star”,
cognate with astral, asterisk; change â to as as usual). But as a mnemonic, think of
the sparks in the fire of the hearth. Note French foyer can mean either “fireplace”
or “home” or “lobby”, but in English it only means “lobby”.

garde-à-vous at attention (military posture). Literally it means “guard to you”,

“you be on guard”. The opposite is repos (“at ease”, literally “repose”).

400
émeute riot, chaos, disorder. From émouvoir (“to move emotionally”), influenced
by meute (“pack of hounds”). See also émouvoir, meute.

hosto (informal) hospital. According to some dictionaries, this word is a clipping

of hôpital. We know the latter is from Middle French hospital, in which os
regularly changed to the diacritic-marked ô in Modern French. An informal word is
often a sloppy reading of some existing word, a characteristic of which is dropping
a middle syllable. Therefore hosto is more like a clipping of hospital.

croisière cruise (cognate). From croix (“cross”). Doublet with croisade

(“crusade”). A cruise ship crosses a sea or ocean. See also croix.

bosquet grove, thicket. Cognate with bush if traced to Proto-Germanic. This word
has entered English vocabulary as bosket (“grove”). Alternatively, use a mnemonic
such as “The vines in this grove can be used to make a basket.”

terre-plein median strip (between opposing lanes of a road), median, median

barrier, central reservation; flat top surface of a rampart; land fill or reclamation in
sea, an artificial island thus created. This word is adapted from Italian, literally
meaning “earth-full”. The most common meaning of this word may be the first
(“median strip”). The Italian word has entered English vocabulary spelled as
terreplein, meaning “flat top of a rampart”; it definitely does not have the first
meaning.

noisette hazelnut. From noix (“nut”) + -ette (diminutive suffix). Hazelnuts are,
literally, small nuts in French, probably because they are slightly smaller than most
other nuts. This word should not be confused with English noise; hazelnuts or the
trees don’t make any special noise.

épi ear (of corn, etc., e.g. un épi de maïs). Cognate with spike if traced to Proto-
Indo-European. A corn ear has sharp sticks or spikes. To see the cognation, change
é to s (normally you would change it to es, but sometimes to s as in the case of
école, “school”). It’s always important to distinguish é from e as they represent
different etymologies; epi- (“above”) is completely unrelated to this word.

quille keel (longitudinal structure at the bottom of a ship) (cognate if traced to Old
Norse, or Proto-Germanic).

401
calot, calotte cap, béret, bonnet. Unknow origin. One source considers it from cale,
one of whose rare meanings is “cap” or “hat” due to its connection to écaille
(“scale”, cognate with scale) and haircut. Cutting hair is likened to scaling. As a
mnemonic, imagine someone has callus or thickened and hardened skin on his
skull and has to use a cap to cover it. See also écaille.

prélever to take (blood samples etc.), to withdraw (money), to remove, to take off.
From pré- (“before”, “beforehand”) + lever (“to lift”). Le prélèvement à la source,
literally “deduction (of tax) at the source”, deducts tax from the salary before it is
paid, i.e. tax withholding from the salary.

comprimé compressed. comprimer to compress. French -primer maps to English

-press in multiple words such as exprimer (“to expess”), imprimer (“to impress”;
“to print”), réprimer (“to repress”). Comprimé is listed before comprimer due to
their occurrence frequency. Note that compresser does exist but is much more rare.

notoire well-known, indisputable, incontestable; notorious (cognate). Unlike

English notorious, this word may be more often neutral or positive, i.e. used in the
first sense here.

canaille rascal, villain, scoundrel. From Italian. The root is cognate with canine,
doublet with chien (“dog”). Suffix -aille is pejorative. A rascal is likened to a dog.

déchiqueter to shred, to rip up into small pieces. The root is related to échec
(“failure”; “check in playing games”), cognate with check (as in playing chess),
with the root of exchequer (“British treasury”, named after the table that resembled
a chess board on which taxes were counted). Prefix dé- means “apart”. A chess
board is divided (as if shreded) into small squares. See also échec.

bronzer to sunbathe, to tan. Sunbathing makes the skin turn bronze in color.

bougonner to grumble, to complain. Unhelpful or uncertain etymology. Use

bugger as a mnemonic and imagine an Englishman cursing with this word. Or if
you know Korean stake bulgogi, imagine it’s badly prepared and you complain
about it.

402
daim deer, fallow deer, buck. Cognate with tame if traced to Proto-Indo-European.
Imagine a deer is docile in character and easy to tame. Absolutely unrelated to
dame (“lady”).

miroiter to sparkle, to shimmer, to glean. From miroir (“mirror”). The verb could
have been simply that appended with -er but the second r changed to t for
dissimilation. Imagine a mirror reflecting the sunlight.

statut status, état, situation; statute. This word has two meanings that take
different forms in English. You distinguish them in the context.

taquiner to tease. Etymology is unhelpful. Use a mnemonic such as “He wears a

tacky shirt on the stage just to tease the audience.”

bomber to bulge; to spray-paint (graffiti etc.). English bomb is from French, from
Italian, from Latin bombus (“a booming sound”). Imagine a ball that bulges bigger
and bigger and Boom!, it blows up like a bomb.

paperasse (pejorative) paperwork, red-tape. Suffix -asse is pejorative as in

dégueulasse (“disgusting”), godasse (“shoe”, colloquial). Imagine you curse at
meaningless paper work uttering the word “ass”.

otage hostage (cognate). From Old French hostage, where h was dropped because
it’s silent. I wish o had a diacritic mark so we would know an s was dropped. But
exceptions do happen.

entracte intermission between shows. From entre + acte. Just remember to split
the word in the correct place instead of, say, between n and t.

rêne rein (strap to control a horse) (cognate). Not to be confused with reine
(“queen”), rein (“kidney”), régner (“to reign”).

broche brooch (ornament fastened to clothing with a pin) (cognate); (cooking)

skewer, spit.

hormis (literary) except for. From hors mis, past participle of hors mettre (“to put
outside”). To put outside is to exclude. Example, hormis à Marioupol, Moscou doit
revoir à la baisse ses ambitions en Ukraine (“apart from Mariupol, Moscow must
lower its ambitions in Ukraine”).

403
klaxon horn (in a car etc.), avertisseur sonore (literally “sound warning device”).
From English klaxon (“electric alarm or horn”, which has fell out of use), from the
trademark Klaxon based on a Greek word. As a mnemonic, think of kla- or klax- as
onomatopoeia and -on either the same or as horn. Or use saxophone as a
mnemonic.

beugler (of a cow) to moo; to shout. Cognate with bugle (brass instrument).

adonner (reflexive) to devote oneself, to dedicate oneself, se consacrer.

dispositif device, machine, appareil. Any device you use in your life or at work is
at your disposal.

chaire pulpit (raised stand for the preacher); chair (in university), chaise (a
variation of this word but with a much higher frequency). Cognate with chair. See
also chaise.

omoplate shoulder blade, scapula. The first element omo- is cognate with humerus
(“bone of the upper arm”) and Spanish hombro (“shoulder”); their Latin etymon
can refer to either humerus or shoulder. The second element means “plate”.

siroter to sip. From sirop (“syrup”). Imagine you sip a drop of syrop.

mie crumb (of bread). Cognate with mica (a type of minerals that easily break into
thin slices). Latin mica lost c and eventually became French mie. See also miette
(“bread crumb”).

biberon baby bottle. From Latin bibere (“to drink”) + -on (diminutive). Cognate
with bib.

caveau vault, voûte, crypt, sepulchre, tomb (especially for a family). Cognate with
English cave, doublet with French cave (“cellar”). See also cave.

apeuré frightened, afraid. Past participle of apeurer (“to be in fear”), from a- +

peur (“fear”) + -er.

housse slipcover, dust cover, removable cover for a sofa. As a mnemonic, imagine
seeing such a cover fitted on sofars or chairs in a house. Or pronounce this French
word correctly and say “Oops, it slipped to the floor.”

404
405
 Appendix: Tips on Creating Mnemonics

Mnemonics to aid memory are personal; they vary from person to person. For example, if you
have a friend whose name happens to sound like a new word you’re studying, you can associate
the word with the person. If you know a language in which there’s a word or phrase that spells or
sounds like the new word, even if it has no etymological connection, you may use it as a
mnemonic.7 In spite of the personal nature, however, English-speaking learners may have a lot of
experience in common, and a suggested mnemonic for a word may have fairly widespread
applicability.

A good mnemonic for a word should not only create a scene or image to establish an association,
but ideally should also make a phrase or find another word that sounds or spells like the word
being studied.8 Since we assume the reader of this book only knows English, we only search
English dictionaries. There are two types of search or two directions to follow: given the
meaning, search for a word; given the word, or rather, the spelling form, search for another word
with a similar pronunciation while maintaining the same or similar meaning.

The first type relies on a thesaurus, or simply a Google search for synonym theword. Suppose we
wish to find a good mnemonic for lourd (“heavy”). Among the synonyms given by a Google
search for synonym heavy, we see loaded, which sounds close to lourd. You may also use a
website dedicated to providing English synonyms, among them thesaurus.com being a good
one. Once you’re on the result page such as http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/heavy, you
may highlight the phonetically most critical letters of lourd e.g. lo to help you focus attention. (In
most web browsers, press Control-F and type lo.)

The second type of search can be done on the websites that provide sound-like words. After
testing a handful of them, I have settled down on RhymeZone’s
http://itools.com/tool/rhymezone-words-that-sound-like. When using such websites,
you can input either real words or word-like spellings that sound like either the correct French
pronunciation or the (incorrect) English pronunciation of the word being studied; after all, you’re
just looking for a mnemonic, not for logic. For example, to remember fût (“cask”, “barrel”,
“keg”), a word of unhelpful etymology, we may use “a barrel to store food” or “a keg to wash
feet in” as a mnemonic. Which of the two you prefer depends on whether you pronounce fût
correctly as a French word or pretend it’s an English word and pronounce it accordingly. Often

7
For example, if you know Chinese, fāxiè (“to vent anger”) is a perfect mnemonic for fâcher (“to get
angry” when used reflexively). Note that this is different from knowing a language that offers cognates,
which have etymological connections. If you know a language sharing a large number of cognates with
French, such as a Romance language, you are at a great advantage in vocabulary study. You don’t even
need mnemonics in the first place.
8
Thus, the word sushi is a good example to help remember souche (“tree stump”), because they
pronounce alike, and a typical short and round sushi resembles a tree stump. Unfortunately, not all
mnemonics meet the two requirements well, i.e. similar sounds and an associative image.
406
times, however, only one of the two options offers a good mnemonic. For example, to use duel to
help remember deuil (“mourning”) (by thinking of a person that died in a duel), you have to
temporarily ignore the French pronunciation of deuil. In contrast, to use blunt as a mnemonic to
remember blindé (“armored”) (by thinking of a good-quality armor that blunts the tip of a sword),
or to use “One of the symptoms of flu is blurry vision.” to remember flou (“blurry”), the true
French pronunciation of the French word is obviously much preferred.

Not all parts of a word have equal weight in serving as memory clues. Generally, the first part is
more important. For example, piéton (“pedestrian”) is better learned by just focusing on pié
(“foot”), unless you know -on is an augmentative suffix (to make big) and -t- is inserted to
separate two vowels so the word sounds better. To remember tuyau (“tube”, “pipe”), which has
no good mnemonic, just focus on tu- and think of tube. Similarly, for fredonner (“to hum”), think
of your friend Fred that hums the same song over and over, or he’s a frequent doer. Sometimes a
quick dictionary lookup helps because the words are alphabetically sorted.

Instead of using an existing sound-like search website, you may also do it yourself, with various
degrees of quality. Common English words and many word-like spellings are on each
UNIX/Linux computer in the file /usr/share/dict/words, which can be downloaded for local
pattern matching. I provide this file on this web page
http://yong321.freeshell.org/lfw/

which I already converted to Windows format suitable for search with Windows findstr
command. The following are some examples of using this native Windows command with so-
called regular expressions, i.e., strings that represent a search pattern. For example, we want to
case-insensitively find all words that begin with lass:
C:\temp>findstr /i /r "^lass" words.txt
LASS
lass
Lassa
...

That was how I quickly found English lassitude (“fatigue”) as a mnemonic for French lasser (“to
make tired”). For another example, we can find a word that sounds like manque (“lack”) with a
pattern that begins with man followed by c or k or g:
C:\temp>findstr /i /r "^man[ckg]" words.txt
mancala
mancando
...
mangle
...

The word mangle can be used as a mnemonic (“A mangled man lacks a limb.”). Nevertheless,
most of the time the RhymeZone sound-like search offers a better candidate than the DIY
findstr search, which occasionally can be used as a supplementary tool.

407
A mnemonic is not limited to matching a whole word with another whole word in sound or
spelling. For instance, brume (“mist”) can use “bright fume”, verrou (“bolt on a door”) can use
fer rouge (“red iron”) as if the bolt was a red-color iron bar, bijou can use “bead jewel” (or “bead
jewel”), etc. If you don’t mind a farther separation, espadrille (a type of casual, often flat-heeled,
shoes) can use “the hardened Spartans in a military drill, wearing espadrille shoes”. This kind of
mnemonics, however, have to be created by a human. No website or software I know of can do a
good job at it.

Sometimes a word has multiple meanings not very obviously related to each other or it may take
an effort to link them. One type of mnemonic, a link mnemonic, or “mnemonic link system” or
“chain method” according to Wikipedia, is particularly helpful. The trick is to conjure up a
logically coherent chain of events or a mini-story that can be narrated. For example, tenue means
“outfit”, but also has various other meanings including “manners”, “keeping”, etc. Using this
mnemonic method, you can think of a young professor wearing a different outfit today, showing
different behavior, because he just got a tenured position, which means he can keep this job
indefinitely.9

Learning words about a specific category sometimes helps. But it’s more helpful if two or more
words in the same category sound like. For example, you may learn the similarly spelled cheval
(“horse”) and chèvre (“goat”) together as if they are on one page of a children’s picture book
showing various animals, learn poivron (“pepper”) and petits pois (“pea”) together since they
both begin with poi- and are words of vegetables, and so on.

Mnemonics have been used for thousands of years, from ancient Greek poet Simonides, Roman
statesman Cicero, to the current time. A good summary of general mnemonics can be found in
such books as Harry Lorayne & Jerry Lucas, The Memory Book, 1974; Dominic O’Brien, How to
Pass Exams, 2016. No doubt many people can learn to be proficient in using the techniques in
those books, often by thinking up an out-of-the-ordinary image of an object somehow involving
the word being studied. (An absurd image of an often-quoted “gigantic” object is said to
strengthen memory, although this so-called Von Restorff effect is disputed by some
psychologists.) For example, take “a gigantic mushroom delivers a monstrous, champion yawn”
as the mnemonic for champignon (“mushroom”) (The Memory Book, p.65). These mentally
stimulating mnemonics may be excellent for a very short-term memory for some people. If,
however, you find it difficult to remember these mnemonics themselves, especially when
required to keep the words in mind for at least a few weeks, and the number of words being

9
There is one special use of link mnemonics when reading this book. Suppose you want to learn the
words on one specific page, such as poudre (“powder”), guérir (“to cure”), péché (“sin”), piège (“trap”),
paroi (“inner wall”), boucle (“loop”), envoler (“to fly away”), effrayer (“to scare”), bougie (“candle”).
You can link them together by thinking of a somewhat ridiculous scenario: you thought you could cure a
certain disease with some powder, but found out the disease was incurable as if it was a sin, as if you
were trapped in inner walls that form complicated loops where candles emit scary light, and the only way
to get out is to fly away.
408
studied exceeds a certain threshold, the approach of etymology supplemented by mnemonics
may serve the purpose better. In the case of champignon, adult learners with some language
experience may find it more logical to study this word by seeing its cognate relation with camp,
campus, campaign, which are all words related to the field, and seeing the fact that mushrooms
grow in the field (French champ, “field”).

As with anything, using mnemonics is a learning experience. After plenty of practice, you’ll find
yourself more skilled in creating good quality mnemonics, even if some of them are only
meaningful to yourself. Over time, the number of new words that have to rely on rote memory to
study will decrease and, everything else being equal, your interest in the French language will
grow.

409
à l’instar de 387 affamé 326 allumer 57 apparaître 20
à tâtons 342 affecter 193 allumette 217 appareil 129
abat-jour 351 affiche 225 allure 96 apparition 20
abattre 117 afficher 225 alourdir 261 appartenir 72
abbé 158 affleurer 397 altérer 365 appel 19
abeille 324 affluer 366 amande 352 appeler 19
abîme 211 affoler 221 amant 92 apporter 40
abîmer 211 affranchir 305 amarrer 382 apporter 60
aboiement 302 affreux 131 amateur 211 apprendre 26
aborder 159 affût 306 ambassade 262 apprêter 175
aboutir 190 afin de 132 âme 42 apprivoiser 314
aboyer 302 afin que 132 aménager 292 approbation 325
abreuver 391 agacer 169 amener 47 appui 52
abri 108 agenouiller 203 amener 60 appuyer 52
abriter 108 agir 32 amener 64 âpre 324
abruti 306 agneau 342 amer 165 aquarelle 340
abuser 273 agonie 269 amertume 165 araignée 240
acajou 364 agrandir 251 amonceler 395 arborer 313
accabler 213 agrément 370 amoncellement arbre 33
accoucher 367 ahuri 312 395 arbuste 368
accouder 241 aïe 348 amorcer 300 arche 372
accourir 231 aïeul 314 amour 14 ardoise 312
accoutumer 335 aigle 306 amour-propre 376 arête 311
accrocher 67 aigre 303 ampoule 230 argent 34
accroître 309 aigu 151 anarchiste 369 argile 327
accroître 382 aiguille151 ancien 36 arme 59
accroupir 195 aiguiser 151 andouille 391 arpenter 330
accueil 111 ail 356 âne 235 arracher 57
accueillir 111 aile 104 anéantir 290 arrêt 113
acharner 206 ailleurs 23 ange 133 arrêté 278
achat 244 aimer 14 angoisse 93 arrière 53
acheminer 393 aîné 140 angoissé 93 arrière-pensée 398
acheter 44 aisance 113 animation 350 arriver 14
achever 82 aise 113 animer 157 arrondir 270
acier 153 aisselle 338 anneau 241 arrondissement
actif 264 ajouter 31 anniversaire 246 348
actualité 343 alcool 132 anodin 344 arroser 226
actuel 218 alentour 237 anse 395 as 382
addition 330 alimenter 339 antenne 347 ascenseur 190
adonner 404 allée 101 août 120 asile 279
adosser245 alléger 376 apaiser 65 aspect 136
adoucir310 allégresse 301 apercevoir 30 asperge 344
adresse 119 allemand 37 apeuré 404 asperger 369
advenir332 Allemand 37 apitoyer 391 asseoir 21
affaisser 307 allô 272 aplatir 269 assiette 108
affaler 275 allonger 75 apôtre 390 assis 21

410
assis 171 avertir 144 barre 175 blanc 17
assise 327 avertissement 144 barreau227 blanchâtre 369
assistance 101 aveu 212 basculer 166 blé 178
assister 101 aveugle 107 basque 391 bled 354
assombrir 277 avis 98 bassine 338 blême 267
assommer 242 avocat 144 bateau 81 blessé 122
assorti 399 avoine 375 bâtiment 147 blesser 122
assortir 399 avouer 70 bâtir 147 blessure 122
assoupir 309 bac 252 bâtir 328 bleuté 372
assourdir 361 bâche 284 bâtisse 328 blindé 294
assumer 267 badaud 374 bavard 199 blottir 289
astiquer 325 bafouiller 339 bavarder 199 bocal 365
astre 295 bagarre277 baver 294 bœuf 205
atelier 128 bagnole 155 béant 317 boeuf 205
âtre 400 bague 207 beau 15 boire 28
attabler359 baguette 282 bec 185 bois 25
attarder 175 bah 298 bégayer 365 boisson 285
atteinte 356 bahut 348 bénédiction 232 boîte 48
atteler 346 baie 216 bénir 232 boiter 361
attendre 15 baigner81 béquille 394 boiteux361
attendrir 216 baigner262 berceau 284 bol 194
attentat 343 baignoire 262 bercer 238 bomber 403
attente 15 bâiller 235 berge 249 bonbon 265
atterrir 332 bain 81 berger 195 bond 151
attirer 87 baiser 68 besogne 258 bondir 151
attraper 109 baisser 57 besoin 28 bonheur 35
attribuer 210 bal 193 bête 40 bonhomme 155
aube 107 balade 281 bêtise 40 bonté 225
auberge 241 balader 281 béton 256 bordel 210
au-dessus 37 balai 145 beugler404 borgne 398
auparavant 135 balance 94 beurre 174 borne 219
auprès 19 balancer 94 bibelot 366 borner 219
auréole 389 balayer 145 biberon 404 bosquet 401
aurore 303 balbutier 276 bibliothèque 138 bosse 292
autel 261 ballant 383 biche 276 bosser 310
auteur 134 balle 71 bidon 224 bossu 292
autocar 340 ballon 213 bien-être 342 botte 128
autoroute 265 ballot 376 bienheureux 364 bouc 321
autrui 295 banc 96 bientôt 39 bouche 26
auvent 377 banlieue 200 bijou 215 bouchon 158
aux aguets 362 banque 169 bilan 367 boucle 172
avaler 98 banquette 169 bille 227 boucler172
avare 341 baraque 170 billet 99 bouclier 369
avenir 57 barbouiller 337 bise 309 bouder 354
avérer 376 barque 136 blafard 318 boudin 364
averse 299 barrage226 blague 205 boue 114

411
boueux 114 bretelle287 buté 345 carreau 104
bouffée 159 bribe 268 butte 374 carrefour 149
bouffer 159 bricoler 394 cabane 175 carrelage 285
bouger 41 bride 321 cabrer 385 carriole 315
bougie 173 briller 83 cacher 36 carrosse 384
bougonner 402 brin 230 cachet 319 carrosserie 384
bougre 300 brindille 384 cachette 245 cartable 306
bouillie 326 brique 158 cachot 372 carte 59
bouillir 279 briquet 279 cadeau 117 cartouche 329
bouillon 326 briser 102 cadence 277 case 270
boulanger 259 brocanteur 334 cadet 299 caser 362
boulangerie 259 broche 403 cadran 362 caserne249
boule 103 broder 266 cadre 132 casier 353
boulet 353 broderie 266 cafard 315 casque 141
bouleverser 185 broncher 289 café 35 casquer 381
boulot 141 bronzer 402 cafetière 400 casquette 141
bouquin 182 brosse 226 cageot 367 casser 71
bourdonnement brosser 226 cahier 164 cauchemar 187
314 brouette 379 caillou 142 causer 92
bourdonner 314 brouhaha 327 caisse 92 cave 102
bourg 254 brouillard 147 caissier373 caveau 404
bourguignon 394 brouiller 147 cale 240 caverne 102
bourrasque 396 brouillon 377 caleçon 381 ceinture 152
bourreau 289 broussaille 371 caler 240 cendre 178
bourrer 184 brousse 310 calot 402 cendrier 178
bourse 286 brousse 371 calotte 402 censé 353
bousculer 153 brouter 396 calvaire 350 cependant 42
bout 21 broyer 340 caméra 389 cercueil 208
bouteille 65 bruire 350 camionnette 238 cerf 192
boxe 345 bruissement 350 canaille 402 cerise 306
boyau 279 bruit 27 canapé 222 cerner 215
braguette 382 brûler 64 canard 174 cerveau 168
brailler 270 brume 133 canette 383 cervelle 255
braise 296 brut 331 caniveau 371 chagrin121
brancard 369 bruyant 246 canne 154 chair 62
branché 354 bruyère 397 canon 112 chaire 404
brancher 354 bûche 286 canot 334 chaise 56
branler 323 bûcher 286 cantique 383 châle 298
braquer 259 bûcheron 351 caoutchouc 248 chalet 352
bras 18 buée 281 cap 249 chaleur 57
brasier 388 buffet 213 capot 237 chameau 314
brasserie 336 buis 369 capote 237 champ 62
brave 139 buisson 185 capuchon 387 champignon 288
brebis 374 buisson 369 carabine 308 chance 48
brèche 329 bulle 248 carnet 164 chanceler 366
bredouiller 283 but 104 carré 104 chandail 274

412
chandelle 292 chevelure 182 cloche 143 comte 94
chanoine 299 chevet 233 clocher 143 concevoir 181
chantage 363 cheveu 28 cloison 237 concours 164
chantier 207 cheville 208 clore 166 condé 386
chantonner 266 chèvre 220 clôture 313 conduite 186
chapeau 77 chien 36 clou 182 confection 322
chapelet 288 chier 206 clouer 182 confectionner 322
char 182 chiffon 232 cocher 267 conférence 209
charbon 196 chiffre 159 cochon 183 confiance 72
charnel 309 chignon 290 cocotte 393 confiture 261
charnu 394 chinois 136 cœur 20 confrère 307
charogne 371 chirurgien 347 coeur 20 congé 211
charrette 216 chœur 187 coffre 175 conjurer 389
charrier 292 choeur 187 cogner 155 connaître 16
châsse 338 choir 322 cohue 361 connard 347
chat 50 choisir 48 coiffer 133 connerie 174
château 88 chou 209 coiffeur 133 conscience 82
châtiment 335 chouette 216 coiffure 133 conscient 82
chatouiller 368 chrétien 142 coin 34 conséquent 293
chaud 38 chuchoter 154 coincer 169 constater 107
chauffage 173 chut 383 colère 67 conte 265
chauffer 173 chute 136 colis 315 contenance 393
chaume 372 cible 313 collant 332 conter 337
chaussée 198 cicatrice 296 collège 185 contourner 226
chausser 205 ciel 25 coller 62 contrarier 285
chausser 381 cierge 253 collier 224 contrebas 385
chaussette 205 cierge 292 collier 315 contrôle 215
chaussette 381 cil 229 colline 109 contrôler 215
chaussette 398 cime 326 colonne 119 convenable 251
chausson 398 cinglé 332 combinaison 241 convenir 88
chaussure 108 cingler 332 comble 171 convier365
chauve 250 circulation 191 combler 171 convive 385
chaux 368 circuler 191 comédien 287 copain 65
chavirer 344 cire 222 commande 234 coq 231
chemin 30 cirer 222 commencement coque 282
cheminée 130 cirque 227 248 coquet 384
cheminer 337 ciseau 277 commissariat 291 coquille 282
chêne 202 ciseaux277 commode 176 coquin 365
cher 40 citoyen 268 complot 386 corbeau 339
chercher 20 claque 273 comporter 169 corbeille 231
chéri 40 clé 121 comprendre 16 correspondance
chétif 367 clef 121 comprimé 402 281
cheval 37 cliché 293 comprimer 402 corriger 252
chevalet 392 cligner 228 comptabilité 373 corvée 246
chevalier 37 clin 228 comptable 373 costard 379
chevaucher 290 clochard 310 comptoir 135 costaud 307

413
côte 58 crèche 333 d’emblée 349 dédier 360
côté 17 crêpe 336 daigner332 déesse 344
coteau 362 crépiter 319 daim 403 défaillance 365
côtoyer366 crépuscule 188 dalle 176 défaillir 365
cou 57 crête 189 damoiseau 224 défaire 163
couchant 297 creuser 87 dandiner 369 défaut 142
couche 33 creux 87 dauphin 301 défendre 73
coucher 33 crever 82 davantage 69 défense 115
coude 113 criard 386 dé 304 déferler 307
coudre 218 cribler 382 déambuler 362 défier 295
coulée 325 crin 318 déballer 381 défiler 160
couler 54 crinière 318 débarquer 154 défoncer 332
coulisse 336 crisper 171 débarras 120 dégager 106
couloir 54 crisser 305 débarrasser 120 dégât 326
coupable 152 critique 168 débile 364 dégouliner 348
couper 46 crochet 67 débit 389 dégoût 45
cour 43 crochet 171 déborder 165 dégoût 299
courant67 crochet 255 déboucher 158 dégringoler 293
courbe 203 croire 13 débouler 391 dégueulasse 241
courber 203 croisade 195 debout 41 déguster 299
couronne 211 croisé 195 débrouiller 217 dehors 44
couronner 211 croisière 401 déceler 309 déjeuner 70
course 83 croissant 189 déception 246 délai 233
court 48 croître 317 décevoir 211 délaisser 360
courtoisie 352 croquer 291 déchaîner 210 délice 225
coussin 205 croquis 363 déchéance 387 délit 357
couteau 115 crosse 299 déchet 387 délivrer 167
coûter 122 crotte 380 déchiffrer 159 demain 41
coutume 194 crouler 350 déchiqueter 402 démarche 160
couvent 189 croupe 274 déchirant 114 démarrer 176
couver 299 croûte 242 déchirer 114 déménager 317
couvercle 209 cru 203 déchirure 114 démentir 389
couverture 101 cruauté 254 déclencher 205 démesuré 348
cracher 127 cueillir 166 déclic 355 demeure 50
craie 313 cuiller 300 décoller 225 demeurer 50
craindre 61 cuillère300 décombres 384 demi 60
crainte 61 cuir 84 déconner 310 demi-tour 252
cramponner 281 cuire 221 découper 46 démonstration 296
cran 353 cuisse 92 décrocher 170 démonter 360
crâne 105 cuit 221 décrocher 255 démontrer 296
crapaud 334 cuivre 148 décrocher 359 dénicher 340
craquement 282 cul 93 décroître 382 dénoncer 231
crasse 282 culotte 146 déçu 211 dénouer 295
crasseux 282 curé 116 dédaigner 315 dent 52
cravate 156 cuvette 287 dédain 315 dentelle 194
crayon 170 cygne 364 dédale 400 dépêcher 205

414
dépense 261 devise 360 douceur 42 éclairer78
dépenser 261 dévoiler 288 douche 200 éclat 66
dépit 130 dévorer 144 doudou 379 éclater 66
déplacement 124 dévotion 353 doué 285 écœurer 327
déplacer 124 dévoué 394 douer 285 écoeurer 327
déplaire 220 dévouement 333 douillet 375 école 45
déplier 118 dévouer 333 douleur 73 économique 214
dépôt 300 dévouer 394 douloureux 73 écorce 302
dépouille 220 dieu 21 douter 76 écorcher 373
dépouiller 220 diffuser 319 doux 42 écossais 344
depuis 15 digne 151 doyen 380 écosser 398
déranger 130 digue 319 draguer 392 écouler 187
déraper349 dimanche 66 drap 88 écouter 24
dérive 306 dingue 230 drapeau 144 écran 202
dériver 306 dirigeant 286 dresser 67 écraser 73
dérobé 350 diriger 70 droit 22 écrevisse 400
dérober 184 disparaître 20 drôle 57 écrier 123
dérouler 139 dispenser 308 dru 312 écrire 23
déroute399 disponible 300 dû 329 écrouler 148
dérouter 399 disposer 80 durcir 275 écume 252
désabusé 381 dispositif 404 duvet 339 écureuil 316
désemparé 392 dissimuler 117 ébauche 356 écurie 289
désemparer 392 distraire 181 ébaucher 356 éditer 247
désespéré 48 divers 63 éblouir 226 éditeur 247
désespoir 48 diversion 393 éblouissant 226 édition 247
déshabiller 95 divertir 393 ébranler 202 édredon 391
désigner 96 diviser 247 ébrouer 354 effectif 316
désinvolte 324 dizaine 129 écaille 306 effectivement 251
désinvolture 324 doigt 29 écarlate 327 efficace 263
désolé 271 dommage 165 écarquiller 339 effilocher 390
désoler 271 don 139 écart 72 effleurer 192
désormais 76 donné 267 écarté 72 effondrer 191
désormais 378 données 267 écarter 72 efforcer 112
dessécher 257 donner 13 échafaudage 388 effrayer 173
dessein 266 doré 118 échantillon 375 effroi 173
desserrer 311 dorénavant 378 échapper 49 égard 97
dessin 83 dorer 34 écharpe 276 égarer 205
dessiner 83 dorer 118 échéance 382 église 44
dessus 37 dormir 28 échec 157 égorger 327
détendre 201 dortoir 295 échelle 164 égout 346
détourner 111 dos 32 échelon 395 égrener361
détruire 115 dossier 120 échine 340 élancer 222
deuil 189 doter 337 échouer 220 élevé 169
déverser 297 douane 331 éclabousser 325 élève 107
deviner59 douanier 331 éclair 78 élire 280
dévisager 196 doucement 42 éclaircir 285 éloigner 49

415
élu 280 enfler 310 entretenir 125 éprouver 51
émail 388 enfoncer 64 entretien 181 épuisé 159
émaner 323 enfouir 186 entrevoir 174 épuiser 159
emballer 263 enfourcher 385 entrevue 328 épuiser 271
embaucher 356 enfuir 86 entrouvert 227 équipage 155
embaucher 397 engagement 71 entrouvrir 227 équipe 155
embêter 258 engager 71 envahir107 errer 184
embraser 379 engin 253 envers 124 escabeau 400
embrasser 47 engloutir 208 envie 29 escadre395
embrouiller 332 engourdir 318 envier 29 escadron 342
émerveiller 158 engueuler 288 environ 130 escale 339
émeute 401 enivrer 345 environnement130 escargot 370
émission 310 enjamber 266 environs 130 esclaffer 351
emmener 47 enlacer 254 envoi 376 esclavage 183
emmener 63 enlever 84 envoler172 esclave 183
emmerder 184 enliser 400 envoyer 37 espadrille 345
émoi 359 ennui 105 épais 73 espèce 46
émouvant 145 ennuyer 105 épaisseur 73 espérer 48
émouvoir 145 enquête 213 épanouir 269 espion 254
emparer 140 enrouler 245 épargne 190 espoir 48
empêcher 38 enseigne 275 épargner 190 esquisser 245
empiler 255 enseigner 198 éparpiller 280 esquiver 348
emplacement 291 ensevelir 346 épars 306 essai 25
emplir 119 ensoleillé 349 épatant 343 essayer 25
empoigner 132 ensuite 28 épater 343 essoufflé 333
emporter 54 entamer 181 épaule 25 essouffler 333
empreinte 258 entasser 177 épave 296 essouffler 357
empressement 394 entendu 102 épée 193 essuyer110
empresser 288 entente 311 éperdu 364 estomper 340
emprunter 167 enterrer 179 éperon 352 estrade 307
ému 145 entêter 376 épi 401 étable 331
encadrer 132 entier 42 épicerie 318 étage 70
encaisser 318 entonner 331 épicier 318 étage 244
enceinte 204 entonnoir 331 épier 254 étagère 246
enchaîner 210 entourer 59 épine 294 étalage 100
encolure 382 entracte 403 épingle 236 étaler 100
encre 174 entrain 357 épingler 236 étang 261
endormir 28 entrainer 66 éplucher 335 étape 201
endroit 47 entraîner 66 éponge 270 état 32
énerver200 entraver 303 éponger 270 état-major 207
enfance 14 entrebâiller 399 épouser 105 été 52
enfant 14 entrée 56 épouvante 325 éteindre 85
enfer 136 entrepôt 345 épouvanter 325 éteint 85
enfermer 34 entreprendre 122 époux 125 étendre 59
enfilade 390 entretemps 355 éprendre 398 étendue 59
enfiler 68 entre-temps 355 épreuve 51 étendue 197

416
étincelant 286 exprès 155 fendre 178 flic 89
étinceler 286 exprimer 88 fenêtre 27 flingue 291
étincelle 286 extase 304 fer 57 flocon 339
étiquette 255 extravagant 368 fermer 34 flot 127
étirer 138 fabrique 123 fermier 277 flotte 182
étoffe 180 fabriquer 123 ferraille 278 flotter 99
étoile 81 fâcher 209 ferré 375 flou 223
étonnant 56 fâcheux 209 ferrer 375 foi 85
étonnement 56 facilité 265 fesse 128 foie 238
étonner56 façon 27 fesse 178 foin 238
étouffer 104 façonner 371 fêter 253 foire 253
étourdi 363 facteur 272 feu 29 foncé 134
étourdir 363 facture 343 feuillage 47 foncer 134
étranger 46 faïence 324 feuille 47 fonctionnaire 185
étreindre 245 faille 329 feuilleter 212 fondre 143
étreinte245 faillir 131 feuilleton 390 fonte 342
étroit 86 faillite 361 feutre 275 forain 343
étude 100 faim 86 feutré 275 forcément 177
étudier 171 faisceau 322 février 207 forcené377
étui 355 faîte 373 ficeler 380 formation 297
évanouir 194 falaise 219 ficelle 214 formel 336
éveil 109 fameux114 fiche 175 former 60
éveiller52 fané 364 ficher 175 formidable 154
éveiller109 fantasme 388 fichu 244 fort 22
événement 79 fantassin 383 fier 95 fosse 274
éventail 275 farce 293 fièrement 95 fossé 188
éventuel 278 farcir 292 fierté 95 fou 32
éventuellement fard 337 figer 159 foudre 271
278 fardeau361 figurer 107 foudroyant 337
évêque 229 farder 337 file 160 foudroyer 337
évidence 139 farine 278 filer 68 fouet 236
évier 297 farouche 263 filet 136 fouetter 236
évoquer 88 faste 371 fille 16 fougère 353
exciter 187 faubourg 209 fille 290 fouiller 124
excuser 101 faucher280 fils 16 fouillis 370
exemplaire 202 faufiler 242 flacon 227 foulard 230
exhiber284 faune 387 flairer 268 foule 58
exiger 104 fausser 347 flambeau 372 foulée 329
expédier 200 faute 71 flamber 275 fouler 329
expérience 106 fauteuil 65 flâner 336 four 177
exploit 258 fauve 196 flaque 199 fourbu 397
exploitation 308 fée 306 flasque 332 fourche 149
exploiter 308 feindre 214 flèche 194 fourchette 274
exploser 199 félicitation 196 fléchir 334 fourgon 362
exposé 142 féliciter 196 flétrir 395 fourmi 290
exposer 142 féminin 154 fleuve 124 fourneau 262

417
fournir 108 fuir 86 génial 320 gravir 243
fourrer 201 fuite 86 génie 116 gravure 323
fourrure 213 fulgurant 358 genou 51 gré 180
foutre 37 fumée 79 gentil 95 greffe 398
foyer 162 fumée 247 gerbe 273 grêle 272
fracas 237 fumer 79 gésir 257 grelotter 319
fracasser 237 fumier 247 geste 28 grenier 197
fraîcheur 44 funèbre 250 gibier 302 grenouille 315
frais 44 fur 239 gicler 355 grève 188
fraise 321 fusée 334 gifle 253 griffe 276
franc 63 fusil 109 gifler 253 griffer 276
franchement 180 fusiller 109 gilet 263 griffonner 276
franchir 98 fût 242 gitan 305 grignoter 318
franchise 355 gâcher 235 gîte 378 grimper 116
frange 282 gage 380 glace 73 grincement 227
frangin 234 gagner 36 glacé 73 grincer 227
frapper 39 gaillard 280 glacer 73 gris 36
frayer 304 galet 256 glaise 340 grisâtre287
frayeur 377 galon 267 glapir 379 grisâtre323
fredonner 327 gamelle 278 glisser 30 griser 319
frein 285 gamin 129 godasse 339 grogner 166
freiner 285 gamme 358 godet 366 grommeler 276
frêle 299 gant 149 goguenard 393 gronder 205
frémir 199 garce 342 golfe 386 gros 22
frémissement 199 garde-à-vous 400 gomme323 grossier 204
frénésie 346 garer 205 gonfler 123 grouiller 260
frère 32 garer 238 gonze 258 grue 392
fric 188 garnir 250 gonzesse 258 guêpe 387
friche 358 garnison 306 gosse 102 guère 60
frigo 356 gars 105 goudron 363 guéridon 305
frileux 394 gaspiller 395 gouffre 284 guérir 172
frime 349 gâteau 163 goulot 311 guerre 23
fringues 301 gâter 273 gourmand 297 guetter 116
fripé 399 gauche 31 goût 45 gueule 60
frire 359 gaver 333 goûter 45 gueuler184
frisé 320 gazon 360 goûter 299 gueuler288
friser 320 geindre363 goutte 99 guichet 347
frisson 211 geler 244 gouttière 310 guidon 374
frissonner 211 gémir 147 gracieux 255 guignol 393
frite 359 gémissement 147 graine 280 guirlande 336
froid 30 gênant 90 graisse 236 guise 220
froisser293 gendarme 131 grandir 124 habile 243
frôler 193 gendre 353 grappe 295 habileté 243
fromage 185 gêne 90 gras 110 habiller 95
froncer 254 gêné 90 gratter 142 habit 183
frotter 118 gêner 90 gravier 261 habiter 58

418
hache 279 horaire 320 infirmière 144 jeton 318
hacher 397 horloge 250 ingrat 312 jeu 38
haie 190 hormis 403 inhabituel 371 jeudi 202
haine 115 hors 44 injure 247 jeune 16
haïr 115 hospice 375 injurier 247 jeunesse 16
haleine 204 hosto 401 inlassablement 328 joie 43
haletant 302 hôte 223 inonder 264 joindre 160
haleter 302 hôtel 41 inouï 263 joli 55
halles 334 houle 321 inquiétant 91 jonc 373
hameau 314 housse 404 inquiéter 91 joncher332
hanche 162 hublot 361 inquiétude 91 jouer 24
hangar 233 huile 143 inscrire132 jouet 215
hanter 263 huissier 399 insensé 276 joueur 24
happer 351 huître 363 insensible 141 jouir 43
harceler 350 humer 330 insolite 232 jouissance 273
harde 337 humeur 106 instituteur 203 journée36
hardi 306 hurlement 76 insu 319 jucher 313
hargneux 331 hurler 76 insupportable 191 juger 70
haricot 282 ignoble295 interdire 112 juif 72
hasard 53 ignorer 61 interpeller 259 juillet 123
hâte 128 île 61 interrompre 99 jumeau 186
hâter 128 illisible 381 intime 143 jumelle186
hausser89 îlot 313 intimider 243 jument 317
hauteur84 imbiber 367 invraisemblable jupe 120
hebdomadaire 344 immeuble 91 330 jupon 376
héberger 385 immonde 390 issu 206 juré 395
hébété 379 impair 346 issue 206 jurer 82
hein 76 impérieux 298 itinéraire 316 juron 323
héler 386 important 75 ivre 181 justesse 346
hérisser 275 importer 38 ivresse 181 képi 255
héros 114 impôt 384 ivrogne 181 klaxon 404
hêtre 320 imprévu 271 jacter 330 labour 373
heureux 35 imprimer 179 jadis 112 labourer 373
heurter 140 impuissant 109 jaillir 131 lâcher 74
hier 72 inattendu 194 jalousie 176 lâcheté 209
hirondelle 388 incliner 119 jaloux 176 laid 174
hisser 207 inconvénient 336 jambe 31 laine 147
historique 231 incroyable 189 jambon31 laisser 14
hiver 68 index 162 jambon285 lait 100
hocher 137 indice 333 jardin 36 lambeau 273
Hongrie 390 indicible 388 jaunâtre 287 lame 146
hongrois 390 indigne151 jaunâtre 323 lampadaire 380
honnête 179 inédit 247 jaunâtre 326 lande 315
honte 80 infime 301 jaune 49 langage 146
honteux 80 infirme 324 jetée 374 langue 51
hoquet 357 infirmier 144 jeter 23 lanière 382

419
lapin 162 loi 89 mairie 253 marronnier 332
lard 307 loin 19 maïs 387 mars 165
large 45 lointain 19 maison 16 marteau 258
largeur 45 loisir 217 maître 39 marteler 316
larguer 377 loque 326 maîtresse 113 masculin 308
larme 48 lorgner 372 maîtrise 266 masser 289
lasser 197 lot 242 maîtriser 266 mat 247
latte 331 louange 389 maladresse 326 mât 328
lavabo 245 louche 286 malaise 187 matelas 190
laver 92 loucher389 malgré 35 matelot376
layon 376 louer 175 malheur 35 mater 265
lécher 204 loup 130 malice 310 matin 21
lecteur 111 louper 330 malicieux 310 maudire 224
lecture 111 lourd 36 malin 179 maudit 224
léger 43 loyer 386 malle 264 maussade 357
légèrement 43 lucarne 322 mallette 383 mauvais 33
lendemain 41 lueur 99 mamelon 371 mec 89
lent 41 lugubre 316 manche 105 méchant 137
lentement 41 luire 145 manche 126 mèche 168
lenteur 41 luisant 145 mandat 272 mécontent 311
lessive 342 lundi 197 manège 262 médecin 87
levant 349 lune 96 manger26 médecine 87
lèvre 31 lunette 87 manier 251 médicament 87
liasse 303 lustre 264 manifester 143 meeting 379
librairie 328 lustre 292 manivelle 163 méfiance 149
libre 39 lutte 121 manoir 329 méfier 149
licence 359 lutter 121 manque 34 mégot 242
lier 126 lycée 141 manquer 34 meilleur 52
lierre 390 lycéen 141 manuel 298 mélange 168
lieue 315 mâcher 202 maquiller 255 mélanger 168
lièvre 373 mâcher 295 marais 313 mêler 58
ligne 40 machin 272 marchand 110 membre 98
lin 395 mâchoire 202 marché 100 mémé 151
linge 124 maçon 380 marcher 24 mémoire 59
liquide 156 maculer 361 mardi 251 ménage 135
lire 24 mademoiselle 100 mare 287 ménager 135
lisière 237 magasin 97 marécage 394 mendiant 302
lisse 150 maigre 94 maréchal 135 mendier 302
lit 23 maille 327 marée 185 mener 47
livre 26 maillot 232 mari 53 menotte 359
livrer 78 maint 324 marmite 269 mensonge 115
local 153 mainte 324 marmonner 281 menteur 115
locataire 270 maintenant 18 marraine 341 menthe 330
logement 188 maintes 324 marrant 161 mention 397
loger 188 maints 324 marre 218 mentir 115
logis 188 maire 277 marrer 161 menton104

420
méprendre 394 minutieux 374 motard 376 nef 377
mépris 148 miroiter 403 motif 167 neige 83
mépriser 148 miteux 399 motte 335 neiger 83
mépriser 394 mitrailleur 260 mou 183 nerf 170
mer 29 mitrailleuse 260 mou 304 net 102
mercerie 334 mi-voix 272 mouche 124 netteté 335
merci 70 Mme 158 moucher 385 nettoyer 102
mercredi 291 mobile 260 mouchoir 153 neveu 276
merde 70 mobilier 383 moue 235 nez 37
merveille 158 moche 240 mouette 254 niais 370
merveilleux 158 mode 116 mouillé 140 nid 233
mesquin 375 moelle 392 mouiller 140 nier 202
messe 150 moelleux 392 moule 334 niveau 160
métier 79 moeurs 215 mouler 334 noce 215
mets 355 mœurs 215 moulin 232 Noël 381
metteur 362 moindre 50 mourir 21 nœud 198
meuble 107 moine 152 mousse 173 noeud 198
meubler 107 moine 348 mousson 241 noir 16
meule 347 moineau 348 moustique 365 noircir 316
meurtre 260 moins 14 moutarde 384 noisette 401
meurtre 390 mois 25 mouton 170 noix 137
meurtrier 260 moisi 360 moyen 43 noix 296
meurtrir 389 moisson 358 moyenne 360 nombre 84
meute 368 moite 264 muer 373 normal 97
meute 401 moitié 66 muet 121 normalement 97
miauler 393 mol 140 munir 269 note 84
miche 325 mol 153 mur 24 notoire 402
mi-clos372 mollement 304 mûr 214 nouer 161
miel 248 mollesse 304 mûrir 214 nourrice 348
mien 148 mollet 260 museau 291 nouveau 18
miette 243 môme 103 musulman 285 nouvel 208
mignon 212 monceau 359 nage 192 nouvelle 18
mijoter 364 mondain 262 nager 192 noyau 326
milicien 338 monde 14 naguère 201 noyer 137
militant 265 mondial 14 nain 274 noyer 326
mille 38 mondial 262 naître 55 nu 35
milliard 271 monnaie 178 nana 279 nuage 85
milliardaire 271 montrer 27 nappe 191 nuée 312
millier 133 moquer 118 narguer 384 nuire 308
minable 262 moquette 253 narine 191 nul 64
mince 82 morale 212 narquois 384 nuque 117
mine 97 mordre 122 natte 319 obus 164
miner 315 morne 212 naufrage 304 occasion 63
minet 388 morsure 398 navire 118 œuf 118
mineur 234 mort 17 néanmoins 180 oeuf 118
minuit 173 mortel 195 néant 200 œuvre 72

421
oeuvre 72 pain 64 parterre 379 pelouse 396
oie 333 pair 346 parti 68 pencher 41
oignon 259 paisible 65 particulier 84 pendule 301
oiseau 58 paix 65 parvenir 41 pénible 183
olivier 289 palace 360 pascal 164 péniche 356
ombre 30 palais 106 passager 223 pénombre 179
omoplate 404 pâleur 316 passerelle 305 pensée 43
onde 240 palier 170 patauger 338 penser 13
ongle 127 pâlir 264 pâte 195 pension 230
onze 137 palme 330 pâté 195 pente 120
or 33 pan 181 pathétique 286 pépé 245
orage 150 panache 368 patienter 347 percer 134
oranger 380 pancarte 338 pâtisserie 195 percevoir 137
ordonnance 201 panier 159 patrie 176 perdre 22
ordure 187 panne 303 patron 49 péripétie 381
oreille 35 panneau 186 patte 78 perroquet 341
oreiller 157 pansement 281 paume 150 perruque 329
organe 256 panser 281 paumé 338 persienne 370
orgue 350 pantalon 89 paumer338 personne 17
orgueil 158 pantin 399 paupière 100 perte 22
ornière 388 pantoufle 341 pauvre 29 pesanteur 375
orphelin 252 pape 229 pavé 162 peser 91
orteil 335 paperasse 403 pays 29 pétard 323
ortie 378 papillon 223 paysage 94 péter 251
os 120 paquebot 366 paysan 94 petite-fille 290
oser 42 paraître 20 peau 35 petit-fils 290
osier 291 parapluie 251 péché 172 pétrir 309
osseux 334 par-ci 335 pêche 167 pétrole 261
otage 403 parcourir 101 pêcher 167 peuple 62
ôter 134 pardessus 337 pécheur 172 peupler226
ouais 140 pare-brise 371 pêcheur 167 peuplier 323
oubli 26 pareil 39 pédé 352 peur 24
oublier 26 parent 42 peigne 311 phare 165
ouf 374 parer 226 peignoir 244 phrase 46
ours 239 paresse 284 peinard328 pic 293
outil 168 paresseux 284 peindre83 pie 396
outre 119 parfum 97 peine 20 pièce 27
ouvert 18 pari 258 peiner 294 pied 18
ouvert 227 parier 258 peinture 83 piège 172
ouverture 186 parmi 38 pelage 396 piéger 172
ouvrage 95 paroi 172 pèlerin 291 pierre 35
ouvrier 95 paroisse 383 pèlerinage 291 piétiner 219
ouvrir 18 parquet207 pelle 257 pieux 247
païen 399 parrain 363 pellicule 379 pige 272
paillasse 341 parsemer 368 peloton312 piger 272
paille 125 partager 84 pelouse 229 pignon 349

422
pile 161 plupart 176 poumon 212 propre 31
piler 393 plutôt 27 poupée 182 propreté 355
pilier 252 plutôt 51 pourboire 351 propriété 219
piller 348 pneu 243 pourpre 304 propriété 355
pilule 288 poche 44 pourri 184 protecteur 250
pin 187 poêle 224 pourrir 184 provenir 262
pinceau 238 poète 149 pourvoir 157 prune 386
pioche 387 pognon 299 pousser 25 prunelle 256
pion 386 poids 75 poussière 84 puant 234
piquant345 poignard 320 poutre 256 puanteur 234
piquet 333 poignée 126 pré 161 puce 283
pire 75 poignée 132 prêcher366 pudeur 223
pis 75 poignet86 préjugé314 puer 234
piscine 243 poignet132 prélever 402 puéril 328
piste 137 poil 86 prénom 170 puiser 271
pittoresque 320 poing 86 près 19 puisque 49
placard 154 pointu 212 presque 19 puissance 109
plafond 118 poire 265 pressentir 231 puissance 159
plage 78 pois 278 pression 210 puissant 109
plaie 198 poisseux 337 prêt 51 puits 211
plaindre 94 poisson 112 prétendre 95 pull 345
plainte 94 poitrine 65 prétention 95 pull-over 345
plaire 47 poivre 376 prêter 51 punaise 359
plaisanter 183 poli 233 prêtre 127 punition 331
plaisanterie 183 polir 233 prévenir 88 pupitre 378
planche 135 polonais 199 prier 63 purée 391
plancher 135 pomme81 prière 63 putain 138
planer 248 pommette 250 prime 301 pute 222
planquer 210 pommier 341 printemps 103 pyjama 241
plaque 126 pompier 311 prise 143 quarante 122
plaquer126 pondre 378 privé 133 querelle 290
plastique 200 pont 73 priver 133 quête 270
plat 53 porc 271 prix 61 quille 401
platane 275 portée 144 procédé 340 quinzaine 301
plateau 111 portefeuille 214 procès 198 quotidien 125
plâtre 255 posé 283 prochain 92 rabattre 210
plein 20 poste 74 proche 69 raccourcir 399
pleurer 40 potage 391 prodiguer 305 raccrocher 67
pleurnicher 396 poteau 287 produire 93 raccrocher 170
pleuvoir 54 pou 346 proférer 351 raccrocher 255
pli 118 poubelle 204 proie 161 raccrocher 359
plier 118 pouce 149 projet 91 racheter 288
plisser 249 poudre 172 promener 69 racine 163
plomb 206 pouffer 335 propice325 racler 292
ployer 367 poule 164 propos 63 rade 311
pluie 54 poulet 164 proposer 55 radio 110

423
rafale 228 rêche 353 renard 300 réussite 54
raffiné 367 recherche 111 rencontre 35 revanche 135
raffinement 367 rechercher 111 rencontrer 35 rêvasser 397
raffiner367 récit 108 rêne 403 rêve 50
raide 125 réclamer 120 renier 277 réveil 52
raidir 125 recoin 294 renifler 197 réveiller 52
raie 308 récolte 337 renouer 357 révéler 104
raisin 330 récompense 326 renseignement 198 rêver 50
raison 24 reconduire 370 renseigner 198 réverbère 312
rajeunir 357 reconnaissance rentrée 262 rez-de-chaussée
râle 316 205 renvoyer 37 244
ralentir 168 reconnaître 30 répandre 130 ricaner 169
râler 316 recouvrir 93 répandu 130 ridé 198
ramasser 88 recroqueviller 275 repartir 77 rideau 79
rame 304 reçu 313 répartir 323 rieur 370
rameau 392 recueillir 166 repas 85 rigolade 156
ramener 60 recul 93 repasser 155 rigoler 156
ramer 304 reculer 93 repère 167 rigolo 156
ramper 228 rédiger 208 repérer 167 rincer 309
rancune 242 redoutable 141 replier 118 rire 18
rang 106 redouter 141 répliquer 238 risquer 68
rangée 106 réel 123 reporter 307 rivage 126
ranger 89 refluer 354 représentation 232 rive 126
rappeler 19 refouler 367 réprimer 309 river 311
rapport 50 regard 13 reprise 148 rivière 131
rapporter 50 regarder 13 rescapé379 riz 241
rapprocher 111 régime 139 réseau 233 robinet 236
ras 131 régir 347 résoudre 147 roche 139
raser 131 régler 112 ressentir 91 rocher 139
rasoir 238 regretter 86 ressort 165 rocheux 139
rater 206 rein 156 ressortir 165 rôder 223
rattraper 109 reine 157 restant 339 roi 68
rauque 234 relent 335 restituer 332 romain 200
ravi 180 relevé 293 résumer 269 romancier 301
ravir 180 relever 53 retard 125 rompre 99
ravissant 180 relier 126 retentir 193 rondin 341
ravitaillement 292 remarquer 45 retenue 354 ronfler 236
rayer 308 remercier 112 réticence 363 ronger 179
rayon 108 remise 297 réticent363 ronronner 309
rayure 367 remonter 40 retirer 69 rose 42
réaliser 149 remords 182 retraite 139 roseau 248
rebord 234 remous 268 retrancher 362 rosée 330
rebrousser 380 remplacer 103 rétrécir 364 rôti 375
récemment 264 remplir 82 retrousser 331 rôtir 375
recette 284 remporter 313 réunion 180 roue 133
réchaud 378 remuer 100 réussir 54 rougir 134

424
rouille 228 sang-froid 334 semelle 209 soin 93
rouiller 228 sanglant 224 semer 193 soir 17
roupiller 378 sangler 387 sens 32 sol 43
rouquin 300 sanglier 342 sensible 141 solde 336
routier 324 sanglot 177 senteur 303 soleil 24
royaume 219 sangloter 177 sentier 148 solennel 226
ruban 204 santé 114 sept 87 sombre 52
rude 173 saoul 286 sérail 285 sombrer 229
rudement 321 saouler 349 serment 296 somme 57
rue 17 saper 358 serre 383 sommeil 57
ruée 217 sapin 188 serrer 33 sommier 356
ruelle 170 saucisse 340 serrure 229 somnoler 315
ruer 217 sauf 74 serviette 152 songe 64
rugir 365 saugrenu 369 seuil 119 songer 64
rugueux 341 saule 344 seulement 21 sonnerie 236
ruisseau 196 saurer 319 sève 358 sonnette 236
ruisseler 196 sauter 48 short 352 sort 106
rusé 386 sautiller 357 siècle 49 sortie 15
sable 68 sauvage 96 siège 107 sortir 15
sabot 196 saveur 294 sien 146 sot 297
saccade 393 savon 238 sieur 213 sottise 297
saccager 381 scander 368 siffler 138 sou 136
sacoche 378 sceller 368 sifflet 138 soubresaut 375
sacrer 246 scie 321 siffloter 312 souche 314
sagesse212 scientifique 357 signaler 183 souci 103
saigner 210 scier 321 sillage 295 soucier 103
saillant 321 scolaire 274 sillon 295 soucoupe 340
sain 234 séance 162 sillonner 295 soudain 28
saindoux 325 seau 199 simulacre 392 souder 354
saisir 48 sec 45 singe 206 souffle 67
salaire 292 sécher 45 sinistre 180 souffler 67
salaud 128 sécher 257 sinon 75 souffrir55
salaud 221 second 55 sirop 352 souhaiter 81
sale 66 seconde 55 siroter 404 souiller255
salé 294 secouer 56 sitôt 231 soulagement 176
saler 158 secours138 slip 290 soulager 176
saler 294 secousse 56 société 101 souler 349
saleté 288 sécurité 140 socle 347 soûler 349
salir 253 sein 80 sœur 40 soulever 58
salle 32 seize 166 soeur 40 soulier 150
salope 128 sel 158 soi 80 souligner 206
salope 221 selle 231 soi-disant 287 soumettre 145
saloperie 221 selon 59 soie 116 soupçon 153
saluer 94 semaine 34 soif 150 soupçonner 153
samedi 145 semblable 96 soigner 93 souper 269
sang 33 semblant 96 soigneusement 93 soupir 98

425
soupirer 98 sur-le-champ 310 teinter 288 tôle 261
sourcil 123 surlendemain 364 tellement 39 tombe 152
sourd 109 surnom 385 témoigner 126 tombeau 152
sourdine 385 surnommer 385 témoin 126 tomber 20
sourire 18 surplomber 340 tempe 175 tonneau 297
souris 185 surprendre 56 tempête 167 tonnerre 228
sournois 225 sursaut 180 tendance 216 tonton 294
sous-entendu 396 sursauter 180 tendu 145 torchon 320
sous-marin 305 sursis 367 ténèbres 189 tordre 142
soustraire 358 survenir 259 ténébreux 357 tordu 142
soutane 378 susceptible 301 tentation 219 torse 214
soutenir 103 susciter 203 tenter 51 tort 110
soutien 103 suspect 221 tenture 352 tortiller327
soutien-gorge 344 sympathie 189 tenue 163 tortue 391
souverain 237 sympathique 189 terne 252 tôt 51
soyeux 287 tableau 75 ternir 391 toubib 278
spirituel 265 tablier 171 terre-plein 401 tour 25
squelette 302 tabouret 235 terrible 76 tourbillon 240
stade 266 tache 89 tête 13 tourment 295
statut 403 tâche 129 tête-à-tête 398 tournoyer 266
store 372 tâcher 129 téter 396 tournure 352
stupéfait 268 taille 85 têtu 335 tousser 203
stupéfiant 268 tailler 145 têtu 376 toutefois 150
stylo 290 taillis 265 thé 129 toux 203
subir 113 taire 46 tiède 129 tracasser 400
subit 250 talon 120 tiédeur 129 traduction 154
subitement 250 talus 227 tien 291 traduire 154
succès 113 tambour 229 tiens 78 trahir 135
sucer 235 tanguer358 tiers 239 trahison 135
sucre 160 tante 56 tige 208 traité 214
sud 152 tapage 395 tilleul 310 traiter 92
Suède 329 taper 93 timbre 218 traître 135
suédois 329 tapir 297 tinter 302 tranchant 195
suer 318 tapis 103 tirer 22 tranche 195
sueur 104 tapoter 249 tiroir 146 tranchée 157
suffire 40 taquiner 403 tisser 308 trancher 195
suie 366 tard 22 titre 90 transpirer 312
suinter 398 tartine 245 tituber 285 transpirer 318
suite 28 tas 80 toc 309 trapu 336
suivant 13 tasse 156 toile 62 travailleur 250
suivre 13 tasser 177 toilette 127 trébucher 291
supplice 283 tâter 212 toilettes 127 tremper 163
supplier 153 tâtonner 314 toiser 348 trésor 153
supporter 78 taule 268 toison 390 tressaillir 279
surcroît 244 taureau 284 toit 73 tresser 340
sûreté 322 teinte 288 toiture 364 trêve 305

426
tricher 326 valse 333 vieillard 110 zut 370
tricot 274 vanne 368 vierge 117
tricoter 274 vanter 203 vieux 15
trier 358 vareuse 350 vif 61
trimbaler 372 vase 160 vigne 222
trinquer 334 vautrer 318 vilain 213
tripoter 355 veau 244 ville 23
triste 63 vécu 377 vin 60
tristesse 63 vedette 217 vingtaine 260
trombe 333 veille 52 viol 230
tromper 69 veiller 52 violer 230
tronc 148 veilleuse 346 virage 289
tronche191 veine 151 virer 144
trône 298 vélo 179 vis 351
trottiner 366 velours 149 visage 17
trottoir 78 velouté 366 viser 182
trou 61 velu 366 visser 351
trouble 134 vendre 71 vite 23
trouille 256 vendredi 232 vitesse 23
troupe 64 vent 31 vitre 86
troupeau 192 vente 71 vitrine 156
trousse 338 ventre 45 vivre 19
truand 385 venue 210 vœu 213
truc 77 verbe 323 voeu 213
truite 358 verdâtre 287 voguer 389
tube 221 verdâtre 323 voie 90
tuer 38 verdâtre 326 voile 122
tuile 283 verger 303 voiler 122
tutoyer 320 vernir 324 voire 245
tuyau 220 vernis 324 voisin 50
user 128 verre 30 voiture 27
usine 132 verrou 298 volaille386
usure 319 verser 113 volant 124
vacance 81 vert 36 volée 76
vacarme 258 veste 102 voler 76
vache 102 vestiaire 294 volet 135
vachement 302 veston 249 voleter 369
va-et-vient 314 vêtement 74 voleur 76
vague 47 vêtir 74 voleur 178
vaincre 191 veuf 132 vouer 233
vaincu 191 veuve 132 vouer 333
vaisseau 293 viande 128 voûte 184
vaisselle 190 vide 31 voyant 242
valable 316 vider 31 voyou 192
valise 91 vie 13 vrai 19
vallon 377 vieil 15 vraiment 28

427
This copy of the book is to be used by Pritam Gaikwad and the immediate family,
on the condition that the book is not shared beyond the circle thus defined. Thank
you, Pritam! With your donation and support of this project, you will receive future
editions of this book with minor revisions for free.

Yong Huang

December 15, 2022

http://yong321.freeshell.org/lfw/
yong321@yahoo.com

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