What are the most confusing words in French?

The most confusing words (adverbs, adjectives, verbs, and nouns) for French learners are often words that have one translation in English but multiple French words with slightly different meanings. In other words, sometimes for one English word, there are two possible French translations. For example, have you ever wondered why we say:

On visite la tour Eiffel.

We visit the Eiffel tower.

vs.

On rend visite à M. Eiffel.

We visit Mr. Eiffel.

And, is there a difference between:

Merci pour ta présence.

Thank you for your presence.

vs.

Merci de ta présence.

Thank you for your presence.

In the examples above, we translated both visiter and rendre visite à as “to visit” and both merci pour and merci de as “thank you for.” So, what’s the difference in French if the English translation is the same? In this post, we’ll review the differences between the most common confusing adverbs, adjectives, verbs, and nouns in French, as well as some common false cognates. Read through and you will never get confused again (I will even tell you how to say “confused” in French)!

What are the confusing French adverbs and adjectives?

A lot of my students are not sure when they should use bon or bien(good), mieux or meilleur(better), and encore or toujours(still, yet). If this is the case for you, I’ve got you covered!

When to use the French adverb ‘bien’ vs. the adjective ‘bon’?

Because both bien and bon translate as “good” in English, it is easy to mix them up. The key is to remember that bien(well) is an adverb and bon(good) is an adjective.

bon(good) = adjective

bein(well) = adverb

In other terms, bien should be used after a verb and bon should be used before a noun.

verb

Il travaille bien.

He works well.

noun

C’était un bon film !

It was a good movie!

Here are some more tips for using these words correctly in most circumstances:

Since bien is an adverb, it is invariable, meaning it always stays the same:
Il travaille bien.
He works well.
Elle joue bien.
She acts well.

Bon is an adjective, and like other adjectives it agrees in gender and number with the noun. Here are the forms:

Rule	French Example
bon + masculine singular nouns	C’était un bon film ! It was a good movie!
bonne + feminine singular noun	C’est une bonne actrice ! She’s a good actress.
bons + masculine plural noun	Il écrit de bons livres. He writes good books.
bonnes + feminine plural noun	Il fait de bonnes baguettes. He makes good baguettes.

Here are some tricks for c’est bien vs. c’est bon!
Want to say a food is tasty? Use c’est bon(it's good/tasty)!
Tu as goûté, c’est bon ?
Have you tried it? Is it nice?
To say anything else but food is good, use c’est bien.
Tu l’as vu ce film ? C’est bien ?
Have you seen this movie? Is it good?
C’est bon ? can also mean "Is it okay?"
Je passe te prendre à 17h. C’est bon ?
I’ll pick you up at 5pm. Is it OK?

However, sometimes you’ll see bon and bien used in other ways! For example, bien can also be used as an adjective! Let’s look at the differences between the adjective bon and the adjective bien:

Bon(adjective)	Bien(adjective)
For tastes, physical sensations, smells, and levels.	To describe a state of being with verbs like être(to be), paraître(to appear), or avoir l’air(to seem).
It can translate as “correct,” “efficient,” “good,” “suitable,” “tasty,” etc.	It can translate as “good,” “healthy,” “moral,” “right,” etc.
Some examples: Tu as passé une bonne journée ? Did you have a nice day? C’est une très bonne idée ! It’s a very good idea! Ils sont bons en maths. They are good at math.	Some examples: Ce n’est pas bien de mettre ses coudes sur la table. It’s not right to put your elbows on the table. Tu as l’air bien sur ce transat ! You look comfy (happy) on this deckchair! Ce serait bien si tu pouvais rentrer avant 23 heures. It would be good if you could be back before 11 pm.

Check out this list of examples and common expressions using bien and bon.

If bien can be an adjective, can bon be used as an adverb? The answer is yes!

Bon can be an adverb, when it is used with the verbs faire(to do, to make) and sentir(to smell). It means “good, nice, or pleasant.”

Tu sens bon !

You smell nice!

Bon and bien leads us to another confusing pair, which is none other than their comparative and superlative forms: meilleur and mieux.

When to use the French adverb ‘mieux’ vs adjective ‘meilleur’?

There are two ways to say “better” in French. Meilleur is the comparative/superlative form of bon (an adjective), and mieux is the comparative/superlative form of bien (an adverb). You cannot say ❌ plus bon or ❌ plus bien.

Tip

If you can replace “better,” “best,” or “well” with bon in your sentence, you should use meilleur and if you can replace bien, use mieux for the comparative or superlative.

Ce gâteau est bon. → C’est le meilleur gâteau !

This cake is tasty. → It’s the best cake.

Grégoire parle bien espagnol. → Il parle mieux espagnol.

Grégoire speaks Spanish well. → Grégoire speaks Spanish better.

Meilleur
We use the adjective meilleur to compare nouns. It has to agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies, whether it is used as a comparative or a superlative form.
Number/Gender
Masculine
Feminine
Singular
meilleur
meilleure
Plural
meilleurs
meilleures
feminine
Noah est en meilleure forme depuis qu’il va à la piscine régulièrement.
Noah is in better shape now that he goes to the pool regularly.
If you want to compare two nouns, use meilleur que:
femininemasculine
À mon avis, les carottes sont meilleures que les épinards !
In my opinion, carrots are better than spinach!
When the adjective meilleur is used as a superlative to say “the best,” it is preceded by le, la, or les, and agrees in gender and number with the noun it refers to.
feminine
Bravo les filles ! Vous étiez les meilleures aujourd’hui !
Well done girls! You were the best today!
Exception!
The adverb meilleur is only used to talk about the weather.
Il fait meilleur aujourd’hui.
The weather is better today.
The noun meilleur means the best in someone or something.
Cette athlète donne toujours le meilleur d’elle-même.
This athlete always gives her best.
Mieux
As a comparative word, the adverb mieux is used to add information about the verb situated before it. Mieux can be used on its own or with the conjunction que to compare two elements.
verb
Simon chante mieux.
Simon sings better.
verb
Ingrid chante mieux que Matilda.
Ingrid dances better than Matilda.
The superlative form is le/la/les mieux.
verb
C’est Matthieu qui cuisine le mieux.
It’s Matthew who cooks the best.
Exception!
The noun mieux means an improvement.
Le neurologue a constaté un mieux.
The neurologist noticed an improvement.

Number/Gender	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	meilleur	meilleure
Plural	meilleurs	meilleures

When to use the French adverbs ‘encore’ vs. ‘toujours'

The adverbs of time encore and toujours can be synonyms — when they mean “still” in an affirmative sentence or “yet” in a negative sentence.

Il neige encore ? = Il neige toujours ? ❄

Is it still snowing?

Le taxi n’est pas encore là. = Le taxi n’est toujours pas là.

The taxi isn’t here yet.

Important

Have you noticed the different word order in the negative examples?

ne

verb

toujours pas

OR

ne

verb

pas encore

In other cases, though, they have different meanings.

Encore
- Use encore to indicate repetition, like “again”:
  Oh non, j’ai encore oublié de déposer ma robe au pressing.
  Oh no, I forgot to take my dress to the cleaners again.
- Use encore when you want another or some more of something:
  Je peux avoir encore de la glace ?
  Can I have some more ice cream?
- Use encore in front of the adverbs moins(less), plus(more), and mieux(better) to mean “even”:
  Votre piscine est encore plus grande que je ne le pensais !
  Your swimming pool is even bigger than I thought.
Toujours
- Use toujours to say “always” to mark regularity and eternity:
  Guillaume a toujours soutenu l’agriculture biologique.
  Guillaume has always supported organic farming.

Now that we have seen how to use the confusing adverbs and adjectives, let’s move on to verbs.

What are the most confusing French verbs?

In my experience as a teacher, the pair of verbs that causes the most errors for French learners is visiter and rendre visite à both meaning “to visit.” I even hear French people get this wrong, which drives me mad! 😤

Let’s have a look together at these two verbs, as well as some other confusing word pairs: savoir vs. connaître, amener vs. emmener, apporter vs. emporter, écouter vs. entendre, voir vs. regarder, rentrer vs. retourner, rendre vs. redonner.

When to use the French verbs ‘visiter’ vs ‘rendre visite à’?

Both visiter and rendre visite à mean “to visit” in French, but visiter is used for places, while rendre visite à is used for people. This is a mistake I hear so often, yet the difference is pretty straight forward!

Visiter = "to visit a place"

Hier, nous avons visité la Pyramide du Louvre.

Yesterday, we visited the Louvre Pyramid.

Rendre visite à = "to visit someone"

Enzo rend visite à sa tante Isabelle.

Enzo is visiting his aunt Isabelle.

When to use the French verbs ‘savoir’ vs ‘connaître’?

Savoir and connaître in French can both be translated as “to know.” The basic rule to differentiate them is this:

Rule	Examples
savoir + verb	Je sais…(I know how...) …parler italien(to speak Italian) …nager(to swim) …peindre(to paint), etc.
connaître + noun	Je connais…(I know...) Paul …le facteur(the postman) …Buenos Aires, etc.

Let’s have a look at each verb in more detail.

Connaître
To say you know something, use connaître + noun, the noun being a person, an animal, a thing, or place.
You can use connaître for knowing people, whether you know them personally or not.
Tu connais mon fiancé, Thomas ?
Do you know my fiancé, Thomas?
Tu connais la chanteuse Clara Luciani?
Have you heard of the singer Clara Luciani?
When connaître is used with a place, it generally means you have been to that place, not just that you know it exists. But, the context of the discussion will help you determine which of the two options is being used.
Tu connais le marché de Noël de Strasbourg ?
Have you been to the Strasbourg Christmas market?
Connaître can also be used with a noun representing an object:
Je connais ce film. Je l’ai déjà vu.
I know this movie. I’ve seen it before.
Finally, you can use connaître to show that you are familiar with something:
Il ne connaît pas cette marque de streetwear.
He isn’t familiar with this streetwear brand.
Important
Connaître cannot be followed by anything other than a noun.
Savoir
To say you know how/are able to do something because it is a skill you learned, use savoir followed by an infinitive verb.
infinitive
Moi, je sais faire un tour de magie !
I know (how) to do a magic trick.
You can also use savoir with the conjunction que to give information:
Tu sais qu’Amélie organise une fête pour le nouvel an ?
Do you know that Amélie is organizing a party for New Year's Eve?
Oui, je sais.
Yes, I do.
↳ Do you get mixed up between qui and que? Brush up on your knowledge of French relative pronouns!
Important
In English, you can often leave out the relative pronoun “that”:
“I know (that) he is a dentist.”
In French, it is obligatory to use que:
❌ Je sais il est dentiste.
✅ Je sais qu’il est dentiste.
We use savoir followed by an interrogative word (qui, où, pourquoi, qu’est-ce que, quand...) to ask questions:
Tu sais quand le bus va arriver?
Do you know when the bus is due?
Or to give facts:
Ils savent où se trouve la place de la mairie.
They know where the town hall square is.

Exception!

Savoir can be followed by a noun when you are referring to something you learned by heart 💛, such as a poem or your times table.

Il sait son discours.

He knows his speech

Je sais ce poème par cœur.

I know this poem by heart.

Note that connaître can also be used in these cases, depending on the meaning you’re trying to emphasize.

The four verbs we are going to look at next are actually also confusing for French speakers. Master these and you will beat the natives! 😉

How to say “to bring” and “to take” in French?

Amener, emmener, apporter, and emporter all can be translated slightly differently, depending on whether you are bringing or taking something, as well as whether you can carry the object yourself or not. The keys to differentiate these verbs are to know:

who or what you are carrying/taking
whether or not you are staying with the person or thing

Let’s start with emmener and amener!

Emmener vs. amener
Emmener and amener are both used to say that you are moving a person, an animal, or an object too heavy or too large for you to carry alone. Here’s the difference:
- Emmener means that you are staying with that item.
  J’emmène Frédérique chez le docteur.
  I’m taking Frédérique to the doctor.
  → I will stay there with her during her appointment.
- Amener means that you are dropping it off somewhere and don’t intend to stay with it.
  J’amène Raphaël à l’hôpital.
  I’m taking Raphaël to the hospital.
  → I’m only dropping him off. I won’t be staying there with him.
  Il amène sa voiture au contrôle technique.
  He’s taking his car for an inspection.
Apporter vs. emporter
Both these verbs have the same root, porter, which means “to carry.” They are used with objects only. Here’s the difference:
- Emporter if you are carrying something with you to keep with you all the time.
  Il fait chaud. J’emporte une bouteille d’eau pour la promenade?
  It’s hot. Shall I take a bottle of water for the walk?
  → I’m asking my friend if I should take a bottle of water to carry with me for the time of the walk.
- Apporter means you are dropping off an object to a different place.
  Il fait chaud. Je t’apporte une bouteille d’eau?
  It’s hot. Shall I bring you a bottle of water?
  → I’m asking my friend if I should go and get a bottle of water and give it to her.

Here’s a recap:

Whether you’re staying/what you’re bringing	You are taking a person, animal, or object that can’t be carried	You are carrying an object
You bring with you and stay	emmener	emporter
You drop off and don’t stay	amener	apporter

What is the difference between the French verbs ‘écouter’ and ‘entendre’?

We use entendre(to hear) when we passively hear noises, rumors, and news on the grapevine and we use écouter(to listen) when we are actively listening to someone speaking, listening to music, listening to the news, and so on.

J’ai entendu Anne crier. Que se passe-t-il ?

I heard Anne screaming. What’s happening?

Chut, j’écoute les infos.

Shh, I'm listening to the news.

Tip

Remember your French teacher will always prefer Je n'ai pas entendu(I didn't hear) rather than Je n'ai pas écouté(I didn't listen)!

Important

“I heard that…” is j’ai entendu dire que…
In a conference call, “Can you hear me” is Tu m'entends ? or Vous m’entendez ?
Je vous entends in formal speech can also mean “I understand you,” meaning entendre takes on a similar meaning to the French verb comprendre.

Let’s move onto another sense: sight.

What is the difference between the French verbs ‘voir’ and ‘regarder’?

Choosing the correct between voir(to see) and regarder(to look, to watch) will depend on whether you are doing the action passively or actively, respectively (just as with écouter and entendre!)

Voir
Use voir to describe seeing passively without specifically focusing on anything.
Je ne vois rien, tu peux allumer la lumière ?
I can’t see anything, can you turn on the light?
We also use voir when we are able to see something.
Tu vois le cerf-volant dans le ciel ?
Can you see the kite in the sky?
Finally, we use aller voir to say we are visiting someone, as a synonym to rendre visite à.
Franky n’est pas allé voir ses parents depuis samedi dernier.
Franky hasn’t visited his parents since last Saturday.
Regarder
Use regarder to mean that you are looking or watching something or someone voluntarily with attention and focus.
Belle, Emilie et Juliette regardent un film à la télé.
Belle, Emily, and Juliet are watching a movie on TV.
Exception!
To talk about your experience of watching a movie in the past or the future, we usually use voir.
Elle a déjà vu ce film au cinéma l’année dernière.
She already saw this movie at the cinema last year.
When you want someone to look at something, you can say Regarde ! 👀(Look!) in the imperative mood in French.

How to say “to return” in French?

The French verbs rentrer, retourner, rendre, and redonner can be used as translations of the English “to return.”

If you are returning to your home or to your home country, you will use the verb rentrer(to return).

Nadia est rentrée chez elle à 19h15.

Nadia returned home at 7.15pm.

Akshaya est rentrée en Inde après avoir passé un an en stage en Suisse.

Akshaya returned to India after spending a year as an intern in Switzerland.

On the other hand, if you are returning to a place where you have been before, which is not your home, you will use retourner(to return).

Elle aimerait retourner au Carnaval de Nice.

She would like to return to the Nice Carnival.

Je dois retourner au bureau tout de suite, on a une réunion d’urgence.

I must go back to the office right away, we have an emergency meeting.

Finally, if you wish to return an object, for example, a book to the library or an item you borrowed from a friend, you should use the verb rendre or redonner which both mean “to return, to give back.”

Il m’a rendu la perceuse qu’il m’avait empruntée.

He returned the drill he had borrowed.

Redonne-lui son jouet !

Give him his toy back!

Let’s move on to our next part: nouns.

What are the most confusing French nouns?

In French, one of the more confusing elements of learning nouns is that there are two ways of saying “year,” “day,” “morning,” “evening,” “time,” and “thank you for.” Ready to take a look?

How to say “year,” “day,” “morning,” and “evening” in French?

In French, you can use an or année to mean “year,” jour or journée to mean “day,” matin or matinée to mean “morning,” and soir or soirée to mean “evening.” But which of each pair should you choose?

Usually, the shorter masculine versions (an, jour, matin, and soir) are for a precise moment, used as a time unit or to show frequency. Whereas the longer feminine versions (année, journée, matinée, and soirée) describe a length of time.

When telling the time or talking about the date in French, you’ll want to make sure you know which word(s) to use! Let’s look a little more closely at some specific examples.

An vs. année (year)

Here’s the difference between an and année:

Use an...
- as a unit of time with cardinal numbers
  Il a vingt ans.
  He is twenty years old.
  Je travaille à mon compte depuis cinq ans.
  I have been working for myself for five years.
- to express a frequency
  On part en vacances deux fois par an.
  We go on holiday twice a year.
Use année if you are describing a length of time with…
- an adjective
  adjective
  C’était une mauvaise année pour lui. Il s'est cassé la jambe, puis il a été licencié.
  It was a bad year for him. He broke his leg and then he was dismissed.
- an ordinal number
  ordinal number
  C’est la première année que la ville de Gérardmer organise un festival de comédie.
  This is the first year that the town of Gérardmer is organizing a comedy festival.
- an adjective combined with a cardinal number
  cardinal numberadjective
  Ce sont les deux plus belles années de sa vie.
  Those were the two best years of his life.

Important

To express the regularity of an action, you can use tous les ans or chaque année:

Tous les ans, ils passent une semaine à skier dans les Pyrénées.

Every year, they spend a week skiing in the Pyrenees.

Combined with a cardinal number, you can only use an:

Tous les deux ans, nous fêtons la Saint-Valentin à Paris. 💗

Every two years, we celebrate Valentine's Day in Paris.

You can’t say ❌ chaque an or ❌ toutes les années.

‘Jour’ vs. ‘journée’ (day)

Here is the difference between jour and journée:

Jour is for:
- situating a precise moment in time
  J’ai rendez-vous chez le coiffeur dans deux jours. 💇
  I have a hairdresser appointment in two days.
- giving frequency
  Les enfants vont à l’école cinq jours par semaine.
  Children go to school five days per week.
Journée is for:
- a length of time
  J’ai travaillé toute la journée.
  I worked all day long.
  J’ai passé une bonne journée.
  I had a nice day.

‘Matin’ vs. ‘matinée’ (morning) and ‘soir’ vs. ‘soirée’ (evening)

Broadly, matin and soir are used to discuss repeated mornings/evenings, while matinée and soirée are used to discuss the duration of a morning. To better understand what that means, have a look at these common ways to use matin/matinée and soir/soirée in French:

le matin / soir
every morning/evening
→ for a routine action
Le matin, avant de partir au travail, je bois juste un café.
In the morning (every morning), before leaving for work, I just drink a coffee.
dans la matinée / soirée
(at some point) during the morning/evening
→ for a single action
Je passerai te voir dans la soirée.
I’ll pop in to see you (at some point) in the evening.
Important
Watch out for this very common mistake! I hear many learners translating “in the morning” literally as ❌ dans le matin. While you can say ✅ dans la matinée, if you want to use the word matin, you should just say ✅ le matin instead!
tous les matins / soirs
every morning/evening
→ for frequency
Pendant les vacances, je me couchais tard tous les soirs !
During the holidays, I went to bed late every evening!
toute la matinée / soirée
all morning/evening
→ for a routine action
La rédaction de cet article m’a pris toute la matinée.
Writing this article took me all morning.

When to use the nouns ‘temps’ vs. ‘fois’ in French?

There are two ways to say “time” in French: temps and fois, hence the confusion! Let's have a look at each option.

Temps(time)
Use temps in the following contexts:
- avoir le temps(to have the time)
  Tu as le temps de venir à la gym ce soir ?
  Do you have time to come to the gym tonight?
- combien de temps(how long)
  Dans combien de temps vous déménagez ?
  How long until you move house?
- de temps en temps(from time to time)
  Nous nous promenons ici de temps en temps, et vous ?
  We have a walk here from time to time, and you?
- temps is also used for the weather
  Il fera quel temps demain ?
  What will the weather be like tomorrow?
Fois(time)
We use fois:
- to say how many times something happens
  Jennifer a travaillé deux fois avec le ministère des affaires étrangères.
  Jennifer has worked twice with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- in the expression il était une fois(once upon a time)

How to say “thank you for…” in French?

Both merci de and merci pour are used to say “thank you for…” in French.

If “thank you” is followed by an infinitive verb, use merci de.
infinitive verb
Merci d’être venu !
Thank you for coming!
infinitive verb
Merci d’éteindre vos portables.
Please turn off your mobile phones.
If “thank you” is followed by a noun, you can use either merci de or merci pour.
- Generally, for an event that is due to take place or that you hope will take place, as well as to give an order, use merci pour.
  noun
  Merci pour ton aide.
  Thank you for your help.
  You expect the person will be helping you in the future.
- However, for an event that happened in the past, use merci de.
  noun
  Merci de ton aide.
  Thank you for your help.
  You are thanking the person for having helped you in the past.
- Also, when French speakers use an abstract noun, they usually use merci de and merci pour for a concrete noun.
  abstract noun
  Merci de ton amitié.
  Thank you for your friendship.
  concrete noun
  Merci pour les fleurs.
  Thank you for the flowers.

Let’s review one more topic and then we can wrap up!

What are some of the false cognates between French and English?

Other words that are confusing for learners are les faux amis(false cognates) between French and English, such as the French words actuellement, chance, librairie, confusant, and excité. Below, I’m going to list a few of the most common ones that, in my experience, cause confusion among students!

Actuellement ≠ actually
Actuellement means “currently.” To translate “actually,” you should use en fait.
Isabelle est actuellement en congé maternité.
Isabelle is currently on maternity leave.
≠
En fait, je ne suis pas allée le chercher. Il a pris un taxi.
Actually, I didn't pick him up. He took a taxi.
Chance ≠ chance
The English phrase “by chance” should be translated in French as par hasard. The word chance in French means “luck.”
J’ai trouvé un billet de 10 euros par hasard.
I found a 10 euro note by chance.
Oh, tu as de la chance !
Oh, you’re lucky!
Librairie ≠ library
The noun la librairie is a shop where you can buy books. La bibliothèque is “a library.”
Elle n’aime pas acheter de livres à la librairie. Elle préfère les emprunter à la bibliothèque.
She doesn't like to buy books at the bookshop. She prefers to borrow them from the library.
Confusant ≠ confusing
Although the word confusant (a direct translation of the English “confusing”) is more and more present in the French language, it is not actually standard grammar in French. The correct translation of “confusing” should be ✅ déroutant or ✅ troublant, or a more informal and common option is ce n’est pas clair(it's not clear).
Son annonce était déroutante. (Son annonce n’était pas claire.) Prend-il vraiment sa retraite ?
His announcement was confusing. (His announcement was not clear.) Is he really retiring?
To say you are “confused” in French, it is best to say je suis perdu(e)(I’m lost) or the informal equivalent, je suis paumé(e). Another option is to say je ne comprends pas(I don't understand).
Je suis perdu. Je dois utiliser le passé composé ou l’imparfait ?
I’m confused. Shall I use the perfect or the imperfect?
Finally if someone is confusing you, you can used the verb embrouiller(to muddle):
Arrête avec ces explications. Tu m’embrouilles !
Stop with these explanations. You're confusing me!
Exception!
The expression je suis confus(e) exists in French, but it’s an old fashioned way to say “I’m sorry,” which I have personally never used.
Excité ≠ excited
Excité in French is used to describe a state of agitation, nervousness, enthusiasm, or irritation.
Il est toujours excité à l’idée de découvrir de nouveaux paysages.
He is always enthusiastic at the idea of discovering new landscapes.
Les enfants ont mangé beaucoup trop de bonbons et maintenant ils sont excités.
The children have eaten far too many sweets and now they are agitated.
However, to say you are excited as in very happy, you shouldn’t use ~~je suis excité~~. Instead, French people use a variety of adjectives such as content(happy), heureux(happy), fou de joie(overjoyed), or the more formal ravi(delighted). For more emphasis, these adjectives can be combined with an adverb of intensity like vraiment(really), trop(too), or super(super).
adverb of intensityadjective
Il neige ! On va pouvoir faire du ski. Je suis trop contente !
It's snowing! We’re going to be able to go skiing. I am so excited!
Excitant(exciting) is used for stimulating drinks such as coffee:
Le café est un excitant.
Coffee is a stimulant.
Finally, to say something is exciting, like a coming event, you would use adjectives such as cool(cool), super(super), génial(great), or formidable(terrific).

There are many more false cognates in French and English. If you are interested in learning more about them, have a look at our list of common French false cognates.

Let’s recap

When you’re stuck on which French words to use for what you want to express, keep the following tips in mind:

English word/phrase	French translation hint
good (adjective)	bon + noun
good (adverb)	verb + bien
better	mieux if it comes from bien or meilleur if it comes from bon
still always	encore / toujours in a affirmative sentence pas encore / toujours pas in a negative sentence
to visit someone to visit a place	rendre visite à visiter
to know people and place to know everything else	connaître savoir
to take someone somewhere and stay with them to drop someone off to take something with you to drop something off	emmener amener emporter apporter
passively listening actively listening passively seeing actively watching	entendre écouter voir regarder
this year, last year, next year in two years, in five days Have a nice day! in the morning to have time three times	cette année, l’année dernière, l’année prochaine dans deux ans, dans cinq jours Passe(z) une bonne journée ! le matin avoir le temps trois fois
Thank you for…	merci de + infinitive verb merci de + noun (for a past action only) merci pour + noun (future action / command)
actually by chance it’s confusing / I’m confused It’s exciting / I’m excited	en fait par hasard ce n’est pas clair / je suis perdu c’est génial / Je suis content

You’re all set to practice. Why not test your knowledge of the top confusing words in French with our exercises!?

What are the most confusing words in French?

Table of Contents

What are the confusing French adverbs and adjectives?

When to use the French adverb ‘bien’ vs. the adjective ‘bon’?

When to use the French adverb ‘mieux’ vs adjective ‘meilleur’?

Tip

Exception!

Exception!

When to use the French adverbs ‘encore’ vs. ‘toujours'

Important

What are the most confusing French verbs?

When to use the French verbs ‘visiter’ vs ‘rendre visite à’?

When to use the French verbs ‘savoir’ vs ‘connaître’?

Important

Important

Exception!

How to say “to bring” and “to take” in French?

What is the difference between the French verbs ‘écouter’ and ‘entendre’?

Tip

Important

What is the difference between the French verbs ‘voir’ and ‘regarder’?

Exception!

How to say “to return” in French?

What are the most confusing French nouns?

How to say “year,” “day,” “morning,” and “evening” in French?

An vs. année (year)

Important

‘Jour’ vs. ‘journée’ (day)

‘Matin’ vs. ‘matinée’ (morning) and ‘soir’ vs. ‘soirée’ (evening)

Important

When to use the nouns ‘temps’ vs. ‘fois’ in French?

How to say “thank you for…” in French?

What are some of the false cognates between French and English?

Exception!

Let’s recap

Downloadable Resources

To embark on your next language adventure, join Mango on social!

Ready to take the next step?

What are the most confusing words in French?

Table of Contents

What are the confusing French adverbs and adjectives?

When to use the French adverb ‘bien’ vs. the adjective ‘bon’?

When to use the French adverb ‘mieux’ vs adjective ‘meilleur’?

Tip

Exception!

Exception!

When to use the French adverbs ‘encore’ vs. ‘toujours'

Important

What are the most confusing French verbs?

When to use the French verbs ‘visiter’ vs ‘rendre visite à’?

When to use the French verbs ‘savoir’ vs ‘connaître’?

Important

Important

Exception!

How to say “to bring” and “to take” in French?

What is the difference between the French verbs ‘écouter’ and ‘entendre’?

Tip

Important

What is the difference between the French verbs ‘voir’ and ‘regarder’?

Exception!

How to say “to return” in French?

What are the most confusing French nouns?

How to say “year,” “day,” “morning,” and “evening” in French?

An vs. année (year)

Important

‘Jour’ vs. ‘journée’ (day)

‘Matin’ vs. ‘matinée’ (morning) and ‘soir’ vs. ‘soirée’ (evening)

Important

When to use the nouns ‘temps’ vs. ‘fois’ in French?

How to say “thank you for…” in French?

What are some of the false cognates between French and English?

Exception!

Let’s recap

Downloadable Resources

To embark on your next language adventure, join Mango on social!

Ready to take the next step?

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