The use of anglicisms are widely criticized in the French language, so much so that government programs in French speaking countries have been set up to erase them from their vocabulary. Unlearning common anglicisms is a tough step in learning French, but we are here to help make it easier! Below is a short history on the topic, as well as the most common anglicisms to avoid while speaking the language.
What Is an Anglicism?
An anglicism is a word or expression that is borrowed from English; it is a way to define using anglophone terms in foreign languages. Several languages utilize anglicisms in their daily vernacular, including Spanish and German. However, they are most prevalent (and most criticized) in French. A lot of French speakers do not even know which anglicisms to avoid. This is the reason why government programs such as l’Académie française and l’Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) actively fight to protect the French language by erasing as many anglicisms as possible from popular use. In doing so, they recommend fully French alternatives to replace them with.
Why Are Anglicisms Used?
If this question popped into your head, you would not be alone: if anglicisms are so frowned upon, why are they still being used? Despite the fact that French-speaking countries are very proud of their language, there are several reasons why anglicisms are still so common.
English, despite not technically being the most used language in the world, is still incredibly widespread. The foundation of our popular culture includes films and television series made in Hollywood, most of which are created and disseminated in English. This means that French speakers will often consume content in English, and thus begin speaking “frenglish”; a combination of the two languages. From there, certain terms that were originally only English start being used so frequently in French, that they experience francization. A great example of this is the word céduler in French. If you were to say je cédule out loud, you may think that the world cédule sounds familiar. In fact, je cédule literally translates to “I schedule”. French speakers took the word “schedule”, made it French-sounding, and used it so much that it became an official word in their dictionaries. However, this is one of the many anglicisms that the OQLF (l’Office Québécois de la Langue Française) is working to abolish, encouraging the use of planifier in its stead.
On the topic of government programs and their efforts in preserving the French language, their failure to replace anglicisms with catchy terminology is a criticism they often receive. Due to this issue, many French speakers opt to continue using English words to make their lives easier. For example, many mocked l’Académie française and their attempts to translate English terms related to the Internet. To replace “wifi”, they asked people to instead say accès sans fil à Internet. For “streamer”, they suggested joueur-animateur en direct, and for “follower”, acolyte des illustres or servant (yes, this word means the same in French as it does in English). These terms are clunky or simply do not convey the proper information as well as the English terms do. So, French speakers will willingly choose to use anglicisms as opposed to their fully French alternatives.
Despite anglicisms often being used intentionally, they are also frequently created completely on accident. These mostly stem from English speakers poorly translating expressions, and misusing English words that mean something different in French. This article will detail these different types of unintentional anglicisms, and list off the most common ones so that you can begin your journey to mastering your French! These anglicisms can also be unlearned through language courses offered by companies such as Global Lingua, or by conversing regularly with native speakers.
Examples of Anglicisms to Avoid in French
There are two common types of anglicisms that French learners use without even realizing it. Firstly, there are the faux amis: French words that look and sound exactly like English ones, but actually mean something completely different. These are tricky to discern, as many words in English do translate perfectly in French and maintain the same definition; it is all about remembering which ones do not.
Secondly, syntactic anglicisms are also mistakes frequently made by English speakers. These are expressions we directly translate word for word from English, resulting in flawed syntax in French. In this case, you either need to tweak your phrasing to properly express your sentiment, or completely change the word(s) you’re using.
Faux Amis
These anglicisms stem from English words that exist in French, but do not mean the same thing as they do in English. Here are five examples of faux amis to avoid when speaking the language:
Assister
In French, the phrase assister à means “to attend”; you cannot use assister on its own to say “to assist”. Instead, say aider when talking about helping someone.
Examples:
Mary assiste au spectacle de Léo. (Mary is attending Léo’s show.)
Léo aide Mary avec ses leçons de français. (Léo is helping Mary with her French lessons.)
Prétendre
Saying prétendre in French means intending to do something, or claiming something without there necessarily being proof. However, if you want to say “to pretend” in French, you have to say faire semblant.
Examples:
La reine prétend interdire la trahison. (The queen intends to ban treason.)
Mathieu prétend qu’il m’a informé de sa fête, mais je ne me souviens pas. (Mathieu claims that he informed me about his party, but I don’t remember that.)
Je fais semblant d’avoir oublié la fête de Mathieu. (I’m pretending to have forgotten Mathieu’s party.)
Réaliser
This anglicism is so widespread that if you made the mistake, no one would bat an eye. However, réaliser does not actually mean “to realize”. It really means “to make”, whereas se rendre compte means “to realize”.
Examples:
Thalia réalise une œuvre d’art. (Thalia is making a work of art.)
Thalia se rend compte qu’elle a fait une erreur. (Thalia realizes that she made a mistake.)
Hasard
If you want to claim that something is a “hazard”, you cannot use the word hasard. Par hasard means “by chance” and “coincidentally”, while danger and risque mean “hazard”. Do not fret, danger means the same thing in French as it does in English!
Examples:
Par hasard, Rania s’est fait piquer par deux abeilles dans la même journée. (Coincidentally, Rania got stung by two bees on the same day.)
Les pesticides sont un danger pour les abeilles. (Pesticides are a hazard for bees.)
Assumer
Assumer means “to take responsibility”, but supposer means “to assume”.
Examples:
Audrey assume l’entière responsabilité de cet échec. (Audrey is taking full responsibility for this failure.)
Sophie suppose qu’Audrey est innocente. (Sophie assumes that Audrey is innocent.)
Syntactic Anglicisms: More Anglicisms to Avoid!
Syntactic anglicisms are born from direct translations that create expressions that are wrong or do not exist. Below is a list of 15 anglicisms to avoid, and how to correctly say them in French:
Placer une commande
Even though “to place” in English does, in fact, translate to placer, the expression placer une commande is incorrect. Instead, say passer une commande.
Example:
Jasper passe une commande au Starbucks. (Jasper is placing an order at Starbucks.)
Prendre une pause
This is a very common anglicism, especially at work. Yes, prendre does mean “to take”, but the correct expression here is actually faire une pause.
Example:
Diane part de son bureau pour faire sa pause. (Diane is leaving her desk to go take her break.)
This is another very common anglicism used at work. While people from France will say that they sent un email or un mail, if you’re from Quebec, you may want to stick to the use of courriel.
Example:
Abed envoie un courriel à son patron. (Abed is sending an email to his boss.)
Prendre une chance
Despite “chance” translating to chance, the French do not say prendre une chance in their version of the expression. In actuality, they will say prendre un risque.
Example:
Maurice prend un risque en jouant au poker. (Maurice is taking a chance by playing Poker.)
Canceller
As enticing as it is to simply say canceller when talking about cancelling something, this is actually a very common anglicism! Instead, opt for annuler.
Example:
Thomas annule son abonnement Netflix. (Thomas is cancelling his Netflix subscription.)
À date
If you want to say “until now” or “to date”, do not say à date; jusqu’à maintenant is the right way to go. People also incorrectly use à date as a replacement for “up to date”, but the correct term here is à jour.
Examples:
Jusqu’à maintenant, Joseph n’a jamais pensé à organiser ses fichiers. (Until now, Joseph never thought to organize his files.)
Maintenant, tous les fichiers de Joseph sont à jour. (Now, all of Joseph’s files are up to date.)
Application
The word “application” meaning “to apply for something” does not translate to application. If you’re looking for work, you’ll have to submit une demande d’emploi.
Example:
Guillaume envoie sa demande d’emploi par LinkedIn. (Guillaume is sending his job application through LinkedIn.)
Définitivement
This one is a bit trickier. While people use définitivement to say “definitely”, it actually means “conclusively”. When trying to say “definitely”, be sure to use the word certainement.
Example:
Robert n’est pas encore arrivé ? Il a certainement manqué son bus. (Robert hasn’t arrived yet? He definitely missed his bus.)
Se pratiquer
Be careful not to use se pratiquer when talking about practicing a sport or a musical instrument; say s’entraîner ou s’exercer.
Example:
Philippe s’entraîne en espagnol grâce à ses exercices. (Philippe is practicing his Spanish thanks to his exercises.)
Mettre l’emphase
Mettre l’emphase sur quelque chose is an incorrect translation of the expression “to emphasize something”. In lieu of this anglicism, French people will say mettre l’accent sur or attirer l’attention.
Example:
Au Québec, on met l’accent sur l’importance de la langue française. (Here in Québec, we emphasize the importance of the French language.)
Faire du sens
Faire du sens is not syntactically correct, but avoir du sens and c’est logique are! Makes sense, right?
Example:
C’est logique que j’ai échoué mon examen, je n’ai pas étudié ! (It makes sense that I failed my exam, I didn’t study!)
Dépendant de
Dépendant de is another common anglicism, taken from the expression “depending on”, or “according to”. The correct word to use in this case is selon.
Example:
Le cadeau de Girard sera choisi selon le budget du groupe. (Girard’s gift will be chosen according to the group’s budget.)
Aider avec
In English, it’s a popular expression to say that something “helped with” a task, meaning to have made it easier. However, in French, you cannot translate that to aider avec, you have to say faciliter.
Example:
Les machines facilitent le travail des ouvriers. (Machines make the workers’ jobs easier.)
Prendre une marche
This is another example of an expression directly translated from English that has improper syntax. If you want to say that you are taking a walk, you will have to use the verb se promener.
Example:
Inez se promène avec Chloé. (Inez is taking a walk with Chloé.)
Graduation
If you’re graduating from school soon, you will want to know this one! A graduation ceremony is called cérémonie de remise des diplômes, and “to graduate” is obtenir son diplôme.
Examples:
Allons à la cérémonie de remise des diplômes de Reba ! (Let’s go to Reba’s graduation ceremony!)
Reba a obtenu son diplôme en psychologie. (Reba graduated in Psychology.)
As you can see, there are many anglicisms to avoid when learning French, especially when it comes to written French. However, it is worth noting that if you want to live in a French speaking city or acclimate into French culture, anglicisms are sometimes unavoidable. We best recommend taking online language classes with Global Lingua to improve your spoken and written French, and talking with locals when you are more comfortable to get a better sense of their culture.
