Have you ever seen the same word appear in two different languages before? Well, if you’re an English speaker who’s been learning French, you’ve probably encountered this phenomenon a few times already. Its probably left you wondering: Are they the same? Today, we are going to put a name to this phenomenon and you will learn that some words live a completely different life in the French language.

Your brain is very good at recognizing patterns and when it sees something familiar it tends to jump to all sorts of assumptions and conclusions. For example, what comes to mind when you see the word pill? (Some type of medication or vitamin right?) You would be right too. If you were to ask a French person the same question, you will get a different answer. Pill, in French, means battery. Crazy huh?!

They are spelled and pronounce the same but have totally different meanings. In English, these are called Homonyms, but since this happens across two different languages, we call them Faux Amis, fake friends, in French. Now that you know, let’s train ourselves to avoid this common mistake and not be fooled by Faus Amis. I’ve made a video [below] in which I explain Faux Amis and you should check it out.

Have you encountered any Faux Amis while studying French?
Can you think of any Faux Amis that weren’t mentioned? If so, share them below!

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