Faux-amis or false cognates are expressions or words that could be used mistakenly from another language. We should pay a special attention to them. Here are some interesting faux-amis:

If you meet someone in a bar, please don't tell the other person that you are a celibate because that person will run away? You should say instead that you are a single person.

When you want to study or take out some books, you go to a library. When you want to buy some books, you go to a bookstore. It is easy to confuse "library" and "bookstore" because in French, a "librairie" is a bookstore.

In English, a smart person is somebody who is intelligent. However, French Canadian calls "smat" a person who is nice.

When you talk about somebody who is sensitive means that he/she is showing understanding and awareness of other people's problems. In French, we are using the term "sensible". However, in English we are using the term "sensible" when we want to say that a person is able to make good decisions and judgements based on reasons other than emotions.

In French, what is called a "phrase" is actually a sentence in English. In English, a phrase is a small group of words, which forms a unit within a sentence. Don't mix them up!

In French, the word "rude" is used for something rough. In English, the same word is used to say that somebody is impolite.

When there are tears on your cheeks, it means that you are crying. In French, "crier" means shooting or screaming.

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