More faux-amis
Actual, actually
- In French, “actuel” means “current, present”, and “actuellement” is “now”, “at this time” , “currently”. “Dans l’état actuel des choses”. “As things stand at this time”.
- The English adjective “actual” is, in French, “réel, exact, vrai,véritable”, and the adverb “actually” is “vraiment, réellement, véritablement, en réalité”. “Nobody knows the actual cause of that accident”. “Personne ne connaît la vraie cause de cet accident”.
Character
- In literature, cinema or theater, what is a “character” in English, in French is “un personnage”, while “caractère” in French is, in English, “character, nature, personality, print, type (font)”. “Cette personne a bon caractère”. This person is good-natured”. “Ce texte a été écrit en petits caractères”. “This text was written in small print”.
Photograph
– A “photograph” translates in French with “une photographie”. A “photographer” is “un photographe”. “Photography” is, in French, “la photographie”.
Phrase
A “phrase” in English is, in French, “une expression”, while a “sentence” is “une phrase”.
Rude
- The English adjective “rude”, in French is “grossier, impoli”. That person was rude at the meeting. Cette personne a été impolie à la réunion”.The French adjective “rude” is, in English, “rough, hard”. “Il m’a fallu un rude effort pour terminer ce travail”. “I had to put hard work to finish that task”. “C’est un homme rude”. “He is a rough man”.
Résumé
As used in English, the word “résumé” is, in French, “un curriculum vitae”, while the French word “résumé” is, in English, “a summary”, or “an abstract”. To “resume an activity” is, in French, “reprendre une activité”.
Frantz P.
