Common mistakes in French often happen when you translate expressions directly from your mother tongue. Other times, you recently learnt a rule and can’t apply it properly yet. Finally, you might have heard or learnt a wrong expression, repeated it and were never corrected.
When it comes to language learning, making mistakes is a necessary and a positive part of the learning process. However, some mistakes stick more than others and it becomes necessary to make an effort to correct and even unlearn them. Let’s try to root out these common french mistakes and build new habits!
I have gathered for you the 8 most common mistakes in French that my beginner, intermediate and also advanced students keep making. You might already know the rules. If this is the case, just do the quiz at the end of the explanations and check your knowledge. If you don’t know the rules, read on and do the quiz afterwards!
TIP : if you keep making common mistakes in French :
1. Make your own list of ‘Common mistakes’ = ‘Erreurs fréquentes’.
2. Stick it near your computer, fridge, or any place where you hang out often.
3. Practise regularly by creating your own examples and go back to it in your free time (on the bus for example)!
1. Choosing between AVOIR (to have) and ETRE (to be)
One of the most common mistakes in French is about choosing between the auxiliaries verbs ‘avoir’ and ‘être’. Some very usual expressions that use ‘être’ (to be) in English conversely use ‘avoir’ (to have) in French. Examples :
- I’m 23 years old → Je suis 23 ans ❌
→ J’ai 23 ans. ✅
- I’m cold / hot → Je suis chaud / froid❌
→ J’ai froid / chaud.✅
- I’m hungry / thirsty → Je suis faim / soif ❌
→ J’ai faim / soif. ✅
In some cases, be careful because making such a mistake could lead to a misunderstanding. For instance, if you say “Je suis froid(e)”, the person you’re speaking to will understand that you’re a cold person, meaning not warm or welcoming. If you say “Je suis chaud(e)”, you could be seen as someone ‘up for it’, ‘excited’ (sexually)!
2. Translating ‘to visit someone/a place’.
When I start a lesson, especially on Monday, I always ask my students what they did on the weekend. They often want to tell me that they visited their parents, friends or the restaurant:
I visited my parents in Brighton → J’ai visité mes parents à Brighton. ❌
I visited a posh restaurant on Saturday → J’ai visité un restaurant chic samedi ❌
Instead, you should use the expressions ‘aller voir quelqu’un’ (go to see someone) ou ‘rendre visite à quelqu’un’ (to pay a visit to someone), which is more formal:
I visited my parents in Brighton → Je suis allé voir mes parents à Brighton ✅
→ J’ai été voir mes parents à Brighton ✅ Spoken French
→ J’ai rendu visite à mes parents à Brighton. ✅ More formal.
I visited a posh restaurant → Je suis allé à un restaurant chic ✅
→ J’ai été à un restaurant chic ✅ Spoken French
But wait, can you visit a city or a country? Yes! You can visit places and monuments, touristy sites I would say.
I visited Barcelona last summer → J’ai visité Barcelone l’été dernier. ✅
I visited the cathedral Notre-Dame → J’ai visité la cathédrale Notre-Dame.✅
3. Talking about the weather
This common mistake in French is similar to the first one about the direct translation of the verb ‘être’. Most students translate literally:
It’s cold today → C’est froid aujourd’hui ❌
It was very hot yesterday → C’était très chaud hier ❌
Always remember that many expressions to talk about the weather use the verb ‘faire’ in French:
It’s cold today → Il fait froid aujourd’hui.✅
It was very hot yesterday → Il a fait très chaud hier.✅
4. Translating the word “busy”
Busy people:
When I used to teach in companies and ask my students “Comment ça va aujourd’hui ?”, a very frequent answer is:
‘I’m so busy’ → “Je suis (très) occupé(e)”. ❌
It’s not grammatically wrong but it doesn’t sound natural. French people normally use this expression when they’re asked to do something and can’t do it because they’re busy doing something else.
For instance, a receptionist could say over the phone :
‘The director can’t take the call right now, he’s busy’. → “Monsieur le Directeur ne peut pas prendre l’appel maintenant, il est occupé.” ✅
At work, a colleague asks you for help and you can’t do it at that moment because you have something else to finish before:
Can you please contact the press? I can’t as I’m busy right now.
Tu peux contacter la presse s’il te plait ? Je ne peux pas parce que je suis occupé pour l’instant. ✅
What about you just want to express your busyness? In that case, we use longer expressions such as :
Aujourd’hui, j’ai beaucoup de travail ✅ (I have a lot of work)
J’ai beaucoup de choses à faire✅ (I have many things to do)
J’ai une journée chargée ✅ (I have a busy day)
Je suis débordée ✅ (I’m snowed under).
J’ai du pain sur la planche ✅ (I have a lot on my plate).
Busy places:
Piccadilly Circus was very busy during the Football World Cup → Piccadilly Circus était très occupé pendant la Coupe du Monde de foot ❌
Instead, you should use :
Il y avait beaucoup de monde à Picadilly Circus pendant la Coupe du Monde. ✅
Il y avait trop de monde à Picadilly Circus. ✅
The bus was packed → le bus était bondé / plein à craquer.✅
5. Translating “You’re right”
A very common mistake in French is to translate this expression literally:
You’re right → ‘Tu es vrai’ / ‘Vous êtes vrai’ ❌
You’re right → Tu as raison / Vous avez raison.✅
The same goes for:
You’re wrong → Tu es faux / vous êtes faux ❌
→ Tu as tort / Vous avez tort. ✅
6. Translating “many times”
I watched the film ‘Love Actually’ many times → J’ai vu le film ‘Love actually’ beaucoup de fois ❌
→ J’ai vu le film “Love Actually” de nombreuses fois. ✅
An alternative :
Many times, you understand better than what you think → Souvent (often), tu comprends mieux que ce que tu penses.✅
7. Translating ‘on + day’
When talking about the days of the week in French, you actually don’t have to translate the preposition ‘on’.
On Monday, I went to Birmingham → A lundi, je suis allé à Birmingham. ❌
→ Lundi, je suis allé à Birmingham ✅
On Friday, I’m going to ski → A vendredi, je vais skier❌
→ Vendredi, je vais skier.✅
If you want to specify you’re doing an activity every Monday for instance, you’ll add ‘le’ before the day.
On Mondays, I play basketball → Le lundi, je joue au basket.✅
However, when you’re saying goodbye to your colleague, you should say:
See you on Monday ! → A lundi !✅
8. Translating ‘It’s ok”
Like in the expression ‘Ca va ?’ (How are you?), you should use the verb ‘aller’ (to go) to show that a situation is ok
How is work at the moment? It’s ok → Comment ça va au travail? C’est d’accord ❌
→ Comment ça va au travail? Ca va ✅
How was Marc’s presentation? It was ok → Comment était la présentait de Marc ? C’était d’accord ❌
→ Comment était la présentait de Marc ? Ca allait / ça a été ✅
And now, check your knowledge about the most common mistakes in French with our quiz !