10 Common French Mistakes English Speakers Make (And How to Fix Them) (A2-B1)
You’re learning French and making progress, but native speakers constantly correct you or look confused when you speak, and you’re not sure what mistakes you’re making. You mix up masculine and feminine words, forget crucial parts of negations, use “tu” inappropriately with authority figures, translate English idioms word-for-word that make no sense in French, and fall into false friend traps like saying “actuellement” when you mean “actually.” These recurring errors hold you back from sounding natural and confident. Understanding the 10 most common French mistakes English speakers make – and why these errors happen – gives you the awareness to break bad habits and accelerate your progress toward fluent, natural French.
Why English speakers make these specific French mistakes
English speakers learning French face unique challenges because English and French structure language fundamentally differently. English dropped grammatical gender centuries ago, uses different verb tenses for past actions, and relies on word order for meaning where French uses grammatical markers.
🇺🇸 English speakers often make the same French mistakes because of structural differences between the two languages
Roger experienced these exact challenges when learning French as an adult after growing up speaking English and German. His French lessons specifically address these common mistakes because he understands from personal experience where English speakers struggle and why – something native French teachers often can’t explain as clearly.
Mistake #1: Mixing up masculine and feminine nouns
The gender confusion problem
French assigns every noun a gender – masculine (le/un) or feminine (la/une) – and there’s no logical system. English speakers struggle because English doesn’t have grammatical gender for objects.
Common mistakes:
🇺🇸 ✅ Le problème est compliqué (The problem is complicated – MASCULINE)
🇺🇸 ✅ Une université française (A French university – FEMININE)
🇺🇸 ✅ La mer est belle (The sea is beautiful – FEMININE)
🇺🇸 ✅ Un avion arrive (A plane is arriving – MASCULINE)
Why this matters: Getting gender wrong affects the entire sentence – adjectives, past participles, and pronouns must agree with the noun’s gender.
How to fix it:
- Always learn nouns WITH their article (learn “le problème” not just “problème”)
- Use color coding in notes (blue for masculine, red for feminine)
- Learn common gender patterns (words ending in -tion are usually feminine, -age usually masculine)
- Accept you’ll make mistakes – even native speakers occasionally hesitate!
Mistake #2: False friends (faux-amis)
Words that look like English but mean something completely different
French has many words that look similar to English but have different meanings. English speakers confidently use these words wrong, creating hilarious or confusing situations.
Most dangerous false friends:
🇺🇸 ✅ Je suis en fait très fatigué (actuellement = currently, NOT actually!)
🇺🇸 ✅ Je vais aider mon ami (assister = to attend, NOT to assist!)
🇺🇸 ✅ C’est très gentil de ta part (sensible = sensitive physically, NOT emotionally!)
🇺🇸 ✅ J’ai hâte d’aller à la fête (excité = sexually aroused – VERY awkward!)
🇺🇸 ✅ J’ai réussi l’examen (passer = to take, NOT to pass!)
⚠️ The “excité” mistake – extremely embarrassing!
This is probably the most embarrassing false friend for English speakers. When you say “Je suis excité(e),” French people hear “I’m sexually aroused” – NOT “I’m excited about something.”
Correct alternatives:
🇺🇸 I can’t wait to see this movie! (I’m excited to see this movie)
🇺🇸 I’m eager to go on vacation (I’m excited about vacation)
🇺🇸 I’m really happy about it! (It excites me)
Roger teaches students to recognize and avoid false friends in his lessons because these mistakes create the most awkward misunderstandings!
Mistake #3: Using “tu” instead of “vous” inappropriately
The tu/vous formality mistake
English has only “you” for everyone. French has “tu” (informal you) and “vous” (formal you/plural you). English speakers either use “tu” with everyone (too informal) or “vous” with everyone (too stiff).
🇺🇸 ✅ Bonjour Monsieur, vous pouvez m’aider ? (Use VOUS with strangers, authority figures)
🇺🇸 ✅ Salut maman, comment tu vas ? (Use TU with family, close friends)
When to use TU:
- Family members
- Close friends
- Children and teenagers (to anyone)
- Between young people (under 30, informal contexts)
- Pets and animals
When to use VOUS:
- Strangers
- Authority figures (teachers, bosses, police, doctors)
- Older people (when you’re younger)
- Professional contexts
- When in doubt – ALWAYS use VOUS first!
Mistake #4: Dropping the “ne” in negations
Incomplete negation structure
French negation requires TWO words: “ne” + “pas” (or jamais, plus, rien, etc.). English speakers often drop the “ne” because English only uses “not.”
🇺🇸 ✅ Je ne veux pas aller (I don’t want to go – full negation)
🇺🇸 ✅ Je n’ai jamais vu ce film (I’ve never seen this movie)
🇺🇸 ✅ Il ne parle plus français (He doesn’t speak French anymore)
Why this matters: While spoken casual French often drops “ne,” written French and formal speech require it. Learners should master the full form first.
Common negation structures:
- ne… pas = not
- ne… jamais = never
- ne… plus = no longer / not anymore
- ne… rien = nothing
- ne… personne = nobody
💡 Roger’s negation trick:
Think of French negation as a “sandwich” – the verb is the filling between two slices of bread (ne… pas). This visual helps you remember both parts:
🇺🇸 I don’t eat meat (verb “sandwiched” between ne…pas)
Roger teaches this technique in his French lessons because visual mnemonics help adult learners internalize French grammar patterns that don’t exist in English.
Mistake #5: Wrong prepositions (à, de, en, dans)
Preposition confusion
French prepositions don’t translate directly from English. English speakers struggle especially with “à” vs “de” and “en” vs “dans.”
Common preposition mistakes:
🇺🇸 ✅ Je vais en France (Countries use EN or AU, not À!)
🇺🇸 ✅ J’habite à Paris (Cities use À, not EN!)
🇺🇸 Many English speakers incorrectly say “Je pense de toi” (WRONG – use À after penser)
🇺🇸 ✅ J’ai besoin de ton aide (Use DE after “besoin”)
🇺🇸 ✅ Je suis bon à faire la cuisine (Use À before infinitive after “bon”)
Key patterns to learn:
- Cities: à Paris, à Londres, à New York
- Feminine countries: en France, en Italie, en Espagne
- Masculine countries: au Canada, au Japon, aux États-Unis
- Penser à: to think about someone/something
- Avoir besoin de: to need something
Mistake #6: Using “être” (to be) instead of “avoir” (to have)
The “I am” vs “I have” confusion
French uses “avoir” (to have) for many expressions where English uses “to be.” English speakers translate literally and sound unnatural.
🇺🇸 ✅ J’ai froid (I’m cold – you HAVE cold, not ARE cold)
🇺🇸 ✅ J’ai faim (I’m hungry – you HAVE hunger)
🇺🇸 ✅ Elle a 25 ans (She’s 25 years old – you HAVE years in French)
🇺🇸 ✅ J’ai peur des araignées (I’m afraid of spiders – you HAVE fear)
Common expressions using AVOIR (not ÊTRE):
- avoir froid / chaud = to be cold / hot
- avoir faim / soif = to be hungry / thirsty
- avoir sommeil = to be sleepy
- avoir peur = to be afraid
- avoir raison / tort = to be right / wrong
- avoir de la chance = to be lucky
- avoir … ans = to be … years old
Mistake #7: Wrong word order with adjectives
Adjective placement errors
English puts adjectives BEFORE nouns (big house). French usually puts adjectives AFTER nouns (maison grande), except for a small group of common adjectives that go BEFORE.
🇺🇸 ✅ Une voiture rouge (Red goes AFTER)
🇺🇸 ✅ Un livre français (Nationality adjectives go AFTER)
🇺🇸 ✅ Une maison chère (Expensive goes AFTER)
The BAGS adjectives that go BEFORE nouns:
- Beauty: beau, joli (beautiful, pretty)
- Age: jeune, vieux, nouveau (young, old, new)
- Goodness: bon, mauvais (good, bad)
- Size: grand, petit, gros (big, small, large)
🇺🇸 Une maison chère (an expensive house – descriptive AFTER)
Mistake #8: Confusing passé composé and imparfait
Past tense confusion
English has simple past (“I went”) for all past actions. French distinguishes between completed actions (passé composé) and ongoing/habitual past actions (imparfait). English speakers overuse passé composé.
🇺🇸 ✅ Quand j’étais jeune, je jouais au football (Ongoing past state + habitual action = IMPARFAIT)
🇺🇸 ✅ Hier, il faisait beau et je suis allé à la plage (This one is actually CORRECT – weather description = imparfait, specific action = passé composé)
🇺🇸 ✅ J’habitais à Paris pendant 10 ans (Ongoing past state = IMPARFAIT, though passé composé works if emphasizing the completed period)
Use PASSÉ COMPOSÉ for:
- Completed actions with defined beginning/end
- Specific events that happened once
- Sequence of events
Use IMPARFAIT for:
- Descriptions of past states
- Habitual/repeated actions in the past
- Background information
- Ongoing actions interrupted by passé composé
⚠️ The interrupted action pattern
One of the trickiest patterns: when an ongoing action (imparfait) is interrupted by a completed action (passé composé):
🇺🇸 I was sleeping when the phone rang (sleeping = ongoing background, rang = specific completed event)
🇺🇸 It was raining when I went out (raining = background condition, went out = specific action)
This pattern confuses English speakers because English uses “was -ing” (past continuous) for ongoing actions, but French uses imparfait which looks like simple past.
Mistake #9: Literal translation of English idioms
Direct translation mistakes
English speakers translate English expressions word-for-word into French, creating nonsense or unintentionally funny phrases.
🇺🇸 ✅ Il pleut des cordes (It’s raining ropes – French idiom)
🇺🇸 ✅ Merde ! (Literally “shit” – but this means “good luck” in French!)
🇺🇸 ✅ Ça coûte les yeux de la tête (It costs the eyes from the head – French version)
🇺🇸 ✅ Faire d’une pierre deux coups (Make two strikes with one stone – French version)
Common English phrases with different French equivalents:
- “I’m broke” ≠ “Je suis cassé” → Je suis fauché / Je n’ai plus d’argent
- “Piece of cake” ≠ “Morceau de gâteau” → C’est du gâteau / C’est fastoche
- “Long time no see” ≠ “Long temps pas voir” → Ça faisait longtemps !
Mistake #10: Pronouncing every letter (especially final consonants)
Pronunciation mistakes from reading
English pronounces most letters in written words. French has many silent letters, especially final consonants. English speakers pronounce everything they see, sounding unnatural.
🇺🇸 ✅ “Paris” pronounced “Pah-REE” (silent S)
🇺🇸 ✅ “Beaucoup” pronounced “Bo-KOO” (silent P)
🇺🇸 ✅ “Tu parles” pronounced “Too PARL” (silent S at end)
General rules for silent letters:
- Final -s, -t, -x, -z are usually silent
- Final -e is always silent
- Final -d is usually silent
- BUT: Final consonants sound in liaisons before vowels!
Liaisons make silent consonants sound:
🇺🇸 Vous parlez → Pronounced “voo parlay” (S silent because next word starts with consonant)
💡 How Roger helps students fix these mistakes
Roger learned French as an adult after growing up speaking English and German. He made ALL of these mistakes himself, so he understands exactly where English speakers struggle and why. In his private French lessons, Roger:
- Catches and corrects these mistakes in real-time during conversation
- Explains WHY the error happened (English vs French structure differences)
- Provides memory tricks and patterns to avoid repeating the same mistakes
- Gives personalized practice exercises targeting YOUR specific error patterns
- Celebrates progress as you break old habits and develop natural French patterns
The €9 trial lesson lets you experience Roger’s approach – he won’t just correct you, he’ll help you understand WHY you’re making mistakes and give you strategies to fix them permanently.
Study glossary – Common mistake patterns
| Mistake Type | Wrong | Correct |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | ❌ Une problème | ✅ Un problème |
| False friend | ❌ Actuellement (actually) | ✅ En fait |
| Formality | ❌ Tu (to boss) | ✅ Vous |
| Negation | ❌ Je veux pas | ✅ Je ne veux pas |
| Preposition | ❌ Je vais à France | ✅ Je vais en France |
| Être vs Avoir | ❌ Je suis froid | ✅ J’ai froid |
| Adjective order | ❌ Une rouge voiture | ✅ Une voiture rouge |
| Past tense | ❌ J’ai été jeune | ✅ J’étais jeune |
| Idiom | ❌ Il pleut des chats | ✅ Il pleut des cordes |
| Pronunciation | ❌ ParisS (with S) | ✅ Pari (silent S) |
Breaking bad habits and building natural French
The good news? Everyone makes these mistakes when learning French. The bad news? These mistakes become habits if you don’t actively work to fix them. Awareness is the first step – now that you know these common errors, you can catch yourself making them and self-correct.
🇺🇸 Making mistakes is normal when learning a language, the important thing is recognizing and correcting them
Roger’s teaching philosophy emphasizes mistake correction as a learning tool rather than something to avoid. In his lessons, he creates a safe space where making mistakes is expected and each error becomes an opportunity to understand French structure better. His trilingual background gives him unique insight into how adult brains learn new language patterns and break old habits.
The key to improvement? Consistent practice with feedback. You need someone who can catch your mistakes in real-time, explain why they’re mistakes, and help you develop new patterns. That’s exactly what Roger provides in his personalized lessons – practical, patient correction that accelerates your progress from making these common mistakes to speaking natural, confident French.
