In this video, I will talk about the most common and worst false friends in French you need to avoid. I will also give you the correct words you should use instead!
Rester (to stay)
If you want to talk about your weekend and say that you rested or relaxed at home, you must use the verb "se reposer". If you say "je suis resté à la maison", that means you stayed at home. It's not exactly the same thing.
Attendre (to wait)
"Attendre", a classic. If you use it in the French sens, it means "to wait" ; "j'attends ce concert avec impatience" I'm looking forward to this concert. As for the English meaning, it is the verb "assister" ; "tu dois absolument assister à cette réunion" you must attend this meeting!
Avertissement (warning)
If you want to talk about advertising in French, you must use the word "publicité". I hate advertising "je déteste la publicité". The word "avertissement" means warning. He got a warning "il a reçu un avertissement."
Collège (university)
"Mon enfant est au collège, il a 12 ans" so your child must be the new Einstein! In French, "collège" is junior hight school. We use "université" to talk about university/college.
Monnaie (coin)
Money and "monnaie" are cousins but not brothers. You've got a lot of money "tu as beaucoup d'argent" whereas you've got change "tu as de la monnaie". A slight difference which might confuse people when misused.
Embarrassing ones
Remember, there are no "préservatifs" (condoms) in French dishes, you don't have a female cat (chatte) as it means pussy, you have a "chat"! Avoiding those two embarrassing false friends will prevent any uncomfortable situations with your French friends!
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