Common French speaking mistakes: 7 easy mistakes to avoid

[jrineakter]

Making mistakes is part of learning a language . Whether it's pronunciation , spelling or grammar , it's normal to make mistakes. However, if your goal is to improve your level of French , it's important to identify your mistakes so you don't make them again. Discover in this article a list of 7 common French speaking mistakes among non -French speakers !

1. Forget about contractions
Saying "le avion" or "la amie" is a pronunciation error that is often heard among learners of French as a foreign language. They forget to do the contractions when speaking. It would be better to say "l'avion" or "l'amie".

In French grammar, this phenomenon is called elision. It occurs when the final vowel of a word is removed before a word that begins with a vowel or a silent h. The vowel is then replaced by an apostrophe ('):


So, we don't say "Pierre goes to the switzerland whatsapp number data concert in Paris", but "Pierre goes to the concert in Paris". Similarly, the correct sentence for "The earth revolves around the sun" is "the earth revolves around the sun".

2. Pronouncing silent letters: a common oral French mistake
Common mistake in French: pronouncing silent letters

One of the common mistakes in French is to pronounce all the written letters. However, many letters are not pronounced orally. They are called silent letters. This is the case for most consonants at the end of words. For example, you should not pronounce the t in the written word "chat" or the letter x in the word "deux".



Be careful, keep in mind that there are always exceptions in the French language! For example, the ending "-ER" of the infinitive of verbs of the 1st group is read as "é" and not as "èrrrre". So, "parler" is read as "parle" and "manger" is read as "mané". Another example: you should not pronounce the r in the word "monsieur".

3. Using the wrong possessive adjective
You have probably learned that in French, you have to agree determiners and adjectives according to the gender of the noun to which it refers. So, since the noun "livre" is masculine, you have to say le livre. The word "bottle" is feminine, so you say la bouteille. This is also the case for possessive adjectives: you say mon livre and sa bouteille.

So why is saying "my friend wrote a novel" a French mistake? However, "friend" is feminine singular. We should therefore use the feminine singular possessive adjective ma …

Here's the rule: when "ma", "ta" and "sa" appear before a noun that begins with a vowel or a silent h, they become "mon", "ton" and "son". It's a question of pronunciation. In French, we avoid having two vowels next to each other, because it's difficult to pronounce.


4. Using the informal “tu” instead of the formal “vous”: a mistake that even French speakers make
Many French language learners make the mistake of using the pronoun "tu" in a context where they should be using "vous" . Some will even address any speaker informally, because they don't know the difference between pronouns in their native language. This is not a French mistake, but using the wrong pronoun can make you seem rude!

As a general rule, we address someone we know well and are close to. We address our friends and family informally. The formal "vous" is a sign of politeness. Thus, we address strangers in the street formally as well as people older than us formally.