Common mistakes · Romance background
Mistakes French speakers make
French shares Latin roots with English, so many words look familiar — but the meanings have drifted. Word order and question structure also differ.
Pick one to practise
False friend — "actually"
✗Actually, I live in Paris.
✓Currently, I live in Paris.
French "actuellement" means "currently / now". English "actually" means "in fact". They look identical but they've drifted apart over centuries.
Question without "do / does"
✗You like coffee?
✓Do you like coffee?
French questions use inversion ("Aimes-tu...?") or just intonation. English needs "do/does/did" + base verb in most question forms.
Adjective placement
✗I bought a car red.
✓I bought a red car.
French often places adjectives after the noun ("une voiture rouge"). English nearly always places adjectives BEFORE the noun.
"Since" vs "for"
✗I have lived here since five years.
✓I have lived here for five years.
French "depuis" covers both. English: "since" + a point in time (since Monday), "for" + a duration (for five years).