Today we have a fun lesson covering the faux ami (false cognate) préservatif, which doesn’t mean “preservative” (as in food preservative) but means “condom” or “rubber”.
le préservatif
condom
Example sentences
For this first sentence, the impersonal expression il faut translates literally to “it’s necessary” and can translate loosely to “one should”.
Il faut utiliser un préservatif pour éviter les grossesses.
One should use a condom to avoid pregnancies.
In French, la capote means “hood” as in the hood of a car. A slang word for condom or “rubber” is une capote anglaise (an English hood).
Savez-vous où on peut acheter les capotes anglaises ?
Do you know where you can by condoms?
To express “preservatives” as in chemicals used to prolongue the freshness of food, the French use conservateur. The negation ne…que means “only”.
Sophie ne mange que de la nourriture bio sans conservateurs.
Sophie only eats organic food without preservatives.
More false cognates
Word of the Day | Lessons by David Issokson
