My name is David Issokson. Since the beginning of 2014 I’ve helped hundreds of students to learn French through my online lessons. Over the years I’ve noticed a trend that we all seem to make the same mistakes. These mistakes are universal. One of the single most imporant things that we can do is French learners is try to overcome these mistakes as soon as possible.
List of common mistakes in French
1. Pronouncing the -ent on the -ils/-elles form of the verb
This is probably the most common mistake that beginners make. About 99% of French verbs in the third-person plural form (ils, elles) end in the letters -ent.
The most imprtant tip here is to not pronounce these letters. For example on ils parlent, do not pronounce the -ent and end the verb on the -l sound. Hence, je parle and ils parlent sound the exact same! Stop pronouncing the -ent on verbs early on and you’ll be on the right track! This lesson explains how to pronounce -ent in French.
2. No need for être when trying to saying -ing
After the previous common mistake this is the second most common that I hear all the time during my French lessons.
If you want to say a sentences with a verb in the -ing form, simply conjugate the verb in the present tense. For example, Je parle means both 1) I speak and 2) I am speaking. If you say, “Je suis parle” it’s wrong. You cannot say Je suis + present tense in French.
The same principle applies when you want to say I was blanking. To say, I was speaking, say “Je parlais”. Use the imperfect tense. If you say, “Je suis parlais” it would be wrong.
To express will be verb + ing in the future either use the futur proche or future simple, the two commonlyused French future tenses. For example to say, “I will be speaking” say je vais parler or je parlerai. But, je serai parler is wrong. This lesson explains how to say ING in French.
3. Saying “je connais” when you should say “je sais”
A very common error which I hear all the time during my French students is people saying je connais for I know they should be saying je sais.
Basically, you use je sais for anything that’s factual. For example, Le ciel est bleu (the sky is blue). Answer: Oui, je sais. Yes, I know.
Use je connais for people. Tu connais Jacques? (Do you know Jacques)? Oui, je le connais. Yes, I know him. Here’s a compete lesson on connaître vs. savoir.
4. Saying “pas des” when you should say “pas de”
This is an extremely common mistake and it’s based on the pas de rule. For example, If I asked, Est-ce que tu as des amis à Paris? (Do you have any friends in Paris?), you’d think you could answer, Non, je ne pas des amis à Paris. (No, I don’t have any friends in Paris). This is wrong. You must say: “Non, je n’ai pas d’amis à Paris.
5. Saying “beaucoup des” when you should be saying “beaucoup de”
To say, I have a lot of friends in Paris, you’d think you could say, “J’ai beaucoup des amis à Paris”. This looks right but it’s wrong. Always say, beauoup de + noun, even if the noun is plural. Hence, “J’ai beaucoup d’amis à Paris” is correct.
6. Pronouncing an -ay sound on the je, tu and il forms of regular -er verbs
Another common mistake is to pronounce an -ay sound on the je, tu and il/elle forms of regular -er verbs. For example, to say je parle, tu parles and il parle, end the pronunciation on the L. None of these forms end in an -ay sound. Using parler as an example of a regular -er verb, only the infinitive (parler) and vous form (parlez) end in an -ay sound.
7. Saying “j’ai allé” or “j’ai resté”
In French, you cannot say j’ai allé or j’ai resté to mean I went and I stayed. These verbs require the use of être as the auxiliary verb in the passé composé. Hence, you must say, je suis allé and je suis resté.
8. Saying “il fait pleut” and “il fait neige”
Beginners make this mistake all the time when talking about the weather. To say it’s raining and it’s snowing, respectively, say il pleut and il neige.
There is no need to say il fait for raining and snowing. Use il fait for adjectives such as il fait froid (it’s cold out) and il fait chaud (it’s hot out).
9. Saying “c’est froid” and “c’est chaud” for the weather
Beginners make another common mistake when describing the weather. Many students will say c’est froid and c’est chaud, respectively to mean it’s cold out and it’s hot out. This is wrong. Hence, to say it’s cold or hot out, you must use il fait here: Il fait froid and il fait chaud.
10. Saying “à demain” when all you want to say is “tomorrow”
Lots of beginners say à demain when they really just want to say “tomorrow”. À demain means “see you tomorrow” and demain means tomorrow.
11. “À chez moi” doesn’t exist – just say “chez moi”
In French, there are two ways to say “I am at home”: 1) Je suis chez moi; and 2) Je suis à la maison. The mistake that most beginners make is to say, “Je suis à chez moi“. If you want to use chez moi then omit of the à.
12. Using “pour” when you should use “pendant”
Beginners often use the word pour (for) when they should be using the word pendant (during). Here’s an example of the common mistake. To say, “I studied in Paris for there months”, many beginners will say: J’ai étudié à Paris pour trois mois. This looks right but it’s wrong. You must say “J’ai étudié à Paris pendant trois mois“.
13. Using “il est/elle est” when you should be using “c’est”
To say, “he’s a boy”, you’d think you could say “Il est un garçon”. This looks right but it’s wrong. The reason that is’s wrong is that articles trigger us to use c’est. Hence, you must say, “c’est un garçon” to say he or it’s a boy. If you want to say he’s nice, for example, then you can say “il est sympathique“. This lesson explains il est vs c’est.
Common pronunciation mistakes
14. Pronouncing the last consonant of a word
It’s very common for beginners to pronounce the last consonant on a word ending in to consonants. For example, when saying concert many beginners pronounce the -t. Based on French reading rules, the pronunciation of concert ends on the -r.
15. Pronouncing the -n on “bien”
Do not raise your tongue to the roof of your mouth to make an -n sound on the word bien (well). French reading rules dictate that the final consonant of a word is silent (unless the word ends in -e).
For the word bien, the -en is a nazalized sound. Many people think they need to pronounce the -n as it is indeed pronounced in Spanish. When you’re speaking French totally skip the -n on bien and you’ll be saying it correctly! Très bien!
16. The word pays has two syllables
Lots of beginners pronounce the word pays (country) as “pay” in English. This is a mistake. Pays has two syllables and is pronounced pay-ee. Hence the word for landscape, paysage is pay-ee-zage.
17. Saying beauté with English pronunciation
A lot of beginners say the eau in beauté using the English pronunciation “ee-u”. This is wrong. Pronounce the letters au in French like ‘oh’ as in oh my gosh! Hence to pronounce beauté say: “boh-tay”.
Learning French | Lessons by David Issokson
