Learn 230+ French Cognates and Similar Words
Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. ?
French cognates give you a head start: in a few minutes, you can spot patterns that help you recognise hundreds of words.
French cognates are words with a shared origin. In language-learning guides, the term often includes familiar-looking loanwords too. Some are spelled the same in English and French; others have different spellings, pronunciations or meanings.
Even if you’ve never spent a single minute learning French, you can probably recognise a lot of French words. You’ll still need to learn how they sound and how to use them.
That’s because French and English have so much in common.
Learning French cognates is a fast and simple way to build your vocabulary. The spelling patterns below help you make useful guesses, so you don’t have to approach every word from scratch. Practise the pronunciation and check the meaning in context, especially with false friends.
To get you started, I’ve put together more than 230 French-English word pairs, plus familiar expressions in the introduction. Most are useful cognates or loanwords; I’ve also kept a few lookalikes with notes on their different meanings.
At first glance, languages can seem hard. While there are obstacles to overcome, there are also many language hacks that can get us communicating quickly. Cognates are one such hack.
Before I get to the word lists, let me show you just how simple this can be…
Editor's note: Before we get started, if you’re looking for an online French course, here’s the course we recommend: French Uncovered – Learn French Through the Power of Story, a course with a fascinating new method by Olly Richards. You can try it for free for 7 days!
Before we get into the article, if you are interested in learning French yourself, you should check out my absolute favourite resource for learning French, FrenchPod101.
For all language projects I’ve taken on, this has been by far my favourite resource, since it’s a podcast style learning resource that covers many aspects of the language much better than traditional courses do.
It also tackles the issue of listening comprehension better than literally anything else out there, since its catalogue of lessons eases you in with simple lessons at first that get progressively harder, and you can listen to them for a huge range of topics better suited to your hobbies and interests.
They have a free option for anyone who wants to test them out, based on just their limited recent episodes, but exclusively for Fi3M readers, you can get 20% off if you sign-up for any of their subscriptions, which allow you to access their full catalogue of many hundreds of lessons, using the code FLUENT3.
I highly recommend this to all French learners!!
I’ve Put the French Cognates in Bold:
French and English have an abondance of cognates, so English speakers have a huge head start before ever putting forth any effort.
It should come as no surprise that some French already looks familiar. You have useful information to build on, and with préparation you can improve your communication. Try using them to make a réservation (a booking), and check their meanings as you go!
During the évolution of the English language, a lot of French found its way into English. Therefore, French shares a lot of vocabulaire with English. Some estimates say that about 10,000 words came to English via French.
You may have a sense of déjà vu as you read this article, as you have already seen these words before.
If you know cities in the United States, you might know Boise (wooded), Bel Air (beautiful air), Detroit (a strait), Montclair (clear mountain), Des Moines (traditionally glossed “of the monks”, although its name’s origin is debated). If you know the states, you are familiar with Vermont (green mountain), or Oregon, whose name has an uncertain origin. One proposed explanation connects it with French ouragan (“hurricane”), a word ultimately linked to Taíno via Spanish, but that isn’t an established origin for the state’s name.
If you work in journalism, you might work in a bureau. Regardless of your profession, you likely use a téléphone and a calendrier. A professeur helped you learn the skills you needed somewhere along the way. Perhaps you work for yourself and are an entrepreneur.
Wherever you live, you have an adresse. Watch out for location: in French it usually means rental, not a place or position. Without question, you visit the pharmacie, banque, dentiste and restaurant at times. Every city has a place where the police are located.
Do you wish people bon voyage as they travel to new destinations? Do they collect souvenirs? The French verb is collectionner. What do they do when they are en route?
What gives you joie de vivre? Perhaps on le week-end, you watch télévision. Do you enjoy littérature? A certain genre? A book with an immense number of pages?
Perhaps you enjoy culture and the arts outside your home. Ballet? Travelling, and seeing all kinds of architecture? Do you enjoy a good festival – a fête that is estivale, and takes place in summer? Or maybe creating with papier mâché helps you unwind.
What about fashion? Do you think certain things are chic? Do you own an eau de toilette, such as Chanel?
Sport more your thing? Do you like rugby, golf, ski?
During our éducation, we take many classes. Histoire, biologie, maths, arts, latin, religion, or géographie. Most people hated révision before exams.
In the military, we use many of the words from the French system. There are cadets in académies. We have colonels and lieutenants.
Do you like to eat? Perhaps you love a meal prepared for you by a chef? If you live in the U.K., you might eat courgette (zucchini) or aubergine (eggplant). Do you read the menu when you go to a café? Do you like a pique-nique (picnic)? Salade with vinaigrette is a great lunch option, and so is soupe.
A popular breakfast dish is an omelette.
Do you like fruits? Oranges? When you receive an invitation, do you R.S.V.P.? You can use “Respond So Very Promptly” as a memory aid, but the letters actually come from an abréviation of Répondez s’il vous plaît (please respond). Not exactly the same, but you get the point.
When you describe people, are they intelligent? Blonde? Brunette? Calme? Timide?
230+ French Cognates and Similar Words
Many English and French words share an origin and a recognisable form, but matching spelling doesn’t guarantee identical meaning. The lists group related spelling patterns and include some exceptions, which are labelled where needed. French nouns have grammatical gender, and adjectives often change their endings to agree with the noun; the basic forms below aren’t every possible form.
Words that end in -ion are often the same in French and English
Some examples:
- acceleration – accélération
- action – action
- addiction – addiction
- ambition – ambition
- attention – attention
- celebration – célébration
- champion – champion
- communication – communication
- condition – condition
- conversation – conversation
- donation – donation
- diction – diction
- edition – édition
- election – élection
- equation – équation
- emotion – émotion
- erosion – érosion
- fiction – fiction
- function – fonction
- generation – génération
- infection – infection
- information – information
- injection – injection
- invasion – invasion
- legion – légion
- motion (a proposal at a meeting) – motion; physical movement is mouvement
- notion – notion
- nation – nation
- omission – omission
- option – option
- passion – passion
- population – population
- presentation – présentation
- pronunciation – prononciation
- question – question
- ration – ration
- reflection – réflexion
- religion – religion
- reservation – réservation
- region – région
- rotation – rotation
- session – session
- station – station
- solution – solution
- transaction – transaction
Words that end in -al are often French cognates:
- animal – animal
- central – central
- national – national
- final – final
- international – international
- mental – mental
- vertical – vertical
Many words ending in -able look the same or similar in English and French. This list also keeps double, a useful cognate ending in -ble rather than -able:
- adorable – adorable
- admirable – admirable
- applicable – applicable
- cable – câble
- capable – capable
- double – double
- durable – durable
- favorable – favorable
- habitable – habitable
- incurable – incurable
- identifiable – identifiable
- improbable – improbable
- inseparable – inséparable
- justifiable – justifiable
- notable – notable
- recyclable – recyclable
- respectable – respectable
- sociable – sociable
- table – table
- vulnerable – vulnérable
Many words that end in -ible are the same in English and French:
- horrible – horrible
- flexible – flexible
- impossible – impossible
- inaccessible – inaccessible
- compatible – compatible
- perceptible – perceptible
- visible – visible
Many words ending in -ance have the same or a similar spelling in French. Notice appearance/apparence, where the ending changes. The list also keeps fiance/fiancé, a familiar loanword that doesn’t follow the -ance pattern:
- ambiance – ambiance
- ambulance – ambulance
- appearance – apparence
- alliance – alliance
- arrogance – arrogance
- assistance – assistance
- assurance – assurance
- brilliance – brillance
- circumstance – circonstance
- deliverance – délivrance
- distance – distance
- dominance – dominance
- endurance – endurance
- elegance – élégance
- fiance – fiancé
- finance – finance
- fragrance – fragrance
- intolerance – intolérance
- importance – importance
- nuance – nuance
- nuisance – nuisance
- perseverance – persévérance
- renaissance – renaissance
- resemblance – ressemblance
- resonance – résonance
- substance – substance
- tolerance – tolérance
- vigilance – vigilance
French present participles end in -ant; a gerund normally uses en plus the present participle, as in en parlant (“while speaking”). The same ending also appears in nouns and adjectives. You might know a bon vivant (someone who enjoys living well), or the adjective dormant (sleeping). Here are more familiar words ending in -ant, not all of them participles:
- brilliant – brillant(e)
- elephant – éléphant
- extravagant – extravagant
- ignorant – ignorant(e)
- immigrant – immigrant
- important – important(e)
- nonchalant – nonchalant
- restaurant – restaurant
- triumphant – triomphant(e)
- vacant – vacant
- vibrant – vibrant
English words ending in -ct often have recognisable French relatives. Some keep that ending; others change, as in contract/contrat, insect/insecte, object/objet and perfect/parfait:
- contract – contrat
- correct – correct
- direct – direct
- distinct – distinct
- exact – exact
- impact – impact
- insect – insecte
- instinct – instinct
- object – objet
- perfect – parfait
- respect – respect
- suspect – suspect
Words ending in -ence often look similar in French, though the ending can change, as in independence/indépendance. Check the meaning too: obédience has more specialised uses than everyday English “obedience”.
- absence – absence
- conscience – conscience
- convergence – convergence
- indulgence – indulgence
- impatience – impatience
- independence – indépendance
- innocence – innocence
- intelligence – intelligence
- obedience – usually obéissance; obédience refers to religious obedience or allegiance to an authority, and can also name a Masonic organisation
- patience – patience
- science – science
- silence – silence
- violence – violence
Many words that end in -ent are the same in English and French:
- absent – absent
- accent – accent
- accident – accident
- adjacent – adjacent
- adolescent – adolescent
- affluent – affluent in the geographical sense of a tributary; for “wealthy”, use aisé or riche
- amendment – amendement
- apartment – appartement
- agent – agent
- ardent – ardent
- client – client
- compliment – compliment
- continent – continent
- decent – décent
- deficient – déficient
- different – différent(e)
- diligent – diligent
- document – document
- encouragement – encouragement
- element – élément
- evident – évident
- excellent – excellent
- increment – incrément
- incident – incident
- innocent – innocent
- intelligent – intelligent
- latent – latent
- monument – monument
- negligent – négligent
- payment – paiement
- parent – parent
- permanent – permanent(e)
- pertinent – pertinent
- president – président
- prudent – prudent(e)
- recent – récent
- segment – segment
- talent – talent
- transparent – transparent
- urgent – urgent
The words listed thus far are almost identical to English. You can easily increase your vocabulary by learning a few patterns and suffixes.
Many words that end in -ary in English have their equivalent as -aire in French:
- actuary – actuaire
- arbitrary – arbitraire
- dictionary – dictionnaire
- extraordinary – extraordinaire
- imaginary – imaginaire
- ordinary – ordinaire
- anniversary – anniversaire
- salary – salaire
- vocabulary – vocabulaire
- military – militaire
- necessary – nécessaire
- contrary – contraire
Many words that end in -ical or -ic have -ique equivalents in French:
- alphabetical – alphabétique
- analytical – analytique
- Catholic – catholique
- chemical – chimique
- critical – critique
- cubical – cubique
- dramatic – dramatique
- electrical – électrique
- ethical – éthique
- historical – historique
- identical – identique
- logical – logique
- lyrical – lyrique
- music – musique
- practical – pratique
- romantic – romantique
- statistical – statistique
- symmetrical – symétrique
- typical – typique
Many words that end in -ist have the equivalent -iste in French:
- cyclist – cycliste
- artist – artiste
- dentist – dentiste
Many adverbs that end in -ly in English have an equivalent in French ending in -ment:
- absolutely – absolument
- correctly – correctement
- directly – directement
- especially – spécialement
- evidently – évidemment
- exactly – exactement
- finally – finalement
- immediately – immédiatement
- naturally – naturellement
- normally – normalement
- totally – totalement
Many English words have a close French equivalent with circumflex:
- coast – côte
- forest – forêt
- hotel – hôtel
- hospital – hôpital
- theatre – théâtre
You've just seen hundreds of familiar-looking French words, so keep the momentum going by practising their pronunciation and trying them in sentences. Learn your French numbers next, or pick up Language Hacking French to start speaking with the words you already have. And if you want to be having real French conversations in weeks, that's exactly what the Fluent in 3 Months Bootcamp is for.
And here are 8 more ways to speed up your French:
Looking for more French resources? Check out Benny’s favourites here.
Social