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French–English Cognates

85 French words you already know from English. Your existing vocabulary is bigger than you think.

Cognates are your secret weapon when learning French. These words look similar to English and mean the same thing — giving you an instant vocabulary of hundreds of words before you even start studying. Learn the patterns below and you'll be able to guess French words you've never seen before.

85

Cognates Listed

Words you can recognise immediately

Identical Words(31)

restaurantrestaurant
cafécafé
hôtelhotel
taxitaxi
menumenu
dessertdessert
orangeorange
chocolatchocolate
busbus
traintrain
filmfilm
sportsport
photophoto
internetinternet
animalanimal
fruitfruit
garagegarage
policepolice
tabletable
voyagevoyage
saucesauce
champagnechampagne
croissantcroissant
baguettebaguette
omeletteomelette
importantimportant
simplesimple
machinemachine
uniqueunique
concertconcert
surprisesurprise

-tion Pattern(15)

-tion → French -tion (same spelling, French pronunciation: -SYON)

nationnation
informationinformation
questionquestion
situationsituation
communicationcommunication
éducationeducation
opérationoperation
conversationconversation
traditiontradition
conditioncondition
constructionconstruction
attentionattention
directiondirection
productionproduction
solutionsolution

-ble Pattern(10)

-ble → -ble (same ending)

possiblepossible
terribleterrible
responsableresponsible
comfortablecomfortable
probableprobable
admirableadmirable
adorableadorable
acceptableacceptable
flexibleflexible
vulnerablevulnerable

-ique Pattern(10)

-ic → -ique (English 'music' → French 'musique')

musiquemusic
fantastiquefantastic
romantiqueromantic
automatiqueautomatic
électriqueelectric
classiqueclassic
publiquepublic
historiquehistoric
politiquepolitic(al)
techniquetechnique

-eux Pattern(8)

-ous → -eux (English '-ous' → French '-eux')

dangereuxdangerous
curieuxcurious
généreuxgenerous
nerveuxnervous
sérieuxserious
fameuxfamous
merveilleuxmarvellous
religieuxreligious

-ment Pattern(6)

-ly → -ment (English adverb '-ly' → French '-ment')

naturellementnaturally
complètementcompletely
exactementexactly
absolumentabsolutely
normalementnormally
finalementfinally

Minor Spelling Changes(5)

accent marks added

téléphonetelephone
vanillevanilla
soupesoup
saladesalad
différentdifferent

Related Resources

French False Friends

Words that DON'T mean what they look like

French Pronunciation Guide

Master French sounds with your accent

German–English Cognates

Compare with another language

Frequently Asked Questions

What are French–English cognates?▾
Cognates are words in two languages that share a common origin and look or sound similar. French and English share hundreds of cognates — words like "restaurant" (restaurant), "café" (café), "hôtel" (hotel). These give you an instant vocabulary boost.
How many French–English cognates are there?▾
We've compiled 85 French–English cognates organized by pattern. The real number is even higher — once you learn the patterns, you can predict hundreds more.
Are cognates the same as false friends?▾
No! Cognates are words that look similar AND mean the same thing. False friends look similar but mean something different. Check our French false friends guide to avoid those traps.

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