Common French Mistakes and Difficulties
Common French Mistakes Quiz
See if you get caught by dozens of common French mistakes.
High-Intermediate French Mistakes
High-intermediate means your French is pretty good - you excel in everyday situations, and can even hold your own in long discussions, but there are still some issues that you can't seem to get the hang of, or that you simply don't remember five minutes after looking them up. Here are ten of the most common high-intermediate French mistakes with links to lessons.
5 French verbs you might be overusing
You probably learned the verbs conduire, écrire, and nager in French class, and have used them ever since to talk about driving, writing, and swimming. However, these are not necessarily the verbs that native French speakers use. Learn about five verbs that tend to be overused by French students, contrasted with their more typical synonyms.
Your Worst French Mistake
We've all made plenty of French mistakes over the course of our language learning, but some are far worse than others. You know what I'm talking about: the ones where we inadvertently embarrassed or even insulted someone, just by using the wrong word. Don't be shy - share your worst French mistake, and we can all learn to avoid these treacherous French pitfalls.
Accents
There are four different meanings of "accent" which are relevant to anyone studying French: the accent marks on letters, non-native accents, regional accents, and the accentuation of French words. This page on French accents includes links to resources pertaining to all of these meanings.
Agreement
Agreement is arguably one of the most difficult aspects of the French language. This summary of the different types of agreement includes links to detailed lessons on each grammatical point.
À chacun son goût
Is it "à chacun son goût" or "chacun à son goût"?
How to Pronounce the French R
The letter R is arguably the most difficult sound in the French language, but it doesn't have to be.
How to Pronounce the French U
The letter U is another extremely difficult sound for many students - take a look at this step-by-step explanation.
Se
Se is one of the most often misused French pronouns. It can only be used in two kinds of constructions, so check out this lesson to get "unconfused." :-)
Silent Letters
One of the difficulties in French pronunciation is all of the silent letters. This lesson gives you some tips for memorizing which letters are silent... and why.
Soi
Soi is another oft-confused French pronoun. It is used only for unspecified persons. Need more info? See the lesson!
Verb Conjugation for Difficult Subjects
When you understand subject pronouns, tenses, moods, and how to conjugate French verbs, you're in great shape. There are however some grammatical subjects which make conjugation a bit more difficult.
Verbs with Prepositions
Many French verbs require a certain preposition in order for the meaning of the verb to be complete. Learn about verbs and their prepositions here.
Word Order
The order of words in a French sentence can be very confusing, due to dual-verb constructions, object and adverbial pronouns, inversion, imperatives, adverbs, and negative structures. Learn how to string them all together.
Règles d'écriture
Just for fun - a list of French grammar rules whose descriptions break the very rule they are describing (en français).
Typical French Mistakes
It might be trite, but it's definitely true: we all mistakes. When you start learning French, you're bound to make lots of errors, and it's only with practice and perservence that you'll get better. The good news is that you're not alone - take a look at these pages to learn how to avoid as many typical French mistakes as possible.