Top 10 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. I've found that reading several explanations of the same issue can help cement understanding of these sticky issues, so here are ten of the most common high-intermediate French mistakes with links to my lessons - maybe this time it will finally make sense.

French Mistake 1 - Se and Soi

Se and soi are two of the most commonly misused French pronouns. Se is a reflexive pronoun while soi is a stressed pronoun, but they are very often mixed up with le and lui, respectively. These lessons will help you understand the difference in order to avoid any confusion.
Se | Soi


French Mistake 2 - Encore vs Toujours

Because encore and toujours can both mean "yet" and "still" (though they both have several other meanings as well), they are very often confused with one another. Check out this lesson to learn how and when to use each of them.
Encore vs Toujours


French Mistake 3 - What

Trying to figure out how to say "what" in French can be tricky - should it be que or quoi, or what about quel? All of these terms have specific uses in French, so the only way to know which one to use when is to understand exactly what each one means.
"What" in French


French Mistake 4 - Ce que, ce qui, ce dont, ce à quoi

Indefinite relative pronouns link relative clauses to a main clause when there is no specific antecedent... huh? In other words, when you have a sentence like "this is what I want" or "that's what he told me," the "what" that links the two clauses has an unknown (indefinite) meaning. French indefinite relative pronouns often - though not always - translate as "what," so take a look at this lesson for detailed explanations and examples.
Indefinite relative pronouns


French Mistake 5 - Si Clauses

Si clauses, also known as conditionals or conditional sentences, have an "if" clause and a "then" (result) clause, such as "If I have time, (then) I will help you." There are three types of si clauses, and each requires a certain sequence of verb tenses in French, which can cause confusion. The rules, however, are quite simple once you take the time to learn them.
Si clauses


Beginning French Mistakes 1 - 5 | Beginning French Mistakes 6 - 10
Intermediate French Mistakes 1 - 5 | Intermediate French Mistakes 6 - 10
High-Intermediate French Mistakes 1 - 5 | High-Intermediate French Mistakes 6 - 10
Advanced French Mistakes 1 - 5 | Advanced French Mistakes 6 - 10

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