Tu ne fais pas ça - French Mistake

Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them.

Wrong: Tu ne fais pas ça

Right: On ne fait pas ça, Ça ne se fait pas

Explanation: In English, we can say "you" to refer to people in general, as in "You just don't do that" or "You never know." In French, however, using vous or tu is personal, so when you say Tu ne fais pas ça or Vous ne savez jamais, the person you're talking to will believe that you are talking specifically about him or her.

In French, to talk about people in general, you have to use a passive construction such as indefinite subject pronoun on: On ne fait pas ça or On ne sait jamais.

You can read the story of how I learned this the hard way on my French blog.

Related lesson: Tu vs Vous