French Homophones

Homophones are words that are pronounced the same way but have different meanings and, sometimes, spellings. Therefore, French homophones can cause difficulties in aural comprehension and spelling. These pages should help you to understand the difference between the most common French homophones.
 

French Homophones: Q

quand - when
   Quand vas-tu partir ? - When are you going to leave?
quant - as for
   Quant à tes idées… - As for your ideas…
qu'en - contraction of que + en (adverbial pronoun)
   Qu'en pensez-vous ? - What do you think about it?
le camp - camp, side
   Il a changé de camp - He changed sides

quart - see car

que (interrogative pronoun) - what
   Que veux-tu ? - What do you want?
que (relative pronoun) - than, that
   Voici le livre que j'ai écrit - Here is the book that I wrote
la queue - line, tail
   Il faut faire la queue - We have to stand in line
qu'eux - contraction of que + eux (stressed pronoun)
   J'ai plus d'idées qu'eux - I have more ideas than they do
Note: The vowel sound in que is slightly different than in the other two, but for non-native speakers these are likely to sound like homophones

quel(le)(s) - (interrogative adjective) which
   Quel livre vas-tu acheter ? - Which book are you going to buy?
qu'elle - contraction of que + elle
   Tu es plus jolie qu'elle - You are prettier than she is

quelque(s) - some
   Il y a quelques problèmes - There are some problems
quel(le)(s) que - whatever
   Quels que soient les problèmes… - Whatever the problems may be…

quelquefois - sometimes (adverb)
   Ça marche quelquefois - It works sometimes
quelques fois - a few times
   J'y suis allé quelques fois - I've gone there a few times

qu'il - contraction of que + il
   Je pense qu'il est là - I think he's there
qu'ils - contraction of que + ils
   Je pense qu'ils sont là - I think they are there

quoique (subordinating conjunction) - although
   Quoique je suis malade… - Although I am sick…
quoi que (conjunctive phrase) - whatever
   Quoi que tu penses… - Whatever you may think…


French Homophones: R

r - letter of the French alphabet
air - (masculine noun) air; appearance
   Il a l'air malade - He looks sick
une aire - area, zone, eyrie
   Je cherche une aire de jeux - I'm looking for a playground
une ère - era
   En l'an 1999 de notre ère - In 1900 AD

la reine - queen
le renne - reindeer

la rose - rose
   J'aime bien les roses - I really like roses
le rose - pink
   Je préfère la chemise rose - I prefer the pink shirt

la roue - wheel
   Je sais changer une roue - I know how to change a tire
le roux - red(-head), roux
   Il a les cheveux roux - He has red hair
For the difference in pronunciation between roue/roux and rue, see my lesson on OU vs U


French Homophones: AB  C  DEF  G-L  MN  OP  QR  ST  U-Z

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