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It is perhaps my past as a French teacher that makes me sensitive to certain mistakes ...

... but there are some who really tear my ears out!

Obviously, I too make mistakes.

Because, it must be said, French is a complex language, with so many exceptions that we no longer know what the rule is.

But you have to admit that there are some phrases that still really suck up the ears.

The worst part is that these aren't the hardest to fix, but they die hard!

here is 13 most common French mistakes everyone should avoid. Look :

1. "I don't know who it is"

Little sister of the famous "I don't know where it is" and "who's saying that". We start with a heavy load with a double fault.

We go over forgetting negation ("I don't know") because we are speaking.

On the other hand, the construction by inversion of the subject (which) and of the verb (is) has no reason to exist here.

The right version : "I do not know who it is"

2. "There are some who grow"

From the verb "to grow" that everyone obviously knows!

Just kidding, it's just the verb "to believe" which is rather very simply conjugated in the present indicative: "they believe" and in the present subjunctive: "it is necessary that they believe".

Special mention to those who decline this fault with other verbs: "they must be careful" or "they must see that".

The right version : "Some believe"

3. "Despite that"

It is a mistake that is becoming so common that it no longer shocks many people.

In France, we love to shorten expressions that we find too long to say. There is therefore only one step - as regrettable as it is - to go from "despite the fact that" to "despite that". This is how a fault is born quite quickly.

If the French Academy does not yet recognize this formulation, many grammarians accept it as past in current usage.

The purists will tell us that there is indeed a case where "despite that" is used with the verb to be in the subjunctive which turns out to be the transformation of "although I have bad (badly) grateful for that". But that was before.

The right version : "Despite the fact that"

4. "As of today"

Triple fault, bingo! This is called a pleonasm, because this expression expresses the word "day" three times.

Indeed, "hui" in old French means "the day we are". We should not therefore have used it to build "today" which expresses the same concept and which means "to the day of this day".

So, if we add more "to the day" in front, we repeat ourselves a third time unnecessarily.

Rest assured this is not a recent mistake, since it is already found in writings in 1531 ... but this is not a reason to perpetuate it.

The right version : "Today"

5. "Forty-year-old" and "fiftieth-anniversary"

A fiftieth birthday is not a person of a certain age, but the anniversary of an event that is 50 years old.

For example, "the fiftieth anniversary of the Docelles factory".

We cannot therefore use 40 or 50 to designate a person.

The right version : "Quadragenarian" or "Fifty-year-old"

6. "Show"

Another amalgamation between "to show" and "to show". One thing is certain, is that "to show" does not exist in the sense of showing something to someone.

On the other hand, the expression exists if you absolutely want a friend to show one of your creations on a market: "I made him show my masterpiece on his stand".

Not to be confused either with "to show" which is synonymous with "to show".

The right version : "To show"

7. "Personally, I ..."

Another fine example of pleonasm!

Indeed, only one of these three words is more than enough to speak of "me".

You don't need to spread it over the whole sentence, unless you have a serious ego problem, but that's another problem.

The right version : "I ..." (and that's it)

8. "It's understanding"

Nice proof of confusion of adverb and adjective.

"Understanding" refers to a quality of a human being who understands others well thanks to his benevolence.

Whereas "understandable" is said of something that can be easily understood. Nothing to see, then!

The right version : "It's understandable" / "This man is understanding"

9. "I'm going to the hairdresser"

The use of prepositions in French is a real bag of knots.

However, one thing is certain, it is that one goes "to" someone or to a shopkeeper, that is to say a lively and living being.

But we go "to" the hairdressing salon, to the cinema, to the police station, which are places.

Does that mean that you take your hairdresser for a place? Not very respectful, all that!

The right version : "I am going to the hairdresser"

10. "If I would have known"

All my condolences, dear conjugation!

Because directly behind "if", we use the indicative, and certainly not the conditional.

The right version : "If I had known"

11. "I'm bringing dessert"

And bim, another beautiful one that everyone is doing!

We bring something and we bring someone somewhere.

Difficult, therefore, to bring this wonderful and sweet thing that is dessert!

The right version : "I bring the dessert"

12. "I live in Paris"

Ah good ? How lucky you are to live in a hot air balloon that overlooks the capital!

But if like any normally constituted person, you live in an apartment in Paris, well you live "In Paris" and not "IN Paris".

So yes, it is surely super class to live "in" Paris, but grammatically it is immediately less good!

The right version : "I live in paris"

13. "As much for me"

According to the French Academy "as much for me" does not exist and especially not to express an error that one seems to assume.

However, a similar expression does exist, but it is a military expression which is spelled: "in time for me".

It means the recovery from the beginning of an exercise in the respect of a very precise rhythm.

We can therefore admit an error and want to start over from the beginning by saying: "in time for me".

The right version : "My mistake"

How to avoid these mistakes?

If you are looking for a job, an interview or any situation where your words can speak for you, be careful!

Perhaps it is time to avoid these nasty mistakes.

To help you put an end to it, I recommend this book: "Write flawlessly for Dummies".

Your turn...

Do you know any other French mistakes to avoid? Share them with our community in the comments. We can't wait to hear from you!

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