WordReference English-French Dictionary © 2023:
| Principales traductions | ||
| Anglais | Français | |
| work⇒ vi | (be employed) (être employé) | travailler⇒ vi |
| He works at the bank. | ||
| Il travaille à la banque. | ||
| work vi | (toil) | travailler⇒ vi |
| He worked into the night. | ||
| Il passa la nuit à travailler. | ||
| work vi | (function) (appareil, …) | fonctionner⇒ vi |
| (familier) | marcher | |
| Does the car work? | ||
| Est-ce que la voiture fonctionne ? | ||
| Elle fonctionne, la voiture ? | ||
| work vi | (be useful, effectual) (familier) | marcher⇒ vi |
| être efficace vi + adj | ||
| Did the medicine work? | ||
| Le médicament a-t-il marché ? | ||
| Le médicament a-t-il été efficace ? | ||
| work [sth]⇒ vtr | (machine: operate) (appareil, …) | faire marcher⇒, faire fonctionner⇒ vtr |
| Do you know how to work this machine? | ||
| Sais-tu comment faire marcher (or: faire fonctionner) la machine ? | ||
| work n | uncountable (occupation) | travail nm |
| (plus soutenu) | métier nm | |
| What is your work? I’m a dentist. | ||
| Quel est ton travail ? Je suis dentiste. | ||
| work n | uncountable (employment) | travail nm |
| emploi nm | ||
| The bank provides work for many people. | ||
| La banque fournit du travail à beaucoup de monde. | ||
| La banque fournit des emplois à beaucoup de monde. | ||
| work n | uncountable (effort) | travail nm |
| His work on the car was worth the result. | ||
| Tout le travail qu’il a fait sur la voiture a fini par payer. | ||
| work n | uncountable (toil) | travail nm |
| (vieilli) | labeur nm | |
| An apple picker does exhausting work, from sunrise until dusk. | ||
| Les cueilleurs de pommes font un travail épuisant, du matin au soir. |
| Traductions supplémentaires | ||
| Anglais | Français | |
| work [sth] vtr | (knead, massage) (de la pâte…) | travailler⇒, pétrir⇒ vtr |
| The baker gently works the dough until it forms crumbs. | ||
| work [sth] into [sth] vtr + prep | (knead, massage [sth] into [sth]) (de la pâte) | faire [qch] de [qch] vtr + prép |
| Work the lard into the flour with a fork. | ||
| works npl | (art, literature, music: achievements) | œuvres nfpl |
| The author’s poems are his most overlooked works. | ||
| works npl | (factory) | usine nf |
| Most of the menfolk were employed at the town’s works. | ||
| the works expr | informal (everything) | la totale nf |
| (familier) | tout le tralala nm | |
| He dreamed of buying a shiny new car with the works. | ||
| Il a rêvé qu’il achetait une nouvelle voiture pimpante avec tout le tralala. | ||
| the works expr | informal (unpleasant treatment) (familier) | faire sa fête à [qqn] loc v |
| (moins fort) | faire la tête à [qqn] loc v | |
| She forgot his birthday, and he gave her the works. | ||
| Elle a oublié son anniversaire et il lui a fait la tête. | ||
| work n | uncountable (type of task) (tâche) | travail nm |
| I don’t like this work. Can I do something different? | ||
| Je n’aime pas ce travail. Est-ce que je peux faire quelque chose d’autre ? | ||
| work n | (office, place of work) (lieu de travail) | travail nm |
| bureau nm | ||
| This is his work. Yes, that building. | ||
| Là, c’est son travail. Oui, cet immeuble là-bas. | ||
| ⓘCette phrase n’est pas une traduction de la phrase originale. Je vais au bureau. | ||
| work n | (activity) | travailler⇒ vi |
| He is doing some work or other in the shop. | ||
| Il travaille dans la boutique. | ||
| work n | (objects on which work is done) | travail nm |
| The art students took their work to the benches. | ||
| Les élèves amenèrent leurs travaux jusqu’au banc. | ||
| work n | (product of labor) | travail nm |
| (soutenu) | œuvre nf | |
| The work was obviously well done. | ||
| Le travail était apparemment bien fait. | ||
| ⓘCette phrase n’est pas une traduction de la phrase originale. C’est l’œuvre d’un incompétent ! | ||
| work n | (building) (Construction) | ouvrage nm |
| travail nm | ||
| The tunnel is an impressive work of engineering. | ||
| Ce tunnel est un bel ouvrage d’ingénierie. | ||
| Ce tunnel est un beau travail d’ingénierie. | ||
| work n | (physics: force times distance) (Physique) | travail nm |
| In physics, work deals with transference of energy. | ||
| En physique, le travail concerne le transfert d’énergie. | ||
| work n | (product of artist) (Art) | œuvre nf |
| Many think Beethoven’s Ninth is his greatest work. I have the complete works of Dickens in my library. | ||
| Beaucoup considèrent la Neuvième de Beethoven comme étant sa plus grande œuvre. Je dispose de l’intégrale des œuvres de Dickens dans ma bibliothèque. | ||
| work n as adj | (of, concerning work) | de travail loc adj |
| He got a work permit in July. | ||
| Il a eu un permis de travail en juillet. | ||
| works npl | (construction) (constructions) | travaux nmpl |
| work⇒ vi | (with adverb or noun phrase) | travailler⇒ vi |
| travailler⇒ vtr | ||
| (des heures supplémentaires…) | faire⇒ vtr | |
| We’ll have to work late to finish this project. Sheila’s been working extra hours to pay off her debts. | ||
| On va devoir travailler tard pour finir ce projet. | ||
| Sheila fait des heures supplémentaires pour rembourser ses dettes. | ||
| work as [sth] vi + prep | (make a living as) | travailler comme vi + conj |
| travailler en tant que vi + loc prép | ||
| Right now I am working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, but I want to be an actress. | ||
| Pour le moment je travaille comme (or: en tant que) serveuse dans un bar à cocktails, mais je veux devenir actrice. | ||
| work for [sb] vi + prep | informal (be OK with [sb]) | marcher pour [qqn] vi + prép |
| aller à [qqn] vi + prép | ||
| (plus soutenu) | convenir à [qqn] vi + prép | |
| I could meet you at 2 pm on Wednesday; does that work for you? | ||
| Je pourrais te voir à 14 h mercredi : est-ce que ça marche pour toi ? | ||
| Je pourrais te voir à 14 h mercredi : est-ce que ça te va ? | ||
| Je pourrais te voir à 14 h mercredi : ça te convient ? | ||
| work [sth], work [sth] into [sth]⇒ vtr |
(contort) (agir sur) | travailler⇒ vtr |
| façonner⇒ vtr | ||
| réussir à faire [qch], parvenir à faire [qch] vtr ind | ||
| She worked the wire into a loop. | ||
| ⓘCette phrase n’est pas une traduction de la phrase originale. Pour ce genre d’ouvrage, il faut bien travailler le cuir. | ||
| ⓘCette phrase n’est pas une traduction de la phrase originale. Il façonne des objets en métal. | ||
| Elle a réussi (or: Elle est parvenue) à tordre le fil de fer en un nœud. | ||
| work [sth]⇒ vtr | (accomplish) | réaliser⇒ vtr |
| She worked a change in the texture of the dough. | ||
| work [sth] vtr | (fashion by work) (du bois) | travailler⇒ vtr |
| The carpenter works the pieces into a table. | ||
| Le menuisier travaille les pièces de bois pour en faire une table. | ||
| work [sb]⇒ vtr | (keep at work) (employeur) | faire travailler⇒ vtr |
| The boss worked them until late into the night. | ||
| Le patron les a fait travailler jusque tard dans la nuit. | ||
| work [sth]⇒ vtr | (land, be a farmer) (Agriculture : la terre) | travailler⇒ vtr |
| The farmer worked the land. | ||
| L’agriculteur travaillait la terre. | ||
| work [sb]⇒ vtr | (persuade) | réussir à faire [qch], parvenir à faire [qch] vtr ind |
| The minister worked the congregation into an exultant state. | ||
| Le prêtre a réussi à déchaîner la congrégation. |
WordReference English-French Dictionary © 2023:
| Formes composées work |
||
| Anglais | Français | |
| a piece of work, a real piece of work n |
US, figurative, informal (unusual character, individual) (négatif) | cas nm |
| (familier : plutôt affectueux) | sacré numéro nm | |
| T’es un cas, toi ! | ||
| T’es un sacré numéro ! | ||
| a piece of work, a real piece of work n |
US, figurative, informal (unpleasant, difficult person) (plutôt négatif) | cas, quelque chose nm |
| (assez neutre) | quelque chose nm | |
| Tommy’s a real piece of work; I heard he blamed his mistake on the boss. | ||
| Tommy est un cas. J’ai entendu dire qu’il avait rejeté son erreur sur le patron. | ||
| all in a day’s work expr | informal, figurative (routine activity) | je n’ai fait que mon travail expr |
| ça fait partie du travail de [qqn] expr | ||
| There’s no need to thank me — it’s all in a day’s work for me. | ||
| Vous n’avez pas à me remercier, je n’ai fait que mon travail. | ||
| Vous n’avez pas à me remercier, cela fait partie de mon travail. | ||
| all work n | (working all the time, overwork) (familier) | boulot, boulot, boulot nm |
| be approved to work v expr | (be permitted, qualified to do a job) | être jugé apte à travailler, être jugé apte au travail loc v |
| at work adv | (at your workplace) | au travail loc adv |
| Bob never checks his personal email at work. | ||
| Bob ne regarde jamais ses mails personnels au travail. | ||
| at work adj | (in action) | au travail, en action, à l’œuvre loc adv |
| at work on [sth] adj | (working on) | travailler sur vi + prép |
| The show is a great success, and its writers are already at work on the second season. | ||
| La série est un grand succès et ses auteurs travaillent déjà sur la deuxième saison. | ||
| bar work n | (job at a bar, pub, etc.) | travail dans les bars nm |
| black work n | (work paid in cash, not recorded) | travail au noir nm |
| black work n | (embroidery) | broderie noire nf |
| blood work n | (blood test) | analyse de sang, sanguine nf |
| A yearly physical examination typically includes blood work. | ||
| body of work n | (all of [sb]‘s creations) | œuvre nf |
| The author’s body of work spanned six decades. | ||
| L’œuvre de l’auteur s’étend sur six décennies. | ||
| charity work n | (work done for charitable cause) | bénévolat (pour des associations humanitaires) nm |
| to do charity work : faire du bénévolat, travailler comme bénévole pour des associations humanitaire | ||
| She does charity work, mostly for the orphans’ home. | ||
| Elle fait du bénévolat, surtout pour un orphelinat. | ||
| collected works npl | (anthology) | œuvres choisies nfpl |
| collected works npl | (everything by an author) | œuvre complète nf |
| This volume contains the entire collected works of Coleridge. | ||
| Ce volume contient l’œuvre complète de Coleridge. | ||
| œuvres complètes nfpl | ||
| collective work n | (multiple contributors) | travail collectif nm |
| composite work n | (multiple sources) | œuvre composite nf |
| construction work n | (building) | chantier, chantier de construction nm |
| The street will be blocked off for two months because of the construction work. | ||
| La rue sera fermée pendant deux mois à cause du chantier. | ||
| custom work n | ([sth] tailor-made, made to order) (véhicule) | travail de customisation nm |
| The motorcyclists admired all the custom work on the bikes parked outside the bar. | ||
| Les motards admiraient tout le travail de customisation réalisé sur les motos garées devant le bar. | ||
| custom work n | (bespoke, personalized service) | prestation personnalisée nf |
| have your work cut out for you v expr | informal, figurative (have a hard task ahead) (figuré, familier) | avoir du pain sur la planche loc v |
| The house Joe and Maggie have bought needs a lot of renovation; they certainly have their work cut out for them. | ||
| day’s work n | (work done in one day) | journée de travail nf |
| It will take one more day’s work to finish the job. | ||
| Il faudra une journée de travail de plus pour finir ce travail. | ||
| deskwork, desk work n |
(work done at a desk) | travail de bureau nm |
| papiers nmpl | ||
| Tony doesn’t like working in an office because there’s too much deskwork. | ||
| detective work n | (police investigation) | investigations nfpl |
| enquête nf | ||
| All their detective work finally paid off when the murderer was arrested. | ||
| detective work n | figurative (research) | petite enquête nf |
| I did a little detective work to find out why my mail hadn’t been delivered in three days. | ||
| J’ai fait (or: mené) ma petite enquête pour comprendre pourquoi je ne reçois plus de courrier depuis trois jours. | ||
| dirty work n | figurative (unpleasant task) (figuré, familier) | sale boulot nm |
| He was sick and tired of doing all her dirty work for her. | ||
| Il en avait marre de faire le sale boulot pour elle. | ||
| dirty work n | figurative (immoral or illegal action) (figuré, familier) | sale boulot nm |
| The mob boss hired goons to handle his dirty work. | ||
| Le chef de la mafia a engagé des hommes de main pour faire le sale boulot. | ||
| (figuré) | basses besognes nfpl | |
| do the dirty work v expr | figurative, slang (perform a disagreeable task) | faire le sale boulot loc v |
| (familier) | se taper le sale boulot v pron | |
| She no longer had servants to do the dirty work for her. | ||
| Elle n’avait plus de serviteurs pour faire le sale boulot pour elle. | ||
| do work for charity v expr | (volunteer) | travailler pour une association (caritative) vi |
| travailler pour une organisation caritative vi | ||
| donkey work | informal, figurative (tedious work) | le gros du travail nm |
| travail ingrat nm | ||
| (familier) | sale boulot nm | |
| field work n | (research carried out on site) | travail de terrain nm |
| Smithers is in the Amazon doing field work on endangered species. | ||
| Her fieldwork confirmed her academic theory about economic development. | ||
| get down to business, get down to work v expr |
(start now) | s’y mettre⇒ v pron |
| se mettre au travail v pron | ||
| (familier) | se mettre au boulot v pron | |
| We need to get down to business if we hope to finish this today. | ||
| Il faut qu’on s’y mette si on veut avoir une chance de finir aujourd’hui. | ||
| Il faut qu’on se mette au travail si on veut avoir une chance de finir aujourd’hui. | ||
| Il faut qu’on se mette au boulot si on veut avoir une chance de finir aujourd’hui. | ||
| go to work v expr | (travel to workplace) | aller au travail loc v |
| aller travailler loc v | ||
| (familier) | aller au boulot loc v | |
| (familier) | aller au turbin loc v | |
| I prefer to go to work early before the traffic gets heavy. | ||
| Je préfère aller au travail tôt, avant que la circulation ne soit trop dense. | ||
| go to work on [sth] v expr | figurative, informal (do [sth] thoroughly) (figuré, familier) | faire du bon travail sur loc v + prép |
| faire minutieusement vtr + adv | ||
| The artist has really gone to work on this mural; it’s huge and very detailed. | ||
| L’artiste a vraiment fait du bon travail sur cette peinture murale ; elle est immense et très détaillée. | ||
| graduate work n | (employment for [sb] with a degree) | emplois pour étudiants diplômés nmpl |
| graduate work n | US (graduate school studies) | travaux liés à des études de second ou de troisième cycle nmpl |
| great work n | (job: done well) | excellent travail nm |
| très bon travail nm | ||
| Her boss congratulated Chloe on her great work. | ||
| Le patron de Chloé l’a félicitée pour son excellent travail. | ||
| great work n | (art: masterpiece) | œuvre remarquable nf |
| The Great Gatsby is one of the great works of American literature. | ||
| Gatsby le magnifique est l’une des œuvres remarquables de la littérature américaine. | ||
| group work | (sociology) | travail de groupe, travail en groupe |
| grunt work n | (repetitious work) | basse besogne nf |
| tâches subalternes nfpl | ||
| (familier) | sale boulot nm | |
| travail fastidieux nm | ||
| hard at work adj | (working hard) | travailler dur vi + adv |
| Miguel was hard at work doing his history project. | ||
| Miguel travaillait dur sur son projet d’histoire. | ||
| hard work n | (great effort) | travail acharné nm |
| (soutenu) | dur labeur nm | |
| We would like to commend you on your hard work for the company over the years. | ||
| Nous voudrions vous féliciter pour votre travail acharné pour l’entreprise au cours de toutes ces années. | ||
| hard work n | informal ([sth]: requires effort) | tâche difficile nf |
| laborieux, laborieuse adj | ||
| (familier) | boulot adj | |
| (figuré, familier) | sport nm | |
| Riding a bike uphill is hard work. | ||
| Monter une côte à vélo, c’est du sport ! | ||
| in-work adj | (occurring while [sb] is employed) | sur le lieu de travail loc adv |
| job work n | (paid by job, not hour) | travail à la tâche nm |
| keep up the good work v expr | (expressing approval) | continuer comme ça expr |
| My teacher told me to keep up the good work after I scored 100% in the exam. | ||
| Mon prof m’a dit de continuer comme ça après mon 20 à l’examen. | ||
| lab work n | abbr (research done in a laboratory) | travail de labo nm |
| laboratory work n | (scientific research done in a laboratory) | travail en laboratoire nm |
| I’d like to find some laboratory work during the summer holidays. | ||
| J’aimerais trouver du travail en laboratoire pendant le congé d’été. | ||
| latticework, trelliswork n |
([sth] with a crisscross design) | treillage nm |
| lifework, life’s work, life-work n |
(one’s main endeavour) | œuvre d’une vie, œuvre de toute une vie nf |
| line of work n | (profession, trade: field) | métier nm |
| cadre de ses fonctions, exercice de ses fonctions nm | ||
| Police officers regularly have to deal with danger in their line of work. | ||
| Les policiers sont régulièrement confrontés au danger dans le cadre de leurs fonctions. | ||
| literary work n | (high-quality fiction or poetry) | œuvre littéraire nf |
| Son ouvrage peut être considéré comme une œuvre littéraire de premier plan. | ||
| make short work of [sth] expr | (do [sth] quickly) | expédier⇒ vtr |
| The project entailed a huge amount of translation, but Audrey made short work of it. | ||
| make short work of [sth/sb] expr | (deal with summarily) | expédier⇒ vtr |
| ne faire qu’une bouchée de [qqn] loc v | ||
| The professor made short work of her student’s rather poor arguments. | ||
| Le professeur expédia l’argumentation plutôt médiocre de son étudiante. | ||
| make-work n | uncountable (task to keep [sb] from being idle) | création d’emplois nf |
| Men at work n | written (roadworks sign) (panneau routier) | Attention travaux expr |
| mosaic work n | uncountable (creating art with small pieces) (art) | mosaïque nf |
| mosaic work n | countable (artwork made of small pieces) (œuvre) | mosaïque nf |
| nasty piece of work n | UK, informal, figurative (malicious person) (fam) | sale type nm |
| That woman is a nasty piece of work. | ||
| nice work interj | informal (used to praise [sth] made or done) (familier) | bon boulot ! interj |
| beau travail ! interj | ||
| bravo ! interj | ||
| joli ! interj | ||
| Nice work! You did a better job than I would have and faster as well. | ||
| nice work n | informal, figurative ([sth] easy and lucrative) (familier) | bon boulot nm |
| (familier) | boulot sympa nm | |
| She can study while she works at the box office and she gets into shows free — nice work! | ||
| off work adv | (not at work) | ne pas travailler loc v |
| en congé loc adv | ||
| out of work, out-of-work adj |
(jobless) | au chômage loc adv |
| sans travail loc adv | ||
| Note: A hyphen is used when the adjective precedes the noun | ||
| The closing of the tin mines left many men out of work. | ||
| La fermeture des mines d’étain à mené beaucoup d’hommes au chômage. | ||
| outstanding work n | (task or job still to be done) | travail en suspens nm |
| I can’t play golf on Friday; I still have a lot of outstanding work to do. | ||
| part work, partwork n |
(magazine series) | série de fascicules nf |
| série à collectionner nf | ||
| The novel was originally published as a part work. | ||
| piece of work n | ([sth] made or done) | travail, ouvrage nm |
| œuvre nf | ||
| The novel is a magnificent piece of work which is beautifully written. | ||
| Le roman est un magnifique travail (or: ouvrage) merveilleusement écrit. | ||
| Le roman est une œuvre magnifique merveilleusement écrite. | ||
| piecework, piece work, piece-work n |
(work paid by the unit) | travail à la pièce nm |
| place of work n | (workplace) | lieu de travail nm |
| project work n | (done for a specific task) | projet nm |
| The students will be doing project work in their class this afternoon. | ||
| put [sb] to work v expr | (give a job, task to) | mettre [qqn] au travail loc v |
| put [sth] to work v expr | (use) | utiliser⇒ vtr |
| (de l’argent) | faire travailler loc v | |
| Good investors say you should put your money to work if you want to make even more money. | ||
| Les bons investisseurs disent qu’il faut faire travailler son argent pour gagner encore plus d’argent. | ||
| reference work n | (book consulted for information) | ouvrage de référence nm |
| The Encyclopædia Britannica is a serious reference work. | ||
| L’Encyclopædia Britannica est un important ouvrage de référence. | ||
| return to work v expr | (go back to one’s job after a holiday) | reprendre le travail, retourner au travail loc v |
| return to work v expr | (go back into employment) | recommencer à travailler, reprendre le travail loc v |
| My sister retired three years ago, but she has returned to work. | ||
| Ma sœur a pris sa retraite il y a trois ans, mais elle vient de recommencer à travailler. | ||
| rough work n | (preliminary draft) | ébauche nf |
| brouillon nm | ||
| rough work n | (physical work) | travail physique nm |
| safe place to work n | (not dangerous) | lieu de travail sûr nm |
| safety at work n | (free from danger) | sécurité au travail nf |
| school work, schoolwork n |
(studies done at or for school) | travail à l’école, travail pour l’école, travail scolaire nm |
| scope of work n | (nature and extent of a job or task) | cadre de travail, périmètre nm |
| cahier des charges nm | ||
| The scope of work for a project should specify precisely what work will be done. | ||
| Le cadre de travail pour un projet (or: Le périmètre du projet) devrait spécifier avec précision quel travail sera effectué. | ||
| Le cahier des charges du projet devrait spécifier avec précision quel travail sera effectué. | ||
| set to work v expr | (start doing [sth]) | se mettre au travail v pron |
| s’atteler à sa tâche v pron | ||
| He set to work as soon as he was given the new task. | ||
| Il s’est mis au travail dès qu’on lui a confié la nouvelle tâche. | ||
| set [sb] to work v expr | (cause to start doing [sth]) | mettre au travail vtr |
| The manager set the new employee to work filing invoices. | ||
| Le directeur a mis le nouvel employé au travail en lui faisant classer les factures. | ||
| shiftwork, shift work n |
(work done in rotating periods) | travail posté, travail par postes, travail par équipes nm |
| (Can) | travail par quarts nm | |
| social work n | (assistance to local community) | assistance sociale nf |
| (Can surtout) | travail social nm | |
| statement of work n | (document stating scope of a job or task) | cahier des charges nm |
| énoncé des travaux nm | ||
| tedious work n | (laborious task) | tâche fastidieuse nf |
| travail fastidieux nm | ||
| tâche laborieuse nf | ||
| (fig, euph) | calvaire nm | |
| Je sue sang et eau sur cette traduction, c’est un vrai calvaire. | ||
| temporary work n | (employment on short-term contract) | travail temporaire nm |
| intérim nm | ||
| Temporary work is particularly common amongst young people. | ||
| timber work n | (wooden structure) | structure en bois nf |
| Over all the house was well-built but there were one or two problems with the timber work. | ||
| ossature en bois nf | ||
| charpente nf | ||
| unfit for work adj | (incapable of doing a job) | inapte au travail, inapte à travailler loc adj |
| Until he brings in a written statement from his doctor, we have to consider him unfit for work. | ||
| be unfit for work v expr | (be incapable of job) | être inapte au travail, être inapte à travailler loc v |
| voluntary work n | (unpaid employment for a cause) | bénévolat nm |
| travail bénévole nm |
You’re probably aware that we regularly use plenty of French words in English.
But did you know that English is so close to the French language, that around 30% of English words come from the language of love?
Some of these French phrases in English (otherwise known as cognates!) are borrowed directly from the French language, while others have evolved from French origins.
We’ve put together some responses to some of the most common questions about the French presence in the English language for you, plus 99 examples of how English words didn’t fall too far from the French tree.
Everything you’ve ever wanted, right?
Why are there French words in the English language?
The origin of the English language is a topic linguists love to debate.
Although English is a Germanic language, it shares a lot of vocabulary with French – a Romance language.
But why?
The Norman Conquest of 1066 was a key event that led to French words being used in England.
Following the conquest, England was ruled by the Normans who spoke a northern form of Old French called Anglo-Norman French.
Under Norman rule, Anglo-Norman French began to influence the language of administration, law and culture in England, and hence making its mark on the English language.
Since then, French phrases and words – funny quirks and all – continued to make their way into the English language.
And French isn’t the only language that has made its mark on the English language. There are plenty of Spanish words in English, and a good handful of Japanese words in English, too.
How many French words are there in English?
There exists around 7,000 French words in the English language at present.
Believe it or not, though, there were plenty more English words that came from French (and typically Latin) roots originally – around 10,000, to be exact.
Do any examples come to mind? At this point, I’m sure you’re desperate to see some examples of English words with French origins…
Let’s start with 99 (we thought any more might be a bit much!).
Here are 99 common French words used in English, and their meaning
- Allowance – from the Old French word alouance (payment)
- Apostrophe – from the French word apostrophe
- Attaché – from the French word attaché (attached)
- Apéritif – from the French word apéritif
- Avant-garde – from the French word avant-garde
- Aviation – from the French word aviation
- Bachelor – from the Anglo-Norman word bacheler (bachelier in modern French)
- Baguette – from the French word baguette (stick)
- Ballet – from the French word ballet
- Beret – from the French word béret
- Bon voyage – from the French phrase bon voyage (have a good journey)
- Brunette – from the French word brunette
- Bureau – from the French word bureau (desk, office)
- Cabaret – from the French word cabaret
- Cadet – from the French word cadet
- Champagne – from the French word champagne
- Chauffeur – from the French word chauffeur
- Chic – from the French word chic (elegant)
- Cliché – from the French word cliché
- Connoisseur – from the French word connoisseur
- Cul-de-sac – from the French word cul-de-sac (bottom of the bag/sack)
- Debris – from the French word débris (broken, crumbled)
- Déjà vu – from the French words déjà (already) and vu (seen – past participle of ‘voir’)
- Delegate – from the Old French word delegat
- Detour – from the French word détour (from détourner)
- Dossier – from the French word dossier
- Eau de toilette – from the French word eau de toilette
- Elite – from the Old French word elit (chosen)
- Energy – from the Middle French word énergie
- En route – from the French en route
- Envisage – from the French word envisager
- Expatriate – from the French word expatrier
- Facade – from the French word façade
- Faux, as in faux fur – from the French word faux (false)
- Faux-pas – from the French word faux pas
- Fiancé – from the French word fiancé
- Film noir – from the French word film noir (a film genre)
- Gallery – from the Old French word galerie
- Gastronomy – from the French word gastronomie
- Gateau – from the French word gâteau
- Gazette – from the French word gazette
- Heritage – from the Old French word eritage (héritage in modern French)
- Homage – from the Old French word homage
- Hotel – from the French word hôtel
- Identity – from the Middle French word identité
- Illusion – from the Old French word illusion
- Insult – from the Middle French words insult (noun) and insulter (verb)
- Irony – from the Middle French word ironie
- Jubilee – from the Middle French word jubile (modern French jubilé)
- Kilogram – from the French word kilogramme
- Lacrosse – from the Canadian French word la crosse (the stick)
- Laissez-faire – from the French word laissez-faire (leave things to take their course)
- Liaison – from the French word liaison
- Literature – from the Old French word littérature
- Machine – from the Middle French word machine
- Magnificent – from the Middle French word magnificent
- Maisonette – from the French word maisonette
- Massage – from the French word massage
- Menu – from the French word menu
- Metabolism – from the French word métabolisme
- Metro – from the French word métro
- Musketeer – from the French word mousquetaire
- Navy – from the Old French word navie
- Neutral – from the Middle French word neutral
- Nocturnal – from the Middle French word nocturnal
- Novel – from the Old French word novel
- Occasion – from the Middle French word occasion
- Omelette – from the French word omelette
- Optimism – from the French word optimisme
- Papier-mâché – from the French word papier-mâché
- Parasol – from the French word parasol
- Poetic – from the Middle French word poétique
- Premiere – from the French word première
- Purify – from the Old French word purifier
- Recipient – from the Middle French word récipient
- Rendez-vous – from the French word rendez-vous (appointment)
- Reservoir – from the French word ‘réservoir’ (collection place)
- Restaurant – from the French word restaurant
- Ricochet – from the French word ricochet
- Rich – from the French word riche
- Ridicule – from the French word ridicule
- Risqué – from the French word risqué
- Sabotage – from the French word sabotage
- Salad – from the French word salade
- Sentiment – from the Old French word sentement
- Silhouette – from the French word silhouette
- Solicitor – from the Middle French word soliciteur
- Souvenir – from the French word souvenir (memory)
- Soufflé – from the French word soufflé
- Soup – from the French word soupe
- Technique – from the French word technique
- Television – from the French word télévision
- Tournament – from the Old French word tornoiement (tournoiement in modern French)
- Uniform – from the Middle French word uniforme
- Utensil – from the Old French word utensile
- Valid – from the Middle French word valide
- Variety – from the Middle French word varieté
- Vinaigrette – from the French word vinaigrette
- Zest – from the French word zeste
@busuu Guess the origin 🇬🇧-🇫🇷
If you’re an English speaker and you ever thought French was difficult (or a French speaker and ever thought English was difficult!) hopefully, this is something to reassure you: no matter whether you’ve got your French pronunciation accent down or not, the learning process may be easier than you think!
You already have a good understanding of so many French words – why not learn even more today?
There’s so much more to French than these 99 words
We’re Busuu, the language-learning app – and we help people really learn French.
Level up with help from award-winning self-paced courses, support from our community of 120+ million native speakers and more.
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2. Прочитайте приведенный ниже текст. Образуйте от слов, напечатанных заглавными буквами в конце строк, обозначенных номерами 26-31, однокоренные слова так, чтобы они грамматически и лексически соответствовали содержанию текста. Заполните пропуски полученными словами. Каждый пропуск соответствует отдельному заданию из группы 26-31.
Protecting the French language
Can you imagine paying a $100 fine for saying the word instead of restauration rapide? France 26 issued laws prohibit the use of English if there is a French word that can be used instead RECE
Why do they do it? Word 27 happens whenever groups of people that speak different languages have steady contacts with each other. At least one group is bound to use some of the other groups words. BORROW
Why then do the French feel so 28 against using English words that they would pass laws to stop it? STRONG
The French value their language highly and their 29 to blend it with other languages has much to do with international relations. Any language that is used for international purposes is called lingua franca, which means “French language” as for a long time French has been the language of politics, commerce, and other international affairs. WILL
In order to preserve the uniqueness of the French language, an 30 called The French Academy was established. This group of people became the national authority on the French language. ORGANISE
For about 350 years the Academy has made numerous 31 about the proper use of French.
DECIDE
3. Прочитайте текст с пропусками, обозначенными номерами 32-38. Эти номера соответствуют заданиям 32-38, в которых представлены возможные варианты ответов. Запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.
Cathedral of Pokrov or St Basil the Blessed
The story of St Bazil’s Cathedral begins in May 1552. Red Square then was the site of mass prayers on the eve of the departure of the tsar and his armies to fight the Khan of Kazan. Mingling in the crowd was a barefoot holy man dressed in rags, well known to the crowd as Basil the Blessed for his [32] . Only traditional immunity [33] to such holy men in Russia could save him from Ivan the Terrible’s wrath. Even before Ivan IV unleashed his reign of terror, Basil was [34] the tsar that his future would condemn him to eternal damnation. Before the departure for Kazan he also predicted that the tsar would murder his first-born son. Basil died [35] Ivan was laying siege to Kazan. His body was buried on the future site of the cathedral, named to [36] the victory.
It took six months for the Russians to force their way into the Kazan fortress. Victory came on 1 October 1552, which, according to the Orthodox calendar, was the feast of Pokrov, or protection of the Blessed Virgins Veil. Thankful for the help of the Virgin, the young monarch ordered a wooden church to be built in Red Square.
As more military success followed, a series of wooden chapels [37] shape around the already existing Trinity Church. Finally there were seven victories and seven new churches in Red Square. Later all them were torn down to make the way for the Cathedral of Pokrov — better [38] as St Basil’s Cathedral — that was to surpass in size and splendor anything the Russian rulers had built before.
32 1) humiliation 2) humility 3) humanism 4) humidity
33 1) prescribed 2) approved 3) granted 4) admitted
34 1) warning 2) advising 3) predicting 4) accusing
35 1) during 2) throughout 3) while 4) although
36 1) memorise 2) commemorate 3) observe 4) celebrate
37 1) caught 2) make 3) acquired 4) took
38 1) accepted 2) called 3) famous 4) known
You may have noticed that there are words in English that are very similar to, or even the same as, words in French. To describe something weird, an English-speaker could say it is bizarre. People eat at places such as restaurants and cafés in English-speaking parts of the world. My friend’s mom in New York gets the chauffeur to drive her places since she doesn’t drive herself. Both the spelling and the meaning of these words are the same in French as in English. The above words came to English via French, although some have even earlier origins in other languages, such as the words café and bizarre, which come from the Italian caffe and bizarro. With all these similarities, does it mean that French should be a breeze for those who are already familiar with English? Maybe. Let’s take a closer look.
The percentage of words shared by the English and French languages is significant. Different sources give different numbers, with Wikipedia placing this at over a third, a statistic corroborated by an article written by Françoise Armand and Érica Maraillet titled “Éducation interculturelle et diversité linguistique” for the University of Montréal’s ÉLODiL website.
Both French and English have significant Latin roots, thus accounting for the high number of cognates, words that have a common etymology. Although English draws directly from Latin in some cases, as with the word stultify, which is related to stultus, many words of Latin origin have passed into English via French. The influence of French on the English language is due in large part to the Norman invasion of England in 1066, a conquest that resulted in dialects of Old English being displaced by Norman French, particularly among the elite classes.
The use of French in English-speaking regions continued throughout the Middle Ages and was reinforced by a surge in popularity during the renaissance of French literature in the 13th and 14th centuries. Words found in many works that describe chivalry, fealty, and courtly love have French origins and are still present in the English lexicon; likewise there are many words whose Renaissance French spelling looks like that of its English counterparts. A hospital in Renaissance French is a hôpital in modern French. Likewise, a forest is a forêt and a beste is a bête.
| English | Renaissance French |
|---|---|
| forest | forêt |
| beste | bête |
The replacement of an ‘s’ appearing before a consonant by the accent circonflexe, a graphic transition that took place during the Renaissance, likely reflects a change in pronunciation from very early spoken forms of French, as well as from the Latin forms of corresponding words, as Bernard Cerquiligni notes in his 1995 work, L’Accent du souvenir. An interesting aspect of this spelling change is that it reflects phonetic changes that likely occurred around 1066, also noted by Cerquiligni. And it was only in 1740 that the Académie française formally introduced the circumflex accent into the French lexicon, with the third publication of its dictionary. A seven hundred year period of deliberating over a spelling change that would reflect a phonetic change in everyday speech illustrates the peculiar relationship French speakers have with their language. If this is the amount of thought, reflection, and argument French speakers have among themselves concerning their own language, it should not be surprising for those learning French to encounter a certain amount of skepticism and questioning as well, as they embark on this linguistic journey.
English Words with French Origins in Food
French terminology continues to be used in fields that have seen great developments within French-speaking contexts, such as cuisine, fashion, and visual art. People in English-speaking parts of the world regularly eat foods they refer to as omelettes and mousse. They may order escargots from a menu, perhaps a more appetizing term than snails. Menu is another word that has come to English via French, referring to a detailed list of components of a meal, with origins in the Latin word minutus, for smaller. In addition to food items, English speakers regularly refer to couture when talking about fashion, and describe stylish items as chic.
English Words with French Origins in Visual Arts
Visual art uses many French terms, such as trompe l’œil and aquarelle. Even the term fin de siècle is used to denote the late 19th / early 20th century time period during which France had a great influence on artistic and cultural movements. Performing arts terminology has also been influenced by French, with French terms being used for classical ballet. The origins of this dance form can be found in the French court, with the first ballet performed at the Louvre for the wedding of the duc de Joyeuse to Mlle de Vaudémont on 15 October 1581 in the grande salle du Petit-Bourbon, according to the Encyclopædia Universalis. Later, in 1661, Louis XIV founded the Académie royale de danse, which established ballet terminology as a codified vocabulary of set movements to be studied as the basis for many works that have been developed in this domain. French is indeed the lingua franca of ballet and continues to be present in ballet schools worldwide and used by choreographers as they set their works on companies around the globe.
While the similarities between words in the French and English languages seem encouraging, there are several caveats to keep in mind, not least of which are the subtle spelling changes that occur between the French and English versions of certain cognates. These include: connexion and connection, adresse and address, correspondance and correspondence, agressive and aggressive, bagage and baggage, danse and dance, mariage and marriage, futur and future, to name a few. To make things even more confusing, there are different spellings for certain cognates in different parts of the English-speaking world that correspond to the same French counterpart, e.g., license, which is used in the US for the French licence, but is spelled licence in the UK and Canada, at least when denoting the noun referring to a legal document granting permission to own, use, or do something. As a verb, the spelling license is used across the board in the English-speaking world. Such details reflect regional changes that have contributed to the development of vocabulary used by linguistic populations and illustrate the various paths these words have taken through time and geographic space.
In addition to being affected by French, the English language isn’t shy to borrow words from other languages. Words such as manga, zero, waltz, glitch, and moccasin are from Japanese, Arabic, German, Yiddish, and Algonquian, respectively. Something interesting to note is that, whereas English has borrowed words from other languages for centuries, it may now be lending more than borrowing, according to Philip Durkin, deputy chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, in a 3 February 2014 BBC article. This turn of events is likely linked to developments in domains such as business and technology, which have largely taken place in English-speaking contexts.
Read More:
- French Film Awards and 20+ Movie Terms that You Should Know
- Tips for Translating from French
- Structural Difficulties and Solutions when Learning French
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From please and thank you to good morning and good night you’ll have what you need to be polite and win a smile for trying.
French word list for everyday conversation
Here’s a list of common French phrases that will help you communicate whilst travelling in France. Your trip will be much more enjoyable if you have a basic French vocabulary and the locals will appreciate your efforts.
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How to pronounce letter combinations
The following examples show you how to pronounce French letter combinations. The italic examples are the English equivalents.
Measurement Translations
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Colors (US) / Colours (UK)
The below English French translations show a list of colors and there pronunciation with links to French lessons by Lya and FrenchPod101. You can watch all the French videos here: French Colors | Tutorial Videos.
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Learn French — French Color Vocabulary
2 minutes 43 second tutorial
FrenchPod101 have also created this great French colors vocabulary lesson which shows you how to say 17 colors with pictures.
Time to talk
At some point you will need to know the time or will be asked for the time. These words & phrases will teach you the basics and the lessons below will have you conversing in no time!
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What Time Is It? — part 1
10 minutes 31 seconds tutorial
Words & phrases for telling the time
Join Alexa in «What Time Is It? — part 1». Alexa will teach you the basics about how to tell time in French.
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What Time Is It? — part 2
14 minutes 5 second tutorial
Time Pronunciation
Once you have learnt the basics you can move on a more difficult lesson «What Time Is It? — part 2». Alexa will now show you how to build a sentence for telling the time.
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Choosing a Delivery Time in France
2 minutes 14 second listening exercise
French Listening Exercise
Now that you have learnt some vocabulary, how about testing yourself with this listening exercise.
Words you may use when talking about the weather
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Free French Lessons
Here are 30 French language lessons that teach you basic french words & phrases.