Mistake Six: Que



All French sentences with a subordinate clause ( that is, any sentence that has one subject introducing another) is required to use the word “Que, or “that”. Que is known as the conjunction of the sentence. For example: Il pense que j'aime les chiens - "He thinks (that) I like dogs."

Mistake Seven: Auxiliary Verbs

The French past tense is conjugated with an auxiliary verb, which can be either avoir or être. This is not as difficult as it at first seems, because all verbs, which take être, use reflexive verbs, and the list of those is relatively short. So learn the list of those reflexive verbs, and all of your auxiliary verb problems will be fixed.

Mistake Eight: Tu and Vous

In French, there are two words for “you”, and the difference is fairly simple. Vous is plural. If there is more than one (of anything) use Vous. Other than that, the difference has a lot to do with closeness and distance and respect. Vous is the more formal use of the word, and shows more respect. Tu can be used with your friends, family, etc…

Mistake Nine: Capitalization

Capitalization is less common in French than in English. In French, the fist person singular (days of the week, months of the year, languages, etc…) are NOT capitalized in French. Out of habit, English speakers often automatically capitalize these things, and while it is not a serious error, it is still a mistake and will leave native French speakers wondering why it's capitalized.

Mistake Ten: “Cettes”

Beginners often think “cettes” is a word, when in fact, it is not. Cette is the singular feminine form of the demonstrative adjective “ce”. ( example, ce livre or ce maison). Ces is the plural form for both masculine and feminine (ces livres, ces maisons).

French is a beautiful language, the language of love, but it can be difficult to learn all the nuances of this fine language. Even experienced French students make these mistakes, but with vigilant study and concentration, using the language correctly will come naturally to you. Conjugations and other grammatical habits you start when you are first learning the language will follow you throughout your use of the language. So by taking the extra time to learn French correctly, you will be more fluent and have more respect by native French speakers when you communicate with them.