actuellement Adverb
Looks like actually Really means currently
For actually, say en fait or en réalité.
Some French words look like an English word you already know, then mean something completely different. Here are 18 of the most common traps, each with the English word it resembles, what it really means, and how to say the English sense instead.
False friends in French are words that look like an English word but mean something completely different. For example, actuellement means currently, not actually, and librairie means bookshop, not library. This free guide lists 18 real French false friends: the English word each one resembles, what it truly means, and how to say the English sense correctly.
All 18 French false friends.
Looks like actually Really means currently
For actually, say en fait or en réalité.
Looks like library Really means bookshop
A lending library is une bibliothèque.
Looks like attend Really means to wait for
To attend an event is assister à.
Looks like assist Really means to attend
To assist someone is aider.
Looks like bless Really means to wound
To bless is bénir.
Looks like rest Really means to stay
To rest is se reposer.
Looks like sensible Really means sensitive
Level-headed sensible is raisonnable or sensé.
Looks like journey Really means day
A journey is un voyage.
Looks like money Really means change (coins)
Money in general is argent; monnaie is coins or change.
Looks like coin Really means corner
A coin you spend is une pièce.
Looks like pain Really means bread
Physical pain is la douleur.
Looks like chair Really means flesh
A chair to sit on is une chaise.
Looks like location Really means rental
A place or spot is un lieu or un emplacement.
Looks like prune Really means plum
A dried prune is un pruneau.
Looks like raisin Really means grape
A dried raisin is un raisin sec.
Looks like preservative Really means condom
A food preservative is un conservateur.
Looks like deception Really means disappointment
Deception as in trickery is une tromperie.
Looks like lecture Really means reading
A lecture or talk is une conférence.
Data verified as of July 2026.
False friends stick when you meet them inside a real sentence. Lingo7 lets you read real books in French with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, so the true meaning attaches to the story instead of the English lookalike. Save the tricky words and review them later. Free to start.
A false friend is a word that looks or sounds like a word in your language but carries a different meaning. English and French overlap heavily because both borrowed from Latin, Greek, and French, or share older roots. The spelling stayed close while the meaning drifted, so French actuellement still reads like "actually" to an English eye even though it means "currently".
These slips are common because your brain rewards the shortcut: a familiar-looking word feels safe, so you skip the check. That is fine until actuellement or librairie changes the meaning of a whole sentence. Recognizing the pattern is half the fix. Knowing the handful of high-frequency offenders on this page is the other half.
The durable fix is not memorization but exposure in context. When you read French and see one of these words doing its real job in a sentence, with a translation a tap away, the correct meaning wins. That is exactly what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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False friends are French words that look almost identical to an English word but mean something different, like actuellement, which looks like "actually" but means "currently". They exist because both languages inherited or borrowed from shared roots that then drifted apart. The fix is meeting them in real sentences until the true meaning sticks.
No. French actuellement actually means currently, not actually. For actually, say en fait or en réalité. This is one of the most common French false friends for English speakers, so it is worth learning early.
Memorizing a list helps for a day; context makes it permanent. When you meet French words like actuellement and lecture inside real sentences, with the translation one tap away, the correct meaning attaches to the situation instead of to the English lookalike. That is how reading in Lingo7 trains them out of you.
Yes. French and English share a large amount of vocabulary through Latin, French, and centuries of borrowing, and that overlap is exactly what breeds false friends. This page covers 18 of the most common ones, from actuellement (looks like actually) to lecture (looks like lecture). Reading in context is the surest way to keep them straight.