Learn 300 French Cognates in Just a Few Minutes

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With French cognates, you can learn hundreds of French words in a matter of minutes.

French cognates are words that are spelled the same in English and French. There are hundreds of these words.

To put it another way, even if you’ve never spent a single minute learning French, you already know a lot of French words.

That’s because French and English have so much in common.

Learning French cognates is a fast and simple way to build your French vocabulary. And best of all, there are simple rules you can follow when you’re looking for cognates. So you don’t even have to learn cognates word-by-word. You can learn hundreds (or even thousands) of them in just a few minutes.

To get you started, I’ve put together this list of 300 true French cognates and words that are very similar in French and English.

At first glance, languages can seem hard. While there are obstacles to overcome, there are also many language hacks that can get us communicating quickly. Cognates are one such hack.

Before I get to the list of 300 words, let me show you just how simple this can be…
I’ve Put the French Cognates in Bold:
French and English have an abondance of cognates, so English speakers have a huge head start before ever putting forth any effort.

It should come as no surprise that you already speak French. You have a lot of information already. Without preparation, you will be able to improve your communication without reservation.

During the evolution of the English language,* a lot of French found its way into English. Therefore, French shares a lot of vocabulaire with English. Some estimates say that about 10,000 words came to English via French.

You may have a sense of déjà vu as you read this article, as you have already seen these words before.

If you know cities in the United States, you might know Boise (wooded), Bel Air  (beautiful air), Detroit (a straight), Montclair (clear mountain), Des Moines (River of the Monks). If you know the states, you are familiar with Vermont (green mountain), or Oregon  (the word for hurricane from French via the Taino language), used to describe the windy river there.

If you work in journalism, you might work in a bureau. Regardless of your profession, you likely use a téléphone and a calendaire. A professeur helped you learn the skills you needed somewhere along the way. Perhaps you work for yourself and are an entrepreneur.

Regardless of your location, you have an address. Without question, you visit the pharmacie, banque, dentiste  and restaurant at times. Every city has a place where the police are located.

Do you wish people bon voyage  as they travel to new destinations? Do they collect souvenirs? What do they do when they are en route?

What gives you joie de vivre? Perhaps on le-weekend , you watch television. Do you enjoy littérature?A certain genre? A book with an immense number of pages?

Perhaps you enjoy culture and the arts  outside your home. Ballet? Travelling, and seeing all kinds of architecture? Do you enjoy a good festival – a fete that is estival , and takes place in summer? Or maybe creating with papier mâché  helps you unwind.

What about fashion? Do you think certain things are chic? Do you own an eau de toilette, such as Chanel?

Sport more your thing? Do you like rugby, golf, ski?

During our éducation, we take many classes. Histoire, biologie, maths, arts, latin, religion, or geographie. Most people hated révision before exams.

In the military, we use many of the words from the French system. There are cadets in académies. We have colonels and lieutenants.

Do you like to eat? Perhaps you love a meal prepared for you by a chef? If you live in the U.K., you might eat courgette (zucchini) or aubergine (eggplant). Do you read the menu when you go to a café? Do you like to picnic? Salade with vinaigrette is a great lunch option, and so is soupe.

A popular breakfast dish is an omelette.

Do you like fruits? Oranges? When you receive an invitation, do you R.S.V.P.? In English, we know this means that we should Respond So Very Promptly. This came from an abréviation of Répondez s’il vous plaît (please respond). Not exactly the same, but you get the point.

When you describe people, are they intelligent? Blonde? Brunette? Calme? Timide?
300 French Cognates -- Words You Already Know in French
More than 1,500 English words from French are true cognates–exactly the same in both languages. Many others are close, with minor differences in spelling and therefore easy to learn. Check out this guide to see how much French YOU already know:
Words that end in -ion are often the same in French and English
Some examples:

acceleration -  l’accélération
action -  action
addiction -  addiction
ambition -  ambition
attention -  attention
celebration -  celebration
champion -  champion
communication -  communication
condition -  condition
conversation -  conversation
donation -  donation
diction -  diction
edition -  édition
election -  election
equation -  equation
emotion -  emotion
erosion -  érosion
fiction -  fiction
function -  function
generation -  génération
infection -  infection
information -  l’information
injection -  injection
invasion -  invasion
legion -  legion
motion -  motion
notion -  notion
nation -  nation
omission -  omission
option -  option
passion -  passion
population -  population
presentation -  présentation
pronunciation-  prononciation
question -  question
ration -  ration
reflection -  reflection
religion -  religion
reservation -  réservation
region -  région
rotation -  rotation
session -  session
station -  station
solution -  solution
transaction -  transaction

Words that end in -al are often French cognates:

animal -  animal
central -  central
national -  national
final -  final
international -  international
mental -  mental
vertical -  vertical

Many words that end in -able are the same in English and French:

adorable -  adorable
admirable - admirable
applicable -  applicable
cable -  cable
capable -  capable
double -  double
durable -  durable
favorable -  favorable
habitable -  habitable
incurable -  incurable
identifiable -  identifiable
improbable - improbable
inseparable -  inséparable
justifiable -  justifiable
notable -  notable
recyclable -  recyclable
respectable -  respectable
sociable -  sociable
table -  table
vulnerable - vulnérable

Many words that end in -ible are the same in English and French:

horrible -  horrible
flexible -  flexible
impossible -  impossible
inaccessible -  inaccessible
incredible - incrédible
perceptible - perceptible
visible -  visible

Many words that end in -ance are the same in English and French:

ambiance -  ambiance
ambulance -  ambulance
appearance -  appearance
alliance -  alliance
arrogance -  arrogance
assistance -  assistance
assurance -  assurance
brilliance -  brilliance
circumstance -  circumstance
deliverance -  deliverance
distance -  distance
dominance -  dominance
endurance -  endurance
elegance -  elegance
fiance - fiancé
finance -  finance
fragrance -  fragrance
intolerance -  intolerance
importance -  importance
nuance -  nuance
nuisance - nuisance
perseverance -  perseverance
renaissance -  renaissance
resemblance -  resemblance
resonance -  resonance
substance -  substance
tolerance -  tolerance
vibrance -  vibrance

In French, the gerund ends in -ant. You might know a  bon vivant (person who loves living well). Something might be dormant (sleeping). Here are some more French-English cognates that end in -ant:

brilliant -  brilliant(e)
elephant -  éléphant
extravagant-  extravagant
ignorant -  ignorant(e)
immigrant -  immigrant
important - important(e
nonchalant  nonchalant
restaurant -  restaurant
triumphant -  triumphant(e)
vacant -  vacant
vibrant -  vibrant

Many words that end in -ct are the same in French and English:

contract -  contracter
correct -  correct
direct -  direct
distinct -  distinct
exact -  exact
impact -  impact
insect -  insecte
instinct -  instinct
object -  objet
perfect -  parfait
respect -  respect
suspect -  suspect

Often words that end in -ence are the same:

absence -  absence
conscience -  conscience
convergence -  convergence
indulgence -  indulgence
impatience -  impatience
Independence -  indépendance
innocence -  innocence
intelligence -  intelligence
obedience -  obédience
patience -  patience
science -  science
silence -  silence
violence -  violence

Many words that end in -ent are the same in English and French:

absent -  absent
accent -  accent
accident -  accident
adjacent -  adjacent
adolescent -  adolescent
affluent -  affluent
amendment -  amendement
apartment -  appartement
agent - agent
ardent -  ardent
client -  client
compliment -  compliment
continent -  continent
decent -  décent
deficient -  déficient
different -  différent(e)
diligent -  diligent
document -  document
encouragement -  encouragement
element -  élément
evident -  évident
excellent -  excellent
increment -  incrément
incident -  incident
innocent -  innocent
intelligent -  intelligent
latent -  latent
monument -  monument
negligent -  négligent
payment -  paiement
parent -  parent
permanent -  permanent(e)
pertinent -  pertinent
president -  président
prudent -  prudent(e)
recent -  récent
segment -  segment
talent -  talent
transparent -  transparent
urgent -  urgent

The words listed thus far are almost identical to English. You can easily increase your vocabulary by learning a few patterns and suffixes.

Many words that end in -ary in English have their equivalent as -aire in French:

actuary -  actuaire
arbitrary -  arbitraire
dictionary -  dictionnaire
extraordinary -  extraordinaire
imaginary -  imaginaire
ordinary -  ordinaire
anniversary -  anniversaire
dictionary -  dictionnaire
salary -  salaire
vocabulary -  vocabulaire
military -  militaire
necessary -  néccessaire
contrary -  contraire

Many words that end in -ical have -ique equivalents in French:

alphabetical -  alphabetique
analytical -  analytique
Catholic -  Catholique
chemical -  chemique
critical -  critique
cubical -  cubique
dramatic -  dramatique
electrical -  electrique
ethical -  èthique
historical -  historique
identical -  identique
logical -  logique
lyrical -  lyrique
music -  musique
practical -  pratique
romantic -  romantique
statistical -  statistique
symmetrical -  symetrique
typical -  typique

Many words that end in -ist have the equivalent -iste in French:

cyclist -  cycliste
artist -  artiste
dentist -  dentiste

Many adverbs that end in -ly in English have an equivalent in French ending in -ment:

absolutely - absolument
correctly -  correctement
directly -  directement
especially -  spécialement
evidently -  évidemment
exactly -  exactement
finally -  finalement
immediately -  immédiatement
naturally -  naturellement
normally -  normalement
totally - totalement

Many English words have a close French equivalent with circumflex:

coast -  côte
forest -  forêt
hotel -  hôtel
hospital -  hôpital
theatre -  théâtre

Looking for more French resources? Check out Benny’s favorites here.

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