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English isn’t one of the easiest languages to learn, nor French.
However, learning one and then the other language isn’t hard as many would think.
On the contrary, knowing English can help learners easily learn French and the other way round.
If you thought that it is some kind of joke, it isn’t.
Even though English and French are two different languages, which even belong to different language families, they share many similarities.
Before you get confused, even more, let’s start step by step by taking a look at the 5 main similarities between English and French. Then, you will understand everything.
Let’s get started.
Why Do English And French Share Similarities?
To answer this question, we have to take a little history lesson.
Many cultural, geographical, and historical events, conquests, and trading over many decades and centuries led to today’s similarities between English and French, even though the two languages belong to two different language branches.
It all started in 1066 when William The Conqueror became King of England. When Edvard The Confessor died, William invaded England and with his Norman army conquered the Saxons. He was the first Norman monarch who became the king of England. During his rule, Norman French became the official language used by the upper class and aristocrats as well as the language of government. English, on the other side, became the language of masses and ordinary people.
For more than 300 years Norman French was the upper-class language, while English remained the language of the masses, so naturally, the impact of French on English was apparent.
Even centuries later, that is, today, many French words are used in English every day.
5 Main Similarities Between English And French
English and French share many things, from vocabulary and grammar to culture and tradition. Similarities we see today are the result of centuries-long conquests and wars, but also mutual trading and communication.
Here are 5 main similarities between English and French.
Indo-European Language Family
English is a Germanic language, while French belongs to the Romance language family. English’s close relatives are German, Norwegian, Dutch, and Afrikaans.
Along with Catalan, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian, French is a descendant of Vulgar Latin, the language spoken in the Roman Empire.
According to this, not only that English and French belong to different language groups, a person would think that there is no way that the two languages would have anything in common.
However, the situation is quite different.
Both language groups belong to the one big group called Indo-European languages.
That means that even if these two languages belong to different language branches, they have something in common since they are developed from one proto-language.
As for French and English, not only do they belong to one language family, the largest one, among other things, but other situations and historical events caused the two languages to become more and more similar.
French Words in English And Vice Versa
As we’ve already mentioned, the whole story dates back to 1066 when Wiliam the Conqueror became King of England and Norman-French became the language of government and the upper class
Over time, slowly, of course, French words started to use in English as well.
Many of them found their way to remain in the English language, so today, we have many French words in English we use, such as ‘déjà-vu,’ ‘prestige,’ or ‘silhouette.’
According to linguists, around 45% of words are similar in both languages. Those words, precisely, are words that originate from French and are in everyday use in English.
French And English Loanwords
Due to the impact of different languages, today, in many languages, we can find loanwords.
Those are words that are adopted into French or English with a slight modification.
In English, we use many French loanwords in our everyday conversation.
Here are the most common ones:
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À la mode- something that’s still in fashion
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Avant-garde- new and experimental ideas and methods in art, music, or literature.
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Déjà vu- a feeling of having already experienced the present situation.
If you thought that only French impacted English, let us only tell you that you would be surprised how many words you already know that are used in French.
Some of the English loanwords the French use every are the following:
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Babyfoot – Foosball
Cool – Cool
Le dressing – a dressing room
Le footing – Running/jogging
L’email – An email
Le sandwich – A sandwich
Le selfie – A selfie
Le week-end – weekend
Identical Words
Besides many words that originate from French and are used widely in English, the two languages proudly share cognates as well.
Cognates are words and phrases that are the same.
There are around 1.700 cognates English uses and that is taken from French.
Here are some of them:
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admiration – admiration
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brilliant – brilliant(e)
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elephant – éléphant
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extravagant- extravagant
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ignorant – ignorant(e)
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important – important(e)
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nonchalant – nonchalant
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restaurant – restaurant
False Friends
Since English and French share many similar words and phrases, it isn't strange that there are also many false friends.
In case you aren't familiar, false friends are words that sound the same or similar in both languages but have different meanings.
Some well-known false friends or in French, faux amis are:
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Bras- a piece of women’s clothing worn under clothes (English)
Bras- an arm (French)
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Envy- a feeling of jealousy (English)
Envie- to wish or desire ( French)
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Library- a place you go to borrow books( English)
Librairie- the place you go to buy books ( French)
As you see, you have to be careful because false friends can be very tricky and sometimes even get you in an awkward position.
Final Thoughts
Now you see how your English knowledge can help you with French. Learning French through English isn’t only possible but it also facilitates the whole learning process.
Even though the two languages are different, their vocabulary shows how even different languages can share many similarities and help one another not only in vocabulary but also in enriching cultures.
So, no matter if you are a native French speaker who wants to learn English or vice versa, English and French tutors won’t have too much work with you because your vocabulary is already impressive.
Use that advantage and master both French and English because the world likes polyglots.
