This is another one of those two-faced false friends. “Introduire” does not really mean “introduce” When speaking French, you have to be specific about what the person is good at or else it could be misinterpreted as you saying how he/ she is good in bed. Like when someone shows off his/her talent and you just blurt out, “wow, you’re good!” This does not translate well to French however. Don’t say “Il/elle est bon(ne)” or “ Tu es bon(ne)”.unless you know exactly what you’re doing (*wink*wink*)Įnglish speakers usually say “she’s good” or “you’re good” in a general, offhand way, without having to specify what the person is good at. Otherwise, you’d ruin your perfectly sensible tirade by suddenly including condoms in your conversation. When you need to talk about food preservatives, use the French word “conservateur” instead. Preservatif actually means condom in French. Sorry to rain on your parade, but while preservative and preservatif may sound alike, it’s one of those back-stabbing “false friends” or cognates. You use the French word preservatif because of course, what else could the word be? Imagine you’re sitting in a table with your French-speaking friends, and you’re giving a completely impassioned speech about organic food and the use of too much preservatives in food nowadays. Preservative is not preservatif in French Which is weird especially if you’re related. Similarly, when you say “il est trop chaud” to say someone is too hot in temperature, it could be taken to mean that you have the hots for that particular person. “Je suis chaud” has a sexual connotation that tells everyone you’re feeling horny (what?!). You probably mean you’re not feeling well and your temperature is hot. “Je suis chaud(e)” or” Il/elle est trop chaud(e) “ does not mean what you think it means.
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