French Words Used In English

Bonjour!

French has a huge hand in the development of English language. Almost 29% of English has origin from French. So, while learning French from language learning classes in Bhubaneswar,  lets keep you updated with few French words that are used in English as it is.

French Words Used In English


À la carte
lit. "on the card, i.e. menu"; In restaurants it refers to ordering individual dishes rather than a fixed-price meal.
In sentence: We ate À la carte as that was pocket friendly.


Amuse-bouche or amuse-gueule
"Mouth-amuser"; a single, bite-sized hors d'œuvre. The expression refers to a small mouthful of food, served at the discretion of the chef before a meal as an hors d'oeuvre or between main courses.
In sentence: The crostini with pan-seared fois gras was a delightful amuse-bouche.

Banquette
A long upholstered bench or a sofa.
In sentence: They prepared a grand banquette for the newly weds.
Bon voyage
"Good journey"; have a good trip!
In sentence: The hitchhiker smiled at me and wished me bon voyage when I passed him!

Café
A coffee shop (also used in French for "coffee").
            In sentence: We had planned our date in the café next block.

Cul-de-sac
Originally "bottom of sack" and used in English in anatomy since 1738. Used for dead end (street) since 1800 in English, since 14th century in French.
In sentence: They found their perfect home, a 3-bedroom detached house in a quiet cul-de-sac.

Déjà vu
"Already seen": an impression or illusion of having seen or experienced something before.
In sentence: When I saw him walking past that house, it was like Déjà vu.

En route
On the way
            In sentence: We arrived at Dubai en route to the United States.

Fiancé (e)
Betrothed; a man/woman engaged to be married.
            In sentence: Rohini always shows off the big engagement ring she got from her fiancé.
A type or class, such as "the thriller genre".
In sentence: The genre of music he Adam listens to, is not my cup of tea.

Papier-mâché
"Chewed paper"; a craft medium using paper and paste.
In sentence: He takes Papier-mâché classes and makes beautiful lamps out of it.

Tête-à-tête
"Head to head"; an intimate get-together or private conversation between two people.
In sentence: She smiled intimately as though we'd settled in front of the fire for a tête-à-tête.

Touché
"Touched" or "hit!": acknowledgment of an effective counterpoint or verbal riposte; comes from terminology in the sport of fencing. Not understandable in modern French, as "touché" means "emotionally touched".
In sentence: Not exactly Peter Cook, but Al laughed and she was gracious enough to say, Touché.

Vis-à-vis 
"Face to face [with]": in comparison with or in relation to; opposed to. From vis, an obsolete word for "face", replaced by visage in contemporary French.
In sentence: He attributed this behavior to an obvious inferiority complex vis-à-vis the Indians.

Vinaigrette
Diminutive of vinaigre (vinegar): salad dressing of oil and vinegar.
In sentence: Okay, here we have green apple and celery salad with walnut vinaigrette.


Now, that you know about the similarities in French and English, its very evident that French if studied in a right way will be easy to grasp. So, join French language course in Bhubaneswar and
tomber amoureux de la langue!

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