French Homophones: How to Distinguish Sound-Alike Words with

As a French language learner, there are a lot of things to learn and memorize. Even if your native language is similar to French, there will be certain words or grammar aspects that are new to you and require studying. Some of these things will be easier to understand while some will be harder. For many people, one of the harder things to learn while studying French is homophones.

Every language has homophones but that doesn’t mean they’re easy to learn. In many cases, you may not even realize you’re using a homophone in your native language. When you’re learning French, however, these similar words can be challenging to keep straight and remember. The good news is that while they may be challenging, they aren’t impossible. This article will help you tackle the most common ones, so let’s dive in!

What is a Homophone?

Homophones are words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings. An example in English is “knew” (as in “I knew that”) and “new” (as in “that’s a new toy”). They are different from false friends – words that sound like a word in another language you speak but that do not have the same meaning. Just like with false friends, homophones can cause a lot of confusion if you aren’t aware that they exist or what they are.

A Homophone's Best Friend: Homonyms

Another type of word that causes confusion is a homonym. Homonyms are similar to homophones in that they are words that sound alike and have different meanings, but unlike homophones, they are spelled the same. An English example of homonyms is the word “bat” (as in “Dracula can turn into a bat”) and “bat” (as in, “The baseball player swung the bat”). As French is a gendered language, some homonyms may be different genders. This is part of the reason why it’s so important to know the gender of a vocab word; it may be the key to determining what someone is actually saying. In some cases, however, knowing the gender of each homonym may not help as they are either the same gender or not a noun at all.

One thing to remember when learning French is that a lot of words will be homonyms. It’s impossible to list them all, but the most common type of homonym in French actually comes from verbs. Verbs that end in -er will almost always sound identical in their infinitive form and their past participle form. Some verb conjugations often sound the same as well, but they are spelled differently depending on the subject and the verb tense. This happens a lot in the French past tense l’imparfait.

How to Learn Homophones and Homonyms in French

As mentioned above, there are a lot of homophones in French. This can make studying stressful, especially if you decide to learn them all. Regardless of how determined you are to learn homophones in French, it’s important that you approach learning and studying them wisely. Here are some tips to help make it easier.

#1. Practice Smart Memorization

Whenever you learn new vocab in French, this should be at the front of your mind. Running through flashcards and repetitively reading new words isn’t the best way to study. By practicing smart memorization tactics, you’ll make the most out of your studying and be more likely to remember the new vocab that you just went over.

That said, flashcards are a great method! Just make sure you use them properly and don’t make them your only resource. When it comes to using flashcards with homophones, one smart tactic is to write the homophones on one side of the card and the definitions for each corresponding word on the other side.

#2. Don’t Rely on a Translator

On the topic of flashcards, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that you shouldn’t rely on a dictionary or translation device. Instead, read the definitions of each word or look them up in a French dictionary such as Larousse. This will not only help you with reading comprehension, but it will also get you out of the mindset that you should translate new words as you learn a language. If you always translate in your head, you’ll learn French at a much slower rate and may have difficulties making the language sound fluid when you speak.

#3. Use Context Clues

Homophones and homonyms won’t only come up on flashcards. They’ll occur in conversations and in reading materials. When this is the case, the best language learning tool you can use is context clues. Most of the time, you can figure out what someone is saying without knowing the definition of a word. If you do know the word but aren’t sure which one it is, you can always use context clues to figure it out. Knowing your French articles will also help with this.

24 Most Common French Homophones

Now that you know what homophones are and have some tips on how to best learn them, here are the most common French homophones you’ll encounter.

l’air (appearance) / une aire (zone, area) / une ère (era)
une amande (almond) / une amende (fine)
au (à + the article le) / aux (à + the article les) / une eau (water)
la boue (mud) / le bout (end, tip)
censé (supposed to) / sensé (sensible)
cent (hundred) sent (il/elle conjugation of the verb sentir)
It is not uncommon for French learners to also make the words sans and sens sound the same, but they do have slightly different pronunciations. To avoid this mistake, work on your French pronunciation.
c’est (it/is) / ces (these) / sais (je conjugation of savoir) / sait (il/elle conjugation of savoir) / ses (his/her/it plural possessive for objects)
un compte (account) / un conte (story, tale)
le cou (neck) / le coût (cost)
le cygne (swan) / le signe (sign)
la foi (faith) / le foie (liver) / une fois (time)
la mer (sea) / le/la maire (mayor) / la mère (mother)
un mûr (wall) / une mûre (blackberry)
un parti (political party) / une partie (a portion/part)
la peau (skin) / le pot (jar, pot, can)
plus tôt (earlier) / plutôt (instead)
près (close) / prêt (ready)
la reine (queen) / le renne (reindeer)
sain (healthy) / saint (holy) ++ un saint (saint) une sein (breast)
le thon (tuna) / le ton (tone)
le vent (wind) / vend(s) (singular present conjugation of vendre)
une verre (glass) / un ver (worm) / vert (green) / vers (toward)
la voie (route, way, tracks) / la voix (voice)
la vue (view) / vu (given/considering)
When you’re first learning French, vue and vu may sound the same as the formal French you vous , but they are pronounced differently. This is something you’ll learn to hear and pronounce as you continue your French learning journey, so don’t be frustrated if you can’t detect the difference just yet.

11 Most Common French Homonyms to Know

Similarly to homophones, there are a number of French homonyms that you will encounter. As these words are spelled the same, the most useful tools you can use when trying to determine what a person means to say are context clues and knowing the gender of each word.

aussi tôt (too early) / aussitôt (immediately)
un avocat (advocado) / un avocat (lawyer)
une chouette (owl) / chouette (cool > mostly in Belgium, but increasingly common in France)
entre (between) / entre(s) (single present conjugations of the verb entrer)
pair (even (number)) / le pair (peer)
la pâte (dough, pastry, paste) / les pâtes (pasta)
le pub (bar, pub) / la pub (short for la publicité = ad)
quelquefois (sometimes = adverb) / quelques fois (a few times)
la rose (rose flower) / rose (color pink)
la somme (sum, amount) / le somme (snooze, short nap > usually rather une sieste for a nap)
la tour (tower) / le tour (turn)

Keep Up the Hard Work Learning French!

Learning French is not simple and it can be easy to lose motivation or feel as if you’ll never master the language, but don’t stop! You’ve come this far and even if you only study your target language for a little while each day, you’ll be surprised how much you retain as time goes on. So don’t lose motivation, keep studying, and know that any French knowledge, however scattered or useless it may feel, is better than none at all!