Right, it’s time for another Adventures on the Bookshelf quiz! This one is all about faux amis.
Below are two dictionary definitions. The red one is from a French dictionary, the blue one is from an English dictionary. Your job is guess the words being defined. The twist is that the French and English words are both spelled the same way, even though they mean completely different things.
Take a look. (There’s no need to understand every word in the French definition to play the game.)
_ _ _ _ (4 letters)
Petit animal domestique carnassier, à pelage de couleur variée souvent noir ou gris, se nourrissant de souris, de petites proies, et de la nourriture servie par ses maîtres.
Talk in a friendly, informal way.
So, if you could work out a little of the gist of the French definition (the whole thing translates as: ‘Small carnivorous domestic animal, with variable fur colour, often black or grey, which eats mice, small prey creatures or food given by its owners’), you might have got that it’s a cat, or ‘un chat’ in French, which is a faux ami for the English verb, ‘chat’, meaning… to talk in a friendly, informal way!
OK, got it?
Ten questions below. No peeking at the answers until you’ve had a go at all of them. Time starts now!
- _ _ _ _ _
Numéral cardinal. Quinze plus un.
Take hold of suddenly and forcibly.
2. _ _ _ _
Qui se lave insuffisamment ou mal; qui manque de propreté.
A period during which a shop sells goods at reduced prices.
3. _ _ _ _ _
Susceptible de conséquences étendues, de suites fâcheuses, dangereuses.
A hole dug in the ground to receive a coffin or corpse, typically marked by a stone or mound.
4. _ _ _ _ _
Composante prédominante du corps humain ou animal, essentiellement constituée des tissus musculaire et conjonctif.
A separate seat for one person, typically with a back and four legs.
5. _ _ _
Endroit dans lequel un footballeur doit envoyer le ballon pour marquer.
Conjunction used to introduce a clause contrasting with what has already been mentioned.
6. _ _ _ _
Préposition. En échange de, en remplacement de, à la place de.
Flow rapidly in a steady stream.
7. _ _ _ _
Partie d’une cuisinière qui sert à la cuisson des aliments.
Even number, less than ten.
8. _ _ _ _
Aliment fait d’une certaine quantité de farine mêlée d’eau et de levain et cuit au four
Highly unpleasant physical sensation caused by illness or injury.
9. _ _
Arbre à feuilles persistantes longues, étroites, vénéneuses, d’un vert très sombre, à baies rouges, qui est utilisé comme arbre d’ornement dans les parcs, les jardins, les cimetières.
Conjunction introducing a conditional clause.
10. _ _ _ _
Organe terminal du bras, formé d’une partie élargie articulée sur l’avant-bras et terminé par cinq doigts.
Chief in size or importance.
Answers below the French cat!
Answers:
1. seize (seize = 16)
2. sale (sale = dirty)
3. grave (grave = serious)
4. chair (la chair = flesh)
5. but (le but = goal)
6. pour (pour = for)
7. four (le four = oven)
8. pain (le pain = bread)
9. if (un if = yew tree)
10 main (la main = hand)
How did you do?
7-10 correct: Carrément terrible!
3-6 correct: Pas terrible.
0-3 correct: Frankly terrible.
Like this? Try our fiendish odd-one-out quiz as well!