2. FRENCH AND ENGLISH
LANGUAGES
Many linguistic similarities despite very different origins
French is one of the major Romance Languages
English is a Germanic Language
The two languages met because of the Norman invasion of Britain in
the 11th century
Overtime these two languages merged
Many French words were absorbed into the English language
3. SIMILARITIES AND
DIFFERENCES
The French and English alphabets both have 26 letters. However, the French
alphabet has some letters with diacritics: acute, grave. and circumflex accents, the
diaereses and the cedilla.
There are some differences in the phonological systems. Because of this, French
ELLs may have problems with comprehension and speech production.
Some English words are not spelled like they sound. This lack of
correspondence between spelling and pronunciation may result in spelling errors.
4. PRONUNCIATION
One common French ELL error in pronunciation is the omission
of the /h/ at the beginning of a word. This is because this sound
doesn’t exit in their language .
French ELLs have problems pronouncing the letters “th”, as seen
in the words “mother” or “think”. This is because the French are not
used to using the tip of the tongue when speaking their native
language.
5. VERB GRAMMARS
French and English verb grammars have similarities. Both
languages use: auxiliaries, participle, active and passive voice. One of
the biggest differences is verb tense. Several French verb tenses do
not exist or translate in English. Learning how to use unfamiliar
tenses can be difficult for the French ELL.
A wrong choice of tense in the English language is a typical error
of the French ELL.
6. USE OF ARTICLES
French English
Pronouns are used according to the Nouns are only masculine and
gender of the noun with which they are feminine when they are used for someone
associated. French nouns are either masculine or something that is male or female
or feminine. There are no neuter nouns in
All other nouns are neuter
French.
Most nouns add –s or -es to the
Add –s to form the plural
singular to form the plural
No possessive case: the preposition
“de”, plus an article if one is needed, is Possessive case is formed by adding –
added to show possession in the French ’s to a singular noun or –’ to plural nouns
language. ending in s.
7. ELL BACKGROUND
21 year old male from France
French spoken in the home
began to learn English in primary school
visited the United states several times
spent the past year studying at an American University
Returned to France to finish his Master’s Degree
8. INCORRECT TENSE-PAST
Student Error Correct Form
I just finish my program. I just finished my program
My mother change her My mother changed her
schedule schedule.
In middle school, we read In middle school, we read
books and comment on them. books and commented on them.
9. INCORRECT SUBJECT-VERB
AGREEMENT
Student Error Correct Form
My suitcase weigh fifty My suitcase weighs fifty
pounds. pounds.
He speak English. He speaks English.
My plane leave now. My plane leaves now.
10. POSSESSIVE CASE
Student Error Correct Form
My mother schedule changed. My mother’s schedule
changed.
My brother house is near My brother’s house is near
Paris. Paris.
I am starting my master I am starting my master’s
degree. degree.
11. REFRENCES
Farrell, C. F. (2012). Side by side French & English grammar.
Chicago, IL: McGraw-Hill.
M. (n.d.). Similarities and differences between English and French.
Retrieved from www.veritaslangaugesolutions.com/similarities-and-
differences-between-english-and-french
The differences between French and English. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/french.htm
