French and English Spelling Equivalents

Because French and English both have a lot of Latin influence, and because there is also a lot of French influence in English, there are a number of similar spelling patterns in the two languages. Learning these spelling equivalents can help you to:

Recognize French words (cognates)
Spell French words (common spelling equivalents)

But be careful—this chart is just a guideline. As always, there are thousands of exceptions. Also, you need to watch out for faux amis.

Equivalent Suffixes

*French*	*English*	*Exemple*	*Example*	Related lesson
-ain(e) -en(ne)	-an	américain(e) canadien(ne)	American Canadian	Adjectives
-aire	-ary	militaire extraordinaire	military extraordinary
-ais(e) -ois(e)	-ese	japonais(e) chinois(e)	Japanese Chinese	Languages
-ance -ence	-ence	dépendance violence	dependence violence
-ant -ent	-ent	dépendant apparent	dependent apparent
en + -ant	-ing	en étudiant en lisant	studying reading	Present participle
-çon	-sson -shion -son	leçon façon maçon	lesson fashion mason
-é(e) -i(e) -u(e)	-ed -t [b]	épelé fini répondu	spelled/spelt finished responded	Past participle
-é -e -i	-y	qualité gloire parti	quality glory party
-el(le)	-al	personnel éternel	personal eternal
-er -ir -re	to + verb	épeler finir défendre	to spell to finish to defend	Infinitives
-eur	-or [a] -our [b] -er	auteur couleur employeur	author color/colour employer	Professions
-eux/euse	-ous	joyeux nerveux	joyous nervous
-if/ive	-ive	positif motif	positive motive
-ique	-ic -ical	musique logique	music logical
-isation	-ization [a] -isation [b]	réalisation autorisation	realization/realisation authorization/authorisation
-iser	-ize [a] -ise [b]	idéaliser formaliser	idealize/idealise formalize/formalise
-isme	-ism	journalisme réalisme	journalism realism
-iste	-ist -istic	optimiste matérialiste	optimist/optimistic materialistic
-ment	-ly	évidemment rapidement	evidently rapidly	Adverbs
-oire	-ory	gloire mémoire	glory memory
-re	-er [a] -re [b]	mètre théâtre	meter/metre theater/theatre
-tion	-tion	ration qualification	ration qualification

Other spelling equivalents

é-	s-	état étudier	state study	French accents
in-	in- un-	inactif inconscient	inactive unconscious	French prefixes
^	_s	forêt hôpital	forest hospital

Key

(x)	Indicates the extra letter(s) needed for the feminine form of the French suffix
/x	Indicates the different suffix for the feminine noun or adjective
[a]	Applies mainly to American English
[b]	Applies mainly to British English

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ThoughtCo. "French-English Spelling Equivalents." ThoughtCo, Feb. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/french-english-spelling-equivalents-1371253. ThoughtCo. (2020, February 28). French-English Spelling Equivalents. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/french-english-spelling-equivalents-1371253 ThoughtCo. "French-English Spelling Equivalents." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/french-english-spelling-equivalents-1371253 (accessed March 1, 2021).