EU Translation Guide: Beware of false friends, jargon and abbreviations – Avoid false friends

by Nicolae Sfetcu | posted in: EU Translation Guide | 0

False friends (or faux amis) are pairs of words in two languages that look similar but differ in meaning.

In a multilingual environment like the European Commission, we often mix up our languages. Borrowing between French end English is common. For instance, ‘to control’ in English normally means ‘to command/direct’ or ‘to restrict/limit’. It does not mean simply ‘to check/supervise’ like ‘contrôler‘ in French. Using the wrong word can alienate readers, making the EU institutions look like a closed club that is out of touch with the real world. In the worst case, it can lead to misunderstands and diplomatic incidents (for example, if you just want to say that Luxembourg is small, but you write that ‘Luxembourg is not an important country’).

French	False friend	Why is it wrong?	What‘s the correct word?
actuel	actual	‘actual’ means ‘real’	current, topical
adequat	adequate	‘adequate’ means ‘sufficient’	suitable
assister à	assist at	‘assist’ means ‘help’	attend, participate in
attribuer	attribute to	‘attribute to’ means ‘consider to be due to/characteristic of’	allocate to, assign to
compléter	complete	‘complete’ means ‘finish’	supplement
délai	delay	‘a delay’ means ‘a postponement or hold-up’ (= retard in French]	deadline, time limit
élaborer	elaborate (verb)	‘to elaborate’ means ‘to gointo detail’	draft, develop, produce
éventuel	eventual	‘eventual’ means ‘ultimate’	any
prévu	foreseen	‘foreseen’ means ‘predicted’	provided for, planned
important	important	‘important’ is right if you mean ‘significant’; but not if you mean >	> large
matériel	material	‘material’ means ‘matter’, ‘information’	supplies, equipment
opportunité	opportunity	‘opportunity’ means ‘chance’	advisability
perspectives	perspectives	‘perspective’ means ‘standpoint’	prospects, outlook
respecter	respect	‘to respect’ means ‘to value’ or ‘honour’ someone or something	comply with (rules), meet (a deadline)
sensible	sensible	‘sensible’ means ‘reasonable’	sensitive