French Vocabulary

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The following is a list of example mnemonics for French vocabulary in alphabetic order. Vocabulary items appear on the left, followed by the English translation, then a comma-separated list of mnemonics on the right. Additional information (etymology, facts, usage, etc.) appears in the last column.

Vocabulary List

Word	English	Mnemonics	Additional Info
bosquet (m.)	grove, coppice	BASKET in a grove	From same Latin as “bois”: “boscum”
cocher (m.)	coachman, cabman	a COUCH on the front of a carriage
cracher	to spit	man spitting on car causes CRASH
dentelé	jagged, serrated	a serrated knife covered with DENTAL floss, a DENTED serrated knife
échelle (f.)	ladder	a conch SHELL on a ladder	Same Latin as French “escalier”: scala
écheveau (m)	hank, skein; tangle	horses (CHEVAUX) with tails tied together
écureuil (m.)	squirrel	ACORN EAter	Same Greek root as “squirrel”: σκιά, skía (“shadow”) and οὐρά, úrá (“tail”)
essor (m.)	[aeroplane] take-off; rapid growth	a rocket SOARing in the pattern of an S
exaucer	to fulfill, grant, answer	a genie popping OUT (e, ex) of a bowl of SAUCE
grêle	skinny, spindly	a spindly chair with an iron GRILL as legs
grêle (f.)	hail	GRILLs falling from the sky
gaspiller	to waste	SPILLING GAS into a drain
guet (m.)	lookout, watch	a flaming GAY man on lookout duty
mijoter	to simmer	MIDGET in a cauldron
mou/molle	soft, limp, dull	a cow on pillows, MOOing
moule (f.)	mussel, clam; vagina; luck	a mussel with MOLES on it	Same Lat(m.)
pieu(x) (m.)	post, stake	dog PEEing on a post	Same Latin root as English “post”: “palus”
pont-levis (m.)	drawbridge	a pair of LEVI jeans in a POND
portefeuille (m.)	wallet		Lit. “carries-leaf” or “carries-paper” (univerbation)
racler	to scrape, scour; clear one’s throat	scraping ROCKs off a grilltop; someone caughting up ROCKs
rôder	to prowl	RODENT sneaking around
tarabiscoté	over-ornate, over-elaborate, convoluted	TARA eating BISCUTS
tréfonds (m.)	inner-most depth	FAWNS in a TREE
volée (f.)	flock	flying VOLLEYballs

Patterns

Many English and French words share Latin origins. However, while English has closely retained the spellings and pronunciations of these words, many sounds were elided in French. The same words, with similar origins, then, can look radically different. For example, the word “école” looks very different from the English “school”, although both came from the Latin, “schola”. However, French orthography and pronunciation allow us to recognize the meanings of many seemingly unfamiliar words with a little careful analysis. Also, many French morphological changes make sense when seen from an etymological viewpoint.

Latin “esp”, “est”, etc.

The Latin silibant /s/ often was elided before consonants. As a result, the preceding vowel was normally lengthened. The pronunciation differences persist among many words, but the orthographic accents are the surest way to connect the French to the Latin (and thus English).

bestia —> bête, beast
vestio —> vêtir (to dress); vest, vestment, etc.

Latin “sc”, “sch”, “st”, etc.

English has generally retained the silibant initiated consonant clusters. French, however, has generally replaced the “s” with “é”. E.g.

schola —> school, école
studeo —> study, étudier
stupa —> stuff, étoffe (cloth)

Latin “llus”, “lum”, etc.

Early in the history of French, whenever the sound /l/ came immediately before a silibant (/s/, /z/), it was changed to the vowel /u/. Irregular plurals make sense if we remember that “l” often changes to “u” before consonants. (The final “x” is the result of a mistake by scribes, confusing an abbreviation for “us” with the letter “x”. The “x” was retained after the “u” was reinstated.)

caballus (“horse”) —> cheval, chevaux
palus (“post”) —> pieu, pieux (The “l” was dropped entirely.)
malum (“bad”) —> mal, maux

Latin “v” and Germanic “gw”

The germanic initial cluster, /gw/, itself a morph of the Latin /w/, underwent different changes in French and English, giving radically different pronunciations in words.

vespa —> gwesp —> guêpe, wasp
willhelm —> gwillhelm —> Guillaume, William