{"id":9731,"date":"2019-08-21T14:48:55","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T18:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.pimsleur.com\/?p=9731"},"modified":"2026-09-10T04:01:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T08:01:36","slug":"french-influence-on-the-english-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/french-influence-on-the-english-language\/","title":{"rendered":"French Influence on the English Language: 32 Words You Didn\u2019t Know Were French (and Why)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Uncover the Story Behind These 32 Cognates English Words Borrowed From French<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ever notice the French influence on the English language and wonder…<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy are there so many French words used in English?\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amount of English words borrowed from French is astounding. And the answer to WHY that came to be is, well, complicated.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to make a long story short\u2026 English is weird.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Evolution of the English Language: The Great Language Loot<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

English is a Germanic language with a mix of Celtic, Old Norse, French, Latin, and other languages it picked up along the way to becoming the modern English that we know and love today.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, our language is notorious among language-learning circles for being extremely irregular, and unique among many Indo-European languages as having evolved through the absorption of other languages by visiting or invading cultures.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though English doesn\u2019t have any close relatives (in the way that Portuguese and Spanish are linguistic cousins), it shares cognates with languages of the countries that surround the British Isles. This includes, of course, England\u2019s neighbor across the English Channel: France.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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History of French Influence on the English Language<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"French<\/figure>
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Did you know that nearly 45% of all English words are of French origin<\/a>? That\u2019s nearly 80,000 words fused together through war, peace, diplomacy, royal marriages, and popular culture.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever wonder what Je ne sais quoi<\/i>, c\u2019est la vie, <\/i>or rendez-vous <\/i>mean? Do you know why they came to be used in English?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how the story goes\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Norman Language Reaches England<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Unlike isolate languages like Basque and Korean, both English and French are two languages that have continuously come into contact with each other and stolen words from each other through marriage alliances and historical conquest (similar to Arabic influence on the Spanish language<\/span><\/a> by way of conquest).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Norman Conquest of 1066, led by William the Conqueror, was a famous historical event that drastically changed the path of the English language. William declared his claim to the English throne after the death of King Edward, his cousin, who had taken a vow of celibacy and remained childless.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After William killed the Norwegian and Danish invaders in the north, seized the lands of the English elite, and built castles that would serve as military strongpoints, he instituted the Norman language (a.k.a. basically French) to be the language of the elite. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Norman dynasty ruled in England until 1154. By then, English had already cherry-picked nearly 10,000 new words from both French and Latin.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What Kind of English Words Were Borrowed from the French?<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most famous examples of French word theft \u2013 I mean, borrowing \u2013 are of course, what the French are most famous for: food.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And human rights, and art, but first\u2026 le grand amour<\/b>:  food.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"English<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to King William, in English we say \u2013<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n