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This week’s question comes from Justina in China who wants to know more about French words in English.
We spoke to Erica Gatland, who works for a translation company. She said that over 30% of the English language is made up of French words.
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| Erica Gatland, RWS Translations |
Some of these words are the same as in French and are still used in the French language today. Others came from French but have become anglicised as time has passed.
So why are there so many French words in the English language? Well, in the year 1066 in England, the Battle of Hastings (a town on the south coast) took place.
The English king, Harold, was defeated by William of Normandy in France. So a French man became the King of England. He brought his language and his people over to England at that time.
Once English people took power again though, the English language changed but it was influenced by this period when the King of England was French.
Lots of words used in English came from French and have evolved over the years and become more English. Examples are treasure (in French tresor), cup (in French coupe), letter (lettre), beef (beouf), abolish (abolir) and claim (clamer).
These are just a few examples of thousands. There are also thousands of examples of French words that are exactly the same as French words used in French still today. Here are just a few for you below.
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| There are a lot of French words in English |
En suite 帶洗手間的臥室 - a bathroom attached to a bedroom.
RSVP (repondez s'il vous plait) （邀請函上）請回復(fù) - please reply (usually found on invitations).
Fiancé/Fiancée 未婚夫 - when you get engaged your husband or wife-to-be becomes your fiancé (man) or fiancée (woman).
Souvenir 紀(jì)念品 - something you buy to remind you of a holiday or special event (in French souvenir is a verb - to remember).
Aubergine 茄子 - the British word for eggplant.
Cul-de-sac 死胡同 - a street which is blocked off at one end.
Hors d'oeuvre 餐前小吃 - a starter at a meal.
Thanks for your question Justina. We hope we could give you enough examples.
If you have a question about the English language, send us an email: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk and we might just be able to answer it for you one a page like this.
Glossary 詞匯
translation 翻譯
anglicised 英國化
battle 戰(zhàn)役
defeated 被擊敗
period 時期
evolved 進(jìn)化了的
treasure 財富
abolish 廢除
attached 附帶的
invitations 邀請函
get engaged 訂婚
eggplant 茄子
blocked off 堵死的
starter 開胃菜，頭盤
本周問題與答案
