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French phrases used by English speakers

Here are some examples of French phrases used by English speakers.

There are many words of French origin in English, such as croissant, baguette, naive (sometime spelled with an accentuated i), police, routine, machine, and hors d'œuvres, but this article covers only words and phrases that remain identifiably French. That said, the phrases are given as used in English, and may seem more French to English speakers than they do to French speakers. The general rule is that if the word or phrase looks better in italics, it has retained its French identity, but if it doesn't need italics, it has probably passed over into English.

Note that these phrases are pronounced using the French rules, and not the English ones. Thus, the stress most often falls on the final syllable, the final letter is silent (unless it's "r" or "à" or "é"), consequent words are pronounced without a pause between them, unaccented "e" is usually pronounced as [ @ ], and final "n" is nasalized as /~/ (see SAMPA for a guide to phonetic symbols).

Table of contents
1 Seemingly French phrases used in English, but not in French
2 French phrases in international air-sea rescue
3 External Link
4 Quotation

Seemingly French phrases used in English, but not in French

French phrases in international air-sea rescue

International authorities have adopted a number of words and phrases from French for use by speakers of all languages in voice communications during air-sea rescues. Note that the "phonetic" versions are presented as shown and not in SAMPA.

It is a serious breach in most countries, and in international zones, to use any of these phrases without justification.

External Link

See also common phrases in different languages.

Quotation