Actuellement Is a French False Cognate

Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them. French and English have hundreds of cognates, which are words that look alike or are pronounced the same in both languages. There are true cognates (similar meanings), false cognates (different meanings) and semi-false cognates (some similar, some different meanings). The French adverb actuellement looks an awful lot like the English word actually, but looks can be deceiving.  Its really the  case of a  false cognate, because these two words mean completely different things: Actuellement means at the present time and should be translated as right now or currently.  Actually means in fact and should be translated as  en fait,  Ãƒ   vrai dire  or vraiment. Still, many people have not assimilated this lesson, and  actuellement  is mistakenly used to mean actually so often that  you  have to read the sentence two or three times to decide what the person actually means. How to Remember Which Is Which If you need a memory device, keep this in mind: Actualità ©Ã‚  refers to a  current event.  If you can remember this, you shouldnt have trouble remembering that actuellement and actually are false cognates with different meanings. Or you can remember the etymology. The root word of actually is actual, which means real or true. (Depending on the context, actual can be translated as  rà ©el,  vrai,  và ©ritable,  positif, or  concret.)  By extension then, actually means in fact. Meanwhile, the French root word for actuellement is the French adjective actuel, which means current or present. So actuellement  naturally refers to time as well and, by extension, means currently or right now. Examples of Correct Usage Je travaille actuellement. (I am currently working.)Le problà ¨me actuel (The current/present problem)Actually, I dont know him. (En fait, je ne le connais pas.)The actual value (La valeur rà ©elle)