❌ Mistake 1: “Je suis bien.”

✅ Correct form: “Je vais bien.”

👉 In French, when talking about your physical or emotional state, you use “aller bien”, not “être bien”.

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🧠 Tip: think of the verb “aller” in “Comment ça va ?” → “Ça va bien” → “Je vais bien”.

✅ More examples:

– “Je vais très bien aujourd’hui.” ("I'm feeling great today.")

– “Et toi, tu vas bien ?” ("And you, are you doing well?")

“Je suis bien” usually means “I’m comfortable” → like sitting in an armchair, but not for “I feel good”.

 


❌ Mistake 2: “Je suis 29 ans.”

✅ Correct form: “J’ai 29 ans.”

👉 In French, when talking about age, you use the verb AVOIR, not ÊTRE.

It’s as if you “have” your age.

✅ More examples:

– “J’ai 5 ans.” ("I’m 5 years old.")

– “Tu as quel âge ?” ("How old are you?")

Tip: Just remember that in French, you have your age, so you use “avoir”.

 


❌ Mistake 3: “Faire une décision”

✅ Correct form: “Prendre une décision”

👉 In French, you take a decision, you don’t “make” it.

✅ More examples:

– “J’ai pris une grande décision.” ("I made a big decision.")

– “Tu vas prendre une décision bientôt ?” ("Are you going to make a decision soon?")

Tip: Imagine the decision is on the table and you have to pick it up — that’s why we say “prendre une décision”.

 


❌ Mistake 4: “Ça me fait heureux.”

✅ Correct form: “Ça me rend heureux.”

👉 Use “rendre + adjective” to express an emotional change.

✅ More examples:

– “Ce cadeau me rend triste.” ("This gift makes me sad.")

– “Tu me rends fou 😅” ("You’re driving me crazy 😅")

🧠 Tip: “Faire” = to do → “faire un gâteau”

But “rendre” = a change of state → “ça me rend heureux”.

 


❌ Mistake 5: “C’est une jolie place.”

✅ Correct form: “C’est un joli lieu.”

👉 In French, “place” usually refers to a public square (like la place de la République).

But learners often mean “a location or place” → so you should say “lieu” or “endroit”.

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✅ More examples:

– “C’est un joli lieu.” ("It’s a nice spot.")

– “C’est un bel endroit pour pique-niquer.” ("It’s a lovely place for a picnic.")

🧠 Tip: If it’s not a town square, avoid “place” = use “lieu” or “endroit”.

 


❌ Mistake 6: “C’est très magnifique.”

✅ Correct form: “C’est vraiment magnifique.”

👉 In French, you don’t use “très” with strong adjectives like “magnifique”.

Instead, say “vraiment magnifique”, “absolument magnifique”, but not “très”.

✅ More examples:

– “C’est absolument délicieux.” ("It’s absolutely delicious.")

– “C’est vraiment incroyable.” ("It’s really amazing.")

🧠 Tip: If the adjective is already very strong, replace “très” with “vraiment” or “absolument”.

 


❌ Mistake 7: “Je sais ce chanteur.”

✅ Correct form: “Je connais ce chanteur.”

👉 In French, “je sais” is used for specific information

and “je connais” for people or things you’re familiar with.

✅ More examples:

– “Je connais cette ville.” ("I know this city.")

– “Je sais que c’est compliqué.” ("I know it’s complicated.")

🧠 Tip:

→ You connais a person.

→ You sais how to do something.

 


❌ Mistake 8: “Je suis déménagé.”

✅ Correct form: “J’ai déménagé.”

👉 The verb “déménager” uses avoir in the passé composé, not être.

It’s a transitive verb, so it takes avoir.

✅ More examples:

– “J’ai changé de ville.” ("I moved to another city.")

– “Tu as déménagé quand ?” ("When did you move?")

🧠 Tip: Verbs that take être in the past (je suis allé, je suis venu) are usually movement verbs… but not all! Déménager = avoir.

 

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