20 - Vocabulary: common mistakes, "faux amis", etc.

The following is an incomplete list of common vocabulary mistakes.

-Achever. Use to complete (not achieve which means to accomplish).

-Actuellement. Use Presently or currently (not actually which means "in fact").

-Au contraire. Use "In contrast" in most cases ("On the contrary,..." is used more after a negative sentence, whose information is confirmed by "On the contrary,..." and a positive sentence reinforcing the argument of the negative sentence. For example: The weather was not bad today. On the contrary, the sun came out at the end of the afternoon and the evening was very pleasant.)

-Dans le cadre d'un projet de recherche. Use Within the framework of a research project...

-Dans un premier temps, ... dans un deuxième temps, etc. Use To begin with... Next / then... Finally...

-D'un côté... de l'autre côté. Use On the one hand... on the other hand, not On the one side...

-En même temps. Use At the same time,...

-Eventuellement. Use Possibly or maybe (not eventually which means finally, at the end).

-Globalement. Use Generally or On the whole (globally means more literally in the whole world).

-Hypothèse. Remember, there is an important difference between "assumption" (hypothèse de départ) and "hypothesis" (hypothèse à tester).

-Informations. Remember, "information" is uncountable in English and so always singular!