French Grammar - Opportunite Is NOT Opportunity

First let me preface this post by explaining what a False Friend / Faux Ami is.

Plain English Please

A false friend is someone you've grown to know and trust for the longest of times. Then one day, you get into a bind and need his or her help. Then, toodle-loo, this person suddenly is gone and nowhere to be found.

Wait, this isn't morality and ethics we're talking about? No.

The false friend we're concerned about is much less sinister. It basically is any word that looks like a word in another language, and so you automatically assume that they are the same thing... And it's a good thing to do actually! Because you'll be right more than 90% of the time. But that 10% is a stinger, so let's get this sorted out shall we?

Today, the word we are going to discuss is.. OPPORTUNITE.

I mean wow! The first thing you see, it looks like a freaking imposter, downright copyright violation worthy! I mean, switch the y out for an e, and magic, you've just learned a new word with no work involved.

So then, how do we translate the word opportunity into French?
--By the word occasion.

Here are some examples:

J'ai eu l'opportunite de manger un hamburger. --> WRONG!

J'ai eu l'occasion de manger un hamburger. --> RIGHT!

I had the opportunity to eat a hamburger.

Ok, that's all fine and dandy, Charlie. But how do we correctly use the word opportunite then? I'm glad you asked!

Pour le chat, c'est l'opportunite de manger les souris

For the cat, this is its CHOICE MOMENT to eat the mice

Or take another example:

Ensuite, on jugera l'opportunite de cette strategie de jeu.

Then, we'll determine the SUITABILITY of this game plan.

Does that make sense? The word opportunite in French really refers to good timing or the appropriateness of something. It's RARELY used by most people in this way, however.

Wait, what do you mean?

This happens to be one of those rules that many French people (at least in Canada) break all the time! It's really more of a rule to be followed when you have to turn in one of those dreaded term papers in a college class. Nothing more!

So... huge sigh of relief. This isn't one of those critical faux amis to remember. But it's still probably a good idea to build up the habit of using OCCASION instead of OPPORTUNITE when your mind thinks opportunity.

Charlie has been a French as a Second Language Classroom Teacher at the Elementary and Secondary levels and has been teaching and tutoring adults, teenagers, and children for over 8 years.

For your FREE eBook on the powerful TOP French resources I used to go from speaking zero French to being SUPER fluent in no time, please visit - http://www.charliesfrenchfactory.com/welcome.html

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