They “believe”, “if I would have known” or even “comme even” (sic)… Many people make French mistakes by using expressions that simply do not exist. If you are one of them, rest assured, it has nothing to do with your intelligence. You just need to know the rule(s) well! Here are 3 mistakes that come up very often.
As of today
In “today”, we find “today”. A word that comes from old French and means “this day”. We also find it in the Spanish word “hoy” which means today. Today is therefore already a pleonasm since it means today. So today means: to the day of this day of this day. To avoid this double pleonasm, use “to date” instead.
” Despite “
If this expression is too often used in the sense of “although” or “whatever”, the French Academy recommends against this use. The institution reminds that this phrase can be used in the supported language, but only with the verb avoir conjugated in the subjunctive.
” I apologize “
While asking for forgiveness certainly has a good intention, formulating it by saying “I apologize” is committing a new mistake. Eh yes ! As the French Academy reminds us, “when we have made a mistake, we must ask the person towards whom we have done wrong to apologize; you can’t do it yourself.” It is therefore necessary to say “I beg your pardon” or “I beg your pardon”.