French · Emotions & Descriptions

"Wrong" in French: faux / fausse

faux / fausse

Say it: foh / fohssadjective/fo/ /fos/

Note: also: incorrect(e)

Wrong in French is often faux (masculine) or fausse (feminine): c'est faux, une fausse adresse. Incorrect(e) is a clearer classroom word for a wrong answer.

Quiz night

Non, c'est faux : la capitale n'est pas Lyon.
No, that's wrong — the capital isn't Lyon.
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How to pronounce faux / fausse

Say it

foh / fohss

/fo/ /fos/

Faux is foh (silent x). Fausse is fohss with an s sound. Liaison can add a z: deuz réponses fausses.

"Wrong" in French: quick reference

FrenchEnglish
faux / faussewrong / false

Default adjective.

c'est fauxthat's wrong / untrue

Quick rejection.

une fausse idéea wrong idea

Feminine agreement.

incorrect(e)incorrect

Tests and corrections.

How to use faux / fausse in real life

  1. 1Quiz night

    Non, c'est faux : la capitale n'est pas Lyon.

    No, that's wrong — the capital isn't Lyon.

    C'est faux for a wrong fact.

  2. 2Wrong number

    Tu as le faux numéro de Paul.

    You have Paul's wrong number.

    Faux before a masculine noun.

  3. 3Alarm scare

    Ouf, c'était une fausse alerte.

    Phew, it was a false alarm.

    Fausse agrees with alerte.

Mistakes English speakers make with faux / fausse

Incorrect: C'est une faux réponse.

Correct: C'est une fausse réponse.

Feminine nouns take fausse.

Incorrect: C'est wrong.

Correct: C'est faux.

Use faux, not English wrong.

Good to know

C'est faux can sound blunt in debate; soften with je ne suis pas sûr or je crois que tu te trompes. On forms and tickets, fausse also means forged: un faux billet.

Try it in a ChatPal conversation

Checking a train platform

  1. ChatPal

    On est sur le quai 3, non ?

    We're on platform 3, right?

  2. You

    Attends… c'est faux, c'est le quai 5.

    Wait… that's wrong, it's platform 5.

  3. ChatPal

    Ah merde. J'avais une fausse info sur l'appli.

    Ah crap. I had wrong info on the app.

  4. You

    On court, il part dans deux minutes.

    Let's run — it leaves in two minutes.

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"Wrong" in other languages

FAQ

Common questions about "Wrong" in French

How do you say wrong in French?

Faux (m) / fausse (f), or incorrect(e).

How do you say that's wrong?

C'est faux.

When do I use fausse?

Before feminine nouns: une fausse idée, une fausse alerte.

How do you pronounce faux?

foh — the x is silent.

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  3. Step 3: Get feedback
  4. Step 4: Use it in real scenarios

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