-
Learning French: nouns that even native speakers commonly misgender
‘The struggle is real’, says our French writer Théophile Larcher - see if you can score higher than him in our mini quiz
-
Learning French: when and why do we say avoir le compas dans l'œil?
Say this to describe someone with good visual judgement of size or distance
-
Learning French: the origins and meaning of faire le mariole
Acting the goat or fooling around, we explore the French phrase to describe the class clown
An accent can change a French word’s meaning, even in the coffee aisle
Avoid this language faux-pas and look out for accents that make all the difference

Unsurprisingly, not many French children drink coffee at breakfast time (or any other time, come to think of it).
They prefer a bol (bowl) of lait au chocolat (hot chocolate) or jus de fruit (fruit juice) to whet their morning whistle.
Tea is a no-no, too – as we know, the French might enjoy a tisane or three but builder's tea is not really on their radar.
So obviously, any knowledge of coffee making or purchasing terms comes with age and evolving tastes.
Read more: North France: Is cheese really dunked in coffee at breakfast?
Read more: Are your taste buds turning French? You share your thoughts
Surprise in the coffee aisle
However, even the lowest level café aficionado, of any age, would have baulked at my linguistic blind spot/faux-pas during a recent browse down the coffee aisle (rayon) at the local hypermarché.
Skimming past the usual café moulu (ground coffee) suspects – Brésil (Brazil), Ethiopie (Ethiopia), Guatemala, Pérou (Peru) and Mexique (Mexico), as well as the increasingly common "décaféiné" (decaffeinated), imagine my surprise to see that nowadays, Corsica had joined the realms of major coffee growers.
I checked again – yes, the packet definitely had the word "Corse" (French for Corsica) written across the central label.
The tiny accent made a world of difference
I know France is no stranger to global warming effects but surely the Mediterranean French island is not yet designated 'tropical' – the climate that coffee needs to thrive?
I removed my glasses in comic, double-take surprise to take a closer look.
Then I spotted the tiny acute accent placed above the last letter so the word read 'Corsé', not Corse.
The penny dropped – I looked it up and found that it means a pokier, more powerful coffee 'dose' for an espresso machine.
The moral of the story – don't just read the small print, read the accents too.
Related articles
Là or la?: How an accent makes all the difference in French
How many of these 12 fruity French expressions do you know?
French language tip - making things sound mini, dinky or cute