Common mistakes
Identifiant or mot de passe? Read a French login form
Separate a French account identifier from its password. Read login fields, distinguish signing in from signing up and practise common form messages.
- A2
- 4 corrections
- Examples and fixes
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
In short
Your identifiant tells the service which account you mean. Your mot de passe is the password for access to it. An identifier can be a username, an email address or another code: the field’s label and helper text tell you which one to enter.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
- un identifianta passwordan account identifier
Votre identifiant est votre adresse e-mail.Your account identifier is your email address.
Here the helper text specifies an email address. Other forms can ask for a username.
- un mot de passea usernamea password
Saisissez votre mot de passe dans le deuxième champ.Enter your password in the second field.
For a username, look for nom d’utilisateur. The plural of password is mots de passe.
- se connecterto create an accountto log in in this context
J’ai déjà un compte ; je vais me connecter.I already have an account; I’m going to log in.
To sign up, use s’inscrire or créer un compte.
- un caractèreonly a digita character, such as a letter or digit
Le message demande huit caractères, dont un chiffre.The message asks for eight characters, including a digit.
Un chiffre is a digit. Une lettre majuscule is an uppercase letter.
| On screen | What it asks for or does |
|---|---|
| Identifiant — votre adresse e-mail | Enter the email address used for this account. |
| Mot de passe | Enter the password. |
| Se connecter | Log in to the existing account. |
| Mot de passe oublié ? | Open the forgotten-password option. |
| Créer un compte | Start registration for a new account. |
- Lina
Je choisis « Créer un compte » ?
Do I choose “Create an account”?
- Noé
Tu as déjà un compte. Choisis « Se connecter ».
You already have an account. Choose “Log in”.
- Lina
Et si j’ai oublié mon mot de passe ?
And if I’ve forgotten my password?
- Noé
Il y a un lien « Mot de passe oublié ? ».
There’s a “Forgotten password?” link.
Messages use the same nouns. Identifiant inconnu says the identifier is unknown; mot de passe incorrect says the password is incorrect. Champ obligatoire marks a required field. These are three different messages, so keep the noun as well as the adjective when you translate them.