berner

to dupe, to deceive

verb behr-NEH Rare

Usage Note

Berner means to trick or make a fool of someone, often implying a sustained ruse rather than a single lie. It is a standard -er verb. Close synonyms include tromper (to deceive) and duper (to dupe).

Examples

"Il a réussi à berner tout le monde pendant des mois."

Natural Translation

He managed to dupe everyone for months.

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Related Words

Explore French by topic

FrenchNow

French False Friends: 25 Faux Amis to Avoid

French false friends look like English words but mean something else: actuellement is not actually, sensible means sensitive. Here are 25 faux amis to avoid.

June 3, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

French Numbers 70, 80, 90 Made Simple

French numbers 70, 80, 90 are soixante-dix, quatre-vingts, and quatre-vingt-dix. Learn three build formulas to make any number 70-99 on the fly.

June 3, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

En, Au, Aux: French Prepositions for Countries

Use en for feminine countries, au for masculine, aux for plural, and à for cities. Full French preposition rule for countries, with a lookup table and traps.

June 4, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

French Numbers 1 to 100: Count With Confidence

French numbers 1 to 100 in one complete chart, with pronunciation, the et-un rule, hyphens, and the four-twenties system explained so you can count anywhere.

June 4, 2026 6 min read