Legal Translation of “bribe” in French: pot-de-vin or bribe?

Another frequent false friend, especially in competition law and anti-corruption contexts.

⚖️ Bribe in Law: Pot-de-vin, Active or Passive Corruption

The word bribe appears mainly in criminal law, anti-corruption enforcement, or competition law.

Examples:

• a bribe → un pot-de-vin

• to bribe → soudoyer

• The director is accused of having offered a bribe → Le directeur général est accusé d’avoir proposé un pot-de-vin

• The company tried to bribe the government official → La société a essayé de soudoyer le représentant de l’État

⚠️ Do Not Confuse with bribe (in French)

In French, bribe means a small fragment or portion of something (e.g. une bribe de conversation).

This is a classic false friend: in legal contexts, mistranslating bribe as “bribe” in French creates a total misunderstanding.

✅ In Summary

📌 TransLex’s Advice

Before translating bribe, ask yourself two simple questions:

1. Is the context criminal law or a sensitive commercial environment?

2. Would the French word bribe make any sense here? (Often: no.)

👉 In case of doubt, the correct rendering is usually pot-de-vin for the noun and soudoyer for the verb.