Piéger vs. incriminer vs. faire porter le chapeau
When describing the act of making someone appear guilty, French offers three distinct nuances. Piéger implies setting a trap or a setup, incriminer focuses on the evidence or accusation involving legal guilt, and faire porter le chapeau is a colorful idiom for shifting the blame to a scapegoat.
Piéger
B2This verb means to trap, stick, or set someone up. It focuses on the mechanism of deceit. While it can mean to frame in the sense of a setup, it can also essentially mean tricking someone into revealing their guilt or making a mistake.
Les policiers ont piégé le suspect avec une fausse transaction.
(The police officers trapped the suspect with a fake transaction.)
Il a été piégé par ses rivaux qui ont caché de la drogue dans sa voiture.
(He was framed by his rivals who hid drugs in his car.)
Je me suis fait piéger par cette offre trop belle pour être vraie.
(I got tricked by this offer that was too good to be true.)
Elle a piégé son mari pour prouver son infidélité.
(She set her husband up to prove his infidelity.)
Incriminer
C1This is a formal term meaning to incriminate. It refers to statements, facts, or physical evidence that point to someone's guilt. You use this when discussing the specific proof that makes a person look guilty, whether that proof is real or fabricated.
Toutes les preuves semblent incriminer le jardinier.
(All the evidence seems to incriminate the gardener.)
Il a falsifié des documents pour incriminer son collègue.
(He falsified documents to frame his colleague.)
Le témoignage du voisin incrimine directement l'accusé.
(The neighbor's testimony directly incriminates the accused.)
Ne m'incrimine pas dans tes affaires louches.
(Do not implicate me in your shady business.)
Faire porter le chapeau
C1Literally translating to to make [someone] wear the hat, this idiom means to make someone take the fall. It is used when a guilty party shifts the blame onto an innocent person to save themselves. It is synonymous with scapegoating.
Le patron a fait une erreur, mais il a fait porter le chapeau au stagiaire.
(The boss made a mistake, but he pinned it on the intern.)
C'est toi qui as cassé le vase, n'essaie pas de me faire porter le chapeau.
(You are the one who broke the vase, do not try to put the blame on me.)
Ils ont volé la banque et ont fait porter le chapeau au chauffeur.
(They robbed the bank and made the driver take the fall.)
Je refuse de porter le chapeau pour quelque chose que je n'ai pas fait.
(I refuse to take the rap for something I didn't do.)
Summary
Use piéger when talking about the act of setting a trap or a sting operation. Use incriminer when focusing on evidence or testimony that suggests legal guilt. Use faire porter le chapeau when someone is shifting the blame for their own actions onto an innocent person.