Why were the french unable to colonize north america?

The main issue was that they had no ways of reaching the North American continent en mass. They never developed a great naval army and this mean that they didn't have many ships that could transport armies and colonists so they couldn't really establish themselves as a great nation in the New World. They did have some parts, but it was insignificant compared to Spain and England.

They had no transportation or any way to get there because they didn't have a naval army