You probably know several words that are similar in English and in Spanish but whose meanings are completely different in each of these languages. For example, embarazado and ‘embarrassed’ sound similar in Spanish and in English, but for a Spanish speaker it would be funny to hear an English boy say Estoy embarazado, when what he really wants to say is “I’m embarrassed” (that is, Estoy avergonzado). To avoid (evitar) these pitfalls,(dificultades) in this post we are investigating common false friends between English and Spanish.
Have a look at the video below.
The main reason for false friends appearing between English and Spanish is that both languages have many words that derive from Latin. The Spanish language is essentially a Romance language whose words are mainly Latin-based.English is a Germanic language, which means that most of its words have a Germanic origin, but it also has many Latin words that were introduced into the English language during the Renaissance, due to (debido a) direct contact between English and Latin, or though contact with other Latin-based languages, such as French or Italian.When Latin words were introduced into English, sometimes they would keep the original meaning, but in other instances (ejemplos) the original meaning would evolve and the word would take a new connotation or a completely different meaning for English speakers. For example, the cognate pair of the Spanish recordar and English record are both derived from the Latin verb recordari, which has the basic meaning to remember. In Spanish it has maintained this meaning while the English verb record can be translated as either registrar, grabar or inscribir. Another interesting example is the way the Spanish language has modified the meaning of the borrowed English word parking. In the English language, it is the activity of leaving your car somewhere, such as on the side of a road or street, whilst (mientras que) in the Spanish language a parking is a car park.
Other False Friends
In the ten word pairs below, we note the different meanings that occur in the similarly spelt words in English and Spanish. In each of the following sentences. Have a look at them and see how tricky (tramposos) they can be
1. Spanish decepción vs English deception
Decepción means ‘disappointment’, while deception means engaño.
· La exposición resultó una verdadera decepción. [The exhibition was a real disappointment.]
· He obtained everything by deception. [Lo obtuvo todo mediante engaño.]
2. Spanish desgracia vs English disgrace
Desgracia means ‘misfortune’, while disgrace means ‘shame’(vergüenza) or ‘dishonour’.
· En la desgracia se conoce a los amigos. [When things get bad you find out who your real friends are.]
· His conduct brought disgrace on his family. [Su conducta trajo la deshonra a la familia.]
3. Spanish eventualmente vs English eventually
Eventualmente means ‘temporarily’ while eventually means ‘finally’.
Trabajó eventualmente como secretaria. [She worked temporarily as a secretary.]
He looked for his glasses for two hours and, eventually, he realised he was wearing them. [Buscó las gafas durante dos horas y, finalmente, se dio cuenta de que las llevaba puestas.]
4. Spanish molestar vs English molest
Molestar means ‘to bother’ or ‘upset’, while molest means ‘to sexually abuseharass’ or ‘to annoy someone continually’.
· ¿No te molesta este ruido? [Doesn’t that noise bother you?]
· The woman was molested by her boss. [El jefe abusaba acosaba sexualmente de a la mujer.]
5. Spanish simpático vs English sympathetic
Simpático means ‘nice’, while sympathetic translates as compasivo or comprensivo.
· Mario es tan simpático que cae bien a todo el mundo. [Mario is so nice that everybody likes him.]
· When Mrs. Peterson lost her house, the Johnsons offered her their house. That was very sympathetic of them. [Cuando la mujer perdió su casa, los Johnson le ofrecieron su casa. Fue muy compasivo de su parte.]
6. Spanish regular vs English regular
· Regular means ‘not very good’, while regular is equivalent to frecuente or normal.
¿Qué tal la película? Regular. [How was the movie? Nothing special.]
· Don’t be surprised, that’s a regular occurrence. [No te sorprendas, eso es muy frecuente.]
7. Spanish largo vs English large
Largo means ‘long’, while large translates as grande or importante.
· Es un río muy largo. [The river is very long.]
· Jack and Jill have a large garden. [Jack y Jill tienen un jardín grande.]
8. Spanish quieto vs English quiet
Quieto means ‘still’, while quiet translates as callado.
· El soldado permaneció quieto, esperando las órdenes del.sargento. [The soldier stood still, waiting for his sergeant’s instructions.]
· The teacher asked the students to be quiet and listen to him. [El profesor pidió a los alumnos que se callaran y le escucharan.]
9. Spanish pretender vs English pretend
Pretender means ‘to intend’ or ‘to aspire to’, while pretend translates as fingir.
· ¿Qué pretendes hacer? [What do you intend doing?]
· He pretended he hadn’t seen us. [Fingió que no nos había visto.]
10. Spanish aviso vs English advice
Aviso means ‘warning’, while advice translates as consejo.
· En la botella había un aviso para que se manipulara el producto con cuidado. [On the bottle there was a warning to handle the product with care.]
· I followed your advice and everything worked out perfectly. [Seguí tu consejo y todo salió perfecto.]
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