False Cognates

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1. Nouns

15 questions

2. Adjectives and Adverbs

18 questions

3. Verbs

18 questions

4. Comprehensive Review 1

17 questions

5. Comprehensive Review 2

18 questions

Explanation

Quick Answer

False cognates, often called falsos amigosin Spanish, are words in different languages that appear similar, but do not actually mean the same thing.

Spanish and English have many cognates, or words with the same origin. These words often mean essentially the same thing in Spanish and English. For example:

Spanish	English
decidir	to decide
maravilloso	marvelous
angular	angular

However, there are many Spanish and English words that appear to be cognates, but in fact mean very different things in each language. These are called false cognates, or false friends.

Below you'll find an extensive list of false cognates you should watch out for.

The first and third columns of each table show the Spanish and English false cognates, respectively.

The second column shows the English translation of the Spanish false cognate.

The fourth column shows the Spanish translation of the English false cognate.

Adjective and Adverb False Cognates

This Spanish word...	...translates to this in English.	But it can be confused with this word...	...which actually means this.
actual	current	actual	verdadero
actualmente	currently	actually	realmente
bizarro	valiant, gallant	bizarre	extraño
blanco	white	blank	sin adorno
colorado	red, reddish	colored	de color
culto	educated	cult	de culto
destituido	dismissed, ousted	destitute	indigente
educado	polite	educated	culto
embarazada	pregnant	embarrassed	avergonzado
emocionante	exciting	emotional	sensible
eventual	possible, temporary	eventual	definitivo
fastidioso	annoying	fastidious	escrupuloso
gracioso	funny	gracious	cortés
largo	long	large	grande
mayor	older, larger	mayor	alcalde
real	royal	real	verdadero
sano	healthy	sane	cuerdo
sensible	sensitive	sensible	sensato
sobre	on, above, over	sober	sobrio
últimamente	lately	ultimately	finalmente
último	last	ultimate	finalor máximo

Want to learn more about Spanish adjectives and adverbs? Check out these articles!

• Descriptive Adjectives in Spanish

• Superlative Adjectives in Spanish

• Short-Form Adjectives in Spanish

• Spanish Adverbs

• Cardinal Numbers in Spanish

Noun False Cognates

This Spanish word...	...translates to this in English.	But it can be confused with this word...	...which actually means this.
la advertencia	warning	advertisement	el anuncio
la agonía	death throes	agony	la angustia
la apología	defense, eulogy	apology	la disculpa
la arena	sand	arena	el estadio
el argumento	reasoning, debate	argument	la disputa
el asesino	murderer, killer	assassin	el asesino pagado, el sicario
la asistencia	attendance	assistance	la ayuda
el bachillerato	high school or A-level diploma	bachelor	el soltero
el billón	trillion	billion	mil millones
el bufete	desk	buffet	el bufé
el campo	countryside	camp	el campamento
el cargo	post, position	cargo	la carga
la carpeta	folder, binder	carpet	la alfombra
la carrera	race, journey or university program of studies	career	la trayectoria professional
la carta	letter	cart	el carrito
el colegio	high school	college	la universidad
la complexión	constitution, temperament	complexion	la tez
el compromiso	commitment	compromise	la solución intermedia
el conductor	driver	conductor	el director(orchestral conductor); el revisor(train conductor)
la copa	glass, goblet; trophy	cup	vaso
el damnificado	victim	damned	maldito
la decepción	disappointment	deception	el engaño
el delito	crime	delight	el placer
la desgracia	misfortune, accident	disgrace	la deshonra
la educación	upbringing	education	la formación
el elevador	hoist	elevator	el ascensor
el éxito	success	exit	la salida
la fábrica	factory	fabric	la tela
la falta	absence, shortage, lack	fault	el defecto(imperfection); la culpa(guilt)
la firma	signature	firm	la empresa
el fútbol	soccer	football	el fútbol americano
la grosería	rudeness	grocery/groceries	la tienda de comestibles(store); la despensa(food items)
el humor	mood	humor	la gracia
el idioma	language	idiom	el modismo
la jubilación	retirement	jubilation	el júbilo
la lectura	reading, reading material	lecture	la conferencia
la letra	letter of the alphabet; lyrics to a song	letter	la carta
la librería	bookstore	library	la biblioteca
la lujuria	lust	luxury	el lujo
la mama	breast	mother	la mamá
la marca	brand, record	mark	la mancha
la masa	dough	mass (at church)	la misa
el negocio	business	negotiation	la negociación
el nombre	name; noun	number	el número
la noticia	news	notice	el aviso
la ocasión	opportunity; bargain	occasion	la vez
el oficio	trade, function; religious service	office	la oficina
once	eleven	once	una vez
el pan	bread	pan	la cacerola
la papa	potato	father	el papá
el pariente	close relative	parent	el padre
el patrón	boss; standard	patron	el patrocinador
el plagio	plagiarism	plague	la peste
el preservativo	condom	preservative	el conservador
la receta	recipe, prescription	receipt	el recibo
la recolección	harvest, collection	recollection	el recuerdo
la red	network, net	red	rojo
la ropa	clothing	rope	la cuerda
el salario	hourly wages	salary	el sueldo
la sopa	soup	soap	el jabón
el suceso	event, incident	success	el éxito
la trampa	trap	tramp	el vagabundo
la tuna	prickly pear; group of student musicians	tuna	el atún
el vaso	glass, tumbler	vase	el florero

Want to learn more about Spanish nouns? Check out these articles!

• Gender: Nouns and Pronouns

• Spanish Plural Noun Forms

• Noun Suffixes in Spanish

• Noun-Adjective Agreement

• Using Adjectives as Nouns in Spanish

Verb False Cognates

This Spanish word...	...translates to this in English.	But it can be confused with this word...	...which actually means this.
asistir	to attend	to assist	ayudar
blindar	to shield	to blind	cegar
chocar	to crash	to choke	estrangularor sofocarse
contestar	to answer	to contest	contender
corresponder	to agree with, to match	to correspond (in writing)	escribirse
decepcionar	to disappoint	to deceive	engañar
despertar	to wake up	desperate	desesperado
discutir	to debate, to argue	to discuss	hablar de
echar	to throw, to pour	to echo	resonar
excitar	to excite sexually	to excite	entusiasmar
grabar	to save, to record	to grab	asir
ignorar	to be unaware of	to ignore	no hacer caso de
molestar	to annoy	to molest	acosar sexualmente
pretender	to claim	to pretend	fingir
procurar	to manage (to do something)	to procure	obtener
quitar	to take away, to get rid of	to quit	dejar
realizar	to fulfill	to realize	darse cuenta de
recordar	to remember	to record	grabar
restar	to subtract	to rest	descansar
revolver	to turn over	revolver	el revólver
soportar	to bear, to carry	to support	apoyar
suceder	to happen, to follow	to succeed	tener éxito