LEARN SPANISH FOR FREE!
Grammar Vocabulary Listening Practice Examsstudy tips contact us
False Cognates

Spanish Vocabulary

Clothing
Family
Fruits & Vegtables
Furniture
Human Body
Kitchen

Helpful Things To Know

Useful Phrases
Idioms & Expressions
False Cognates

 

 

FALSE COGNATES

Sometimes a word in Spanish will sound like or seem like a similar one in English. In the Spanish language there are a number of false cognates like this. So you have to be careful or you might make a mistake and say, "Estoy embarazada," to mean that you are embarrassed, when actually you will be saying that you're pregnant!

OuterSpanish has put together a list of some of these false cognates in the Spanish language.

Below, in the first column, you will read the Spanish word and see what the actual definition is – not what you think it means in English! In the second column you can see how to translate the English word into Spanish.

Spanish-to-English

English-to-Spanish

acre: sharp, sour

acre: acre, unidad de medida

actual: current, present time

actual: real, verdadero

asisistir: to attend, to help

to assist: ayudar, asistir

atender: to pay attention, to take care of

to attend: asistir a, cuidar

carpeta: file folder, portfolio

carpet: alfombra

carta: letter

cart: carro, carreta

cigarro: cigarette

cigar: puro

colegio: high school

college: universidad

conferencia: lecture, meeting

conference: junta, sesión, entrevista, conferencia

contipado: to suffer from a cold

constipated: estreñido

costumbre: custom

costume: vestuario, traje

chocar: to hit, crash

to choke: ahogar, sofocar

desgracia: misfortunte, mishap

disgrace: deshonra, verguenza

desgraciado: unfortunate, unlucky

digraced: deshonrado, avergonzado

deshonesto: immodest, indecent

dishonest: engañoso, falso

dirección: address, direction

direction: dirección

disgusto: quarrel, annoyance, disgust

disgust: hastío, asco, disgusto

distinto: different, clear, distinct

distinct: claro, visible, diferente, distinto

embarazada: pregnant

embarassed: avergonzado

equipo: team, equipment

equipment: aparatos, equipo

equivocación: error, mistake

equivocation: equívoco, subterfugio, engaño

éxito: success

exit: salida

explanar: to level, grade

to explain: explicar, aclarar

fábrica: factory, mill, structure

fabric: tela, textura

falta: shortage, lack

fault: culpa

frase: sentence

phrase: expresión, frase

grande: large, big, great

grand: magnífico, grandioso, grande

honesto: decent, pure, virtuous, reasonable

honest: honrado, integro, recto, sincero

idíoma: language

idiom: modismo

largo: long

large: grande

lectura: a reading

lecture: conferencia

liar: to tie, bind, roll up

liar: mentiroso

media: stocking

media: medios de comunicación

parientes: relatives

parents: padres

realizar: to fulfill, achieve

to realize: darse cuenta de

recordar: to remember

to record: grabar

repente: start, sudden movement

to repent: arrepentirse

ropa: clothes

rope: soga, cuerda

ruin: vile, mean

to ruin: arruinar, estropear

sano: healthy, sound, whole

sane: cuerdo, razonable, sano

sauce: willow

sauce: salsa, condimento

sensible: sensitive

sensible: razonable, sensato

simpático: nice, agreeable, pleasent

sympathetic: compasivo

sopa: soup

soap: jabón

suceso : event, incident

success : éxito

taller : workshop, laboratory, studio

taller : más alto

vaso : glass

vase: jarrón