David Mendez
Spanish False Friends?

There are loads but I think my favourite is:

Estoy embarazada --> I am pregnant 

I am embarrassed --> Estoy avergonzado/a  

What's your favourite one?

6 de mar. de 2019 20:51
Comentarios · 9
2

Spanish an Italian have loads and loads of false friends. This is because of the evolution of words from Latin to the modern Romance languages. 

But English due to its large influence o French and Latin have buckets of this words too. 

Another funny example is: 

Tengo un constipado --> I've got a flue

I'm constipated ---> Tengo diarrea  

7 de marzo de 2019
2
I like éxito. In Spanish means success, but looks like exit in English. Also, sopa looks like soap in English but means soup in Spanish.
7 de marzo de 2019
2

SENSIBLE= SENSATO( RIGHT) , SENSIBLE (WRONG),,,,,,,,,,,I THINK THE WORD PREGNANT IS NOT A FALSE COGNATE. MAY BE THE WORD EMBARRASSED IS A FALSE COGNATE, BECAUSE IT IS SIMILAR TO THE WORD EMBARAZADA.

Un falso cognado es una palabra que, debido a similitudes  de apariencia y significado, parece guardar parentesco con otra palabra de un idioma diferente, pero que en realidad no comparte su mismo origen etimológico (no son verdaderos cognados). 

False cognates are pairs of words in the same or different languages that are similar in form and meaning but have different roots. 

6 de marzo de 2019
2
No sé si se puede de verdad considerar un falso amigo, porque es solamente parcial,  pero los verbos escuchar y sentir, que en italiano se traducen por sentir
6 de marzo de 2019
1
usualmente --> usually
finalmente --> finally

Okay, no problem! So actualmente = actually, right? No.

actualmente --> nowadays, at present
actually --> en realidad, realmente

Also

intoxicado --> poisoned
intoxicated --> drunk

el alumno/la alumna --> (current) student
alumnus --> a graduate or former student (I know this is Latin, but we see the word in the U.S. anytime we receive mail from a school we attended in the past.)

recordar --> to remember
to record --> registrar, grabar

grabar --> to record
to grab --> coger

I don't have a favorite but I think "actualmente" was the word I misused the most before a teacher corrected me. I've also mixed up "cuento" and "cuenta" many times but that is a different kind of mistake.
26 de julio de 2019
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