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Friday, December 15, 2017

False Friends



What is a false friend?

False friends are two words in different languages – for example, English and Spanish – which writing or sound are alike, but they mean completely different.



In Spanish, when you want to say that you are embarrassed, you might be inclined to say "Estoy embarazada". This is the first impulse.  However, what you're actually saying is that you are pregnant.

Below you can look over some other commonly used - and commonly mistaken - "false friends":

Common Spanish False Friends


Spanish word 
Often mistaken in English for...
 Actually means...
actual
 actual, real 
current, at the present time
asistir
assist
to attend, to be present
atender
attend
to serve, to take care of
billón
billion
1,000,000,000,000 (trillion, in American English)
campo
camp
field, country (as opposed to city)
carpeta
carpet
folder
constipado
constipated
has a cold, is stuffed up
embarazada
embarrassed
pregnant
emocionante
emotional
thrilling, exciting
en absoluto 
absolutely
absolutely not
éxito
exit
success, a hit
largo
large
long
molestar
molest
bother, annoy (no sexual connotation)
recordar
record
to remember, to remind
sensible
sensible
sensitive, emotional
sopa
soap
soup
suceso
success
event, happening