I came across this today, and thought some of you might enjoy it.
Because Spanish and English share a lot of words with Latin roots, it's easy to understand Spanish sentences like, "Seattle aprob? un salario m?nimo de $15 la hora." But sometimes words with the same origin take a separate path in each language, or words with different origins resemble each other by coincidence. That can mean trouble. You might want to tell someone you don't want to embarrass her and wind up saying, "I don't want to get you pregnant." For your protection, here's a list of Spanish-English "false friends."
The Spanish words in the first column resemble the English ones in the third column, but have different meanings.
Nicely laid out on the webpage, easier to read than this:
Spanish word English translation English word Spanish translation
ACTUAL current, present-day ACTUAL real, efectivo
AMERICANO person from North or South America AMERICAN estadounidense
ASISTIR to attend, be present at OR to assist ASSIST ayudar
BILL?N (US) trillion, (UK) billion BILLION (US) mil millones
BIZARRO dashing, brave, gallant BIZARRE extra?o
BOMBERO firefighter BOMBER bombardero
CARPETA folder CARPET alfombra
CASUALIDAD coincidence, chance CASUALTY v?ctima
CHOCAR strike, collide CHOKE ahogar
CODO elbow CODE c?digo
COLEGIO high school COLLEGE universidad
COMPROMISO obligation, commitment COMPROMISE componenda
CONDESCENDER to comply, agree CONDESCEND dignarse
CONSTIPADO (n.) a cold CONSTIPATED constipado (adj.)
CONTESTAR to answer CONTEST (v.) contender
CORRIENTEMENTE fluently, plainly, flatly CURRENTLY actualmente
DELITO crime DELIGHT delicia, deleite
DESGRACIA mistake, misfortune DISGRACE verg?enza
DISGUSTO annoyance, worry DISGUST asco, repugnancia
DESTITUIDO fired, deprived DESTITUTE indigente
DORMITORIO bedroom DORMITORY residencia universitaria
EMBARAZADA pregnant EMBARRASSED avergonzada
EMPRESA business enterprise, company EMPRESS emperatr?z
ENVIAR send ENVY (v.) envidiar
ESTRECHAR to narrow, bring closer together STRETCH estirar, alargar
ESTIMADO esteemed ESTIMATE estimac?on, presupuesto
?XITO success, hit EXIT salida
F?BRICA factory FABRIC tela
GROSER?A grossness, crudeness GROCERY abarroter?a, tienda de comestibles
INTRODUCIR insert INTRODUCE (someone) presentar
LARGO long LARGE grande
LECTURA reading LECTURE conferencia
LIBRER?A bookstore LIBRARY biblioteca
MANTEL tablecloth MANTEL manto, mesilla
MOLESTAR bother MOLEST abusar (sexualmente)
NUDO knot NUDE desnudo
PARADA stop, e.g. bus stop PARADE desfile
PARIENTE relative PARENT padre
PRETENDER to attempt, to woo PRETEND fingir
PREOCUPADO worried PREOCCUPIED distra?do
REALIZAR to come true REALIZE darse cuenta
RECORDAR to remember, remind RECORD grabar
ROPA clothes ROPE cuerda
SANO healthy SANE cuerdo
SOPA soup SOAP jab?n
SOPORTAR tolerate, put up with SUPPORT apoyar
SUCESO event SUCCESS ?xito
TUNA prickly pear TUNA at?n
?LTIMAMENTE recently ULTIMATELY al final
VASO drinking glass VASE jarr?n, florero
http://mentalfloss.com/article/57195/50-spanish-english-false-friend-words
Because Spanish and English share a lot of words with Latin roots, it's easy to understand Spanish sentences like, "Seattle aprob? un salario m?nimo de $15 la hora." But sometimes words with the same origin take a separate path in each language, or words with different origins resemble each other by coincidence. That can mean trouble. You might want to tell someone you don't want to embarrass her and wind up saying, "I don't want to get you pregnant." For your protection, here's a list of Spanish-English "false friends."
The Spanish words in the first column resemble the English ones in the third column, but have different meanings.
Nicely laid out on the webpage, easier to read than this:
Spanish word English translation English word Spanish translation
ACTUAL current, present-day ACTUAL real, efectivo
AMERICANO person from North or South America AMERICAN estadounidense
ASISTIR to attend, be present at OR to assist ASSIST ayudar
BILL?N (US) trillion, (UK) billion BILLION (US) mil millones
BIZARRO dashing, brave, gallant BIZARRE extra?o
BOMBERO firefighter BOMBER bombardero
CARPETA folder CARPET alfombra
CASUALIDAD coincidence, chance CASUALTY v?ctima
CHOCAR strike, collide CHOKE ahogar
CODO elbow CODE c?digo
COLEGIO high school COLLEGE universidad
COMPROMISO obligation, commitment COMPROMISE componenda
CONDESCENDER to comply, agree CONDESCEND dignarse
CONSTIPADO (n.) a cold CONSTIPATED constipado (adj.)
CONTESTAR to answer CONTEST (v.) contender
CORRIENTEMENTE fluently, plainly, flatly CURRENTLY actualmente
DELITO crime DELIGHT delicia, deleite
DESGRACIA mistake, misfortune DISGRACE verg?enza
DISGUSTO annoyance, worry DISGUST asco, repugnancia
DESTITUIDO fired, deprived DESTITUTE indigente
DORMITORIO bedroom DORMITORY residencia universitaria
EMBARAZADA pregnant EMBARRASSED avergonzada
EMPRESA business enterprise, company EMPRESS emperatr?z
ENVIAR send ENVY (v.) envidiar
ESTRECHAR to narrow, bring closer together STRETCH estirar, alargar
ESTIMADO esteemed ESTIMATE estimac?on, presupuesto
?XITO success, hit EXIT salida
F?BRICA factory FABRIC tela
GROSER?A grossness, crudeness GROCERY abarroter?a, tienda de comestibles
INTRODUCIR insert INTRODUCE (someone) presentar
LARGO long LARGE grande
LECTURA reading LECTURE conferencia
LIBRER?A bookstore LIBRARY biblioteca
MANTEL tablecloth MANTEL manto, mesilla
MOLESTAR bother MOLEST abusar (sexualmente)
NUDO knot NUDE desnudo
PARADA stop, e.g. bus stop PARADE desfile
PARIENTE relative PARENT padre
PRETENDER to attempt, to woo PRETEND fingir
PREOCUPADO worried PREOCCUPIED distra?do
REALIZAR to come true REALIZE darse cuenta
RECORDAR to remember, remind RECORD grabar
ROPA clothes ROPE cuerda
SANO healthy SANE cuerdo
SOPA soup SOAP jab?n
SOPORTAR tolerate, put up with SUPPORT apoyar
SUCESO event SUCCESS ?xito
TUNA prickly pear TUNA at?n
?LTIMAMENTE recently ULTIMATELY al final
VASO drinking glass VASE jarr?n, florero
http://mentalfloss.com/article/57195/50-spanish-english-false-friend-words
