Jun
5
101 Falsos Amigos
It’s natural to look for words that sound or look like words in your native tongue when you are learning a foreign language. It’s like swimming in an ocean of inscrutable words when suddenly, on the horizon, appears a (verbal) life jacket. You grab ahold of it, quickly put it on, thinking you’ve bought yourself a reprieve from drowning, only to realize, too late, that that verbal life jacket you are wearing isn’t going to make things better, but possibly, make things worse. OK, maybe not worse, just more confusing.
These tricksters are false cognates or cognados equívocos in Spanish. That’s their technical name. Informally they’re called “false friends” or falsos amigos. The reason is because they have spellings similar to English words (or, in some cases spellings that are exactly the same) but they have totally different meanings. A prime example is embarazada (which means pregnant) and embarassed. There are a ton of these false friends, too many to fit comfortably in a single blog post, that’s why I’ve put together a list of 101 of them.
If you’d like to get this free list, all you have to do is sign up for my e-newsletter. The sign-up box is on the right-hand side of this page.
If you’re already on my email list and would like to receive this eight-page easy reference guide to Spanish-English falsos amigos, just leave a comment below or drop me a line via the contact page and I’ll send it to you.
P.S. Just a quick technical note: To get the 101 Falsos Amigos guide, you MUST respond to the automated email that you will receive asking you to verify your sign-up. The service that I’m using to email this guide requires confirmation that whatever I’m emailing has been requested by the recipient and is not spam. If you do not respond to that automated email, you will not receive the link allowing you to download the 101 Falsos Amigos PDF.
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Sorry to be such a stickler about this but it’s the only way to ensure that you are getting stuff that you really want to receive.
Thanks!
Eleena
I am very interested in taking the DELE.
Yeah, me too. Which level are you considering taking?
I’d like to recieve that list please. I’ve gotten into the habit of checking similar-looking words that I ‘think’ I understand, even when the context seems to confirm that the meanings are similar. It’s been worth the effort!
Hey there. I’d like to receive that list as well, if at all possible.
Hi Jeremy,
I sent you an email with the link. Saludos.
I would love to be able to see this list! Thank you for everything that you post, I love reading your page. =)