FALSE FRIENDS IN SPANISH
False Friends between English and Spanish Building a bridge between two languages is a very demanding undertaking, and ‘ false friends ’ make it harder still. False friends are more commonly known as ‘false cognates’, or words that are similar or identical in both languages but which convey a different meaning. They give us a false sense of security before leading us astray. Because of their seeming familiarity the rascals are notoriously difficult to spot. Our English-Spanish False Friends Dictionary deals with the pitfalls that exist between English and Spanish. English is a hybrid language, with a Germanic base and a large Latin superstructure; indeed, about half of its vocabulary is of Latin origin. So when Spanish speakers encounter an English word with a Latin root, we tend to think that it means the same as it does in Spanish. Sometimes it does, but we need to remain watchful because a false cognate is never far away, waiting to trip us up. English-Spanish fal...
