When studying a new language, it’s important to be aware of false friends, especially if the language you’re learning has some crossover with your native one. These false friends can cause confusion and, on occasion, lead to some silly mistakes. Fortunately, we have a long list of 25 Spanish-English false friends below, to help steer you in the right direction.
Before we go through our list of false friends between English and Spanish, what exactly is the meaning of false friends? Well, they’re pairs of words that look or sound similar in both languages but trick learners because their meanings differ, sometimes wildly, creating misunderstandings and confusion.
There are a lot of confusing Spanish words for English speakers in particular, because these two languages share some vocabulary roots that look deceptively similar. This overlap creates plenty of false friends, which can confuse beginners. The good news is that these false friends quickly stick out. Whether you’re studying in person or taking online Spanish courses, you’ll quickly identify the Spanish false friends to be wary of. And, by reading through this blog post, you’ll already be aware of 25 of the most common words and phrases to be on the lookout for.
Let’s, then, walk through a list of 25 Spanish-English false friends. We’ll start with a few verbs, which are important to learn, before moving on to some other potentially confusing words in Spanish.
If you enrol in Spanish courses in Madrid, then “asistir” is what you’d be doing when you show up to class, hopefully on time! This Spanish word doesn’t mean “assist”, despite its similarity with the English. Instead, the Spanish for “to assist” would be “ayudar”.
“Introducir” is more mechanical than social. It’s what you’d say to explain inserting an object into a certain place, not how you’d present somebody to a friend or family member. That would be “presentar”.
Even though the Spanish word “sensible” is spelled the same as the English one, the meanings differ. In Spanish it describes someone who is sensitive, while in English it refers to someone responsible or prudent. You’d use “sensato” to call somebody sensible in Spanish.
Since we’ve just learned what the Spanish for “to attend” is, we should be suspicious of “atender”. And, yes, it is a Spanish-English false friend too. The Spanish verb “atender” is about giving attention to someone, meaning serving, helping or taking care of someone.
The Spanish verb “enviar” has nothing to do with the English verb “envy”. The former is about sending things, from packages to messages. If you are envious and want to express that in Spanish, the correct verb would be “envidiar”.
There is a set Spanish verb for when you realise a fact, and it’s “darse cuenta”, not “realizar”. Instead, “realizar” is what Spanish-speaking people use to express completion or execution of a project.
“Actual” in Spanish is used to refer to what’s happening now, what’s topical. The English version of “actual” emphasises something being genuine, or “verdadero/a” as they’d say in a Spanish-speaking country.
This is a similar Spanish-English false friend. Similar to what we saw above with the Spanish “actual”, “actualmente” is an adverb to refer to what’s taking place now, and is not the Spanish version of “actually”.
“Decepción” is that sad feeling when your favorite show gets cancelled. “Deception” is what villains do in movies. For that one, Spanish language uses “engaño”.
If you’re looking for a way out of a building in Spain, you’re looking for the “salida”. You won’t find a sign for an “éxito”, which means “success”.
From the entry above, we know that the English word for “success” is “éxito” in Spanish, so it’s not “suceso”. This is indeed a word in Spanish, but it means “event”.
A “simpático/a” person is friendly, likeable, maybe even charming, but not necessarily understanding or compassionate. In Spanish, that’d be something like “comprensivo/a”. English’s “sympathetic” and Spanish’s “simpático/a” look similar, but they’re false friends because they convey quite different emotions.
If you say you’re “embarazada” in a Spanish-speaking country, then congratulations, you’ve just announced a pregnancy! If what you wanted to say was “I’m embarrassed”, then avoid the baby confusion and say “avergonzado/a” instead.
So many false friends in Spanish can cause embarrassment, and one unfortunate mistake English speakers often make is to think that a friend or colleague is telling them about their bathroom issues when they say they’re “constipado/a”. More likely is that they’re referring to having a cold.
A “delito” is something you definitely don’t want to be involved with, as it means a crime, often a serious one. So, don’t confuse it with “delight”, a “placer” in Spanish, which is quite the complete opposite of jail time.
Another potentially embarrassing or comical entry on the Spanish false friends list is “nudo”, which does not mean “nude”. It’s close, as the Spanish for “nude” is “desnudo/a”, but “nudo” on its own means “knot”.
The Spanish word “firma” is a common word, but it doesn’t mean “firm” as in a company or business. You might write a lot of “firmas” within a business setting, but that’s because it’s the word for “signature”.
Another place of work could be a “fábrica”, meaning a “factory”. Although the name is similar to the English word for “fabric”, it has nothing to do with what the Spanish would call “tela”… unless of course it’s a clothes factory, in which case the two worlds might coincide!
A “librería” is where you buy books, not where you borrow them. If you’re looking for a place to borrow books, you’re actually searching for a “biblioteca”.
The Spanish word “carpeta” looks like the English word “carpet”, but these are false friends and have nothing to do with each other, as the Spanish version is the word for a “folder”. If you are looking to buy some carpet in a Spanish-speaking country, ask for “alfombra”.
“Ropa” in Spanish refers to everything you wear, from shirts to jackets to trousers, all of your fashion choices! If you’re looking for a piece of rope, that would be “cuerda”.
The Spanish word “sopa” does closely resemble its English counterpart, but be careful because it’s “soup” and not “soap”. If buying soap abroad, you’d be looking for “jabón”.
This is one of the most confusing false friends in Spanish, because “parientes” looks a lot like the English word “parents” yet it refers to all relatives. To specifically talk about your mother and father, that would be “padres” in Spanish.
This verb can be really confusing, because “recordar” has nothing to do with the English word “record”. Instead it’s all about remembering. It’s “grabar” which means “to record”, such as in filmmaking.
A “parada” is where you wait for the bus or train, not a marching band with floats and confetti. For the festive English version of “parade,” Spanish language uses “desfile”.
As you can see, these false friends can cause a bit of confusion at first, but once you get to know them, they’re easy to spot. If you’d like to keep building your vocabulary and feel more confident when speaking, our Spanish courses at IH Madrid are a great next step. With practice and a bit of patience, everything starts to fall into place.
