{"id":40781,"date":"2025-12-23T10:00:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T09:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/?p=40781"},"modified":"2025-12-18T13:46:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T12:46:47","slug":"spanish-english-false-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/blog\/spanish-english-false-friends.html","title":{"rendered":"25 Spanish false friends that confuse English speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

When studying a new language, it\u2019s important to be aware of false friends, especially if the language you\u2019re 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 <\/span>a long list of 25 Spanish-English false friends<\/b> below, to help steer you in the right direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a false friend?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Before we go through our list of false friends between English and Spanish, <\/span>what exactly is the meaning of false friends? Well, they\u2019re pairs of words that look or sound similar in both languages but trick learners because their meanings differ, sometimes wildly, creating misunderstandings and confusion<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Confusing Spanish words for English speakers<\/b><\/h2>\n

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. <\/span>Whether you\u2019re studying in person or taking <\/b>online Spanish courses<\/b><\/a>, you\u2019ll quickly identify the Spanish false friends to be wary of. <\/b>And, by reading through this blog post, you\u2019ll already be aware of 25 of the most common words and phrases to be on the lookout for.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spanish false friends list<\/b><\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s, then, walk through a list of 25 Spanish-English false friends. We\u2019ll start with a few verbs, which are important to learn, before moving on to some other potentially confusing words in Spanish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Asistir (to attend) \u2260 Assist (to help)<\/b><\/h3>\n

If you enrol in <\/span>Spanish courses in Madrid<\/b><\/a>, then \u201casistir\u201d is what you\u2019d be doing when you show up to class, hopefully on time! This Spanish word doesn\u2019t mean \u201cassist\u201d, despite its similarity with the English. Instead, the Spanish for \u201cto assist\u201d would be \u201cayudar\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n