False Cognates in Spanish: 160 words that English speakers always get wrong

Many words in English and Spanish share common roots, so their meanings are often easy to deduce. Can you translate “un festival de música en la televisión,” for example? We have a post with such perfect and near-perfect Spanish cognates, where we list hundreds of words you’ll recognize instantly.

But what about words that look familiar, but whose meanings are totally different? Today’s post will present a comprehensive list of false cognates in Spanish, since they’re one of the most common traps for English speakers learning the language. You might think un bombero is a bomber, for example, when we’re really referring to a firefighter!

Another classic example is the Spanish word embarazada, which resembles the English word embarrassed. But watch out! If you tell someone that “ella está embarazada,” you’re actually saying that “she is pregnant!” Such words are often referred to as false friends in Spanish, since their similarities trick us into saying embarrassing things. If you were trying to say that “she is embarrassed,” the correct translation for this English false friend is that “ella está avergonzada.”

Why not start off today’s lesson on false cognates in Spanish with a video? Mafalda takes you through the ten most common Spanish false friends to look out for, giving fun explanations for each one.

So what are some other examples of false cognates in Spanish? To prepare this post, we’ve come up with a great collection of false friends that you should be aware of! The left column shows the Spanish false cognate and its actual English translation, while the right column shows the English false friend and the Spanish word that you’re actually looking for.

Of course there are other false friends out there, but this list of false cognates in Spanish should give you a big head start in avoiding embarrassing vocab mixups. Take a look and see how many of these false cognates you wouldn’t have guessed!

Conclusion: False Cognates in Spanish

False cognates in Spanish can cause confusion, laughs, and even a few embarrassing moments, but they’re also a fun and memorable part of learning the language.

Today we started off by exploring the broader concept of cognates, acknowledging that the vast majority of words whose roots are obviously common between the two languages are likely to share similar meanings. For those, we pointed you to our other post on Spanish cognates, where you can unlock tons of new vocabulary through English words you already know.

With that out of the way, what are false cognates in Spanish? These are words that look similar between the two languages, but whose meanings are often quite different. Many of these are notorious for causing confusion, so they’re also frequently known as false friends in Spanish.

The rest of the post consisted of a huge list of false cognates in Spanish. We provided 160 Spanish words with their actual English translations, alongside the English false friends and their correct Spanish translations.

Now that you’ve seen all these examples of false cognates in Spanish, you’ll be better prepared to spot them in real conversations and keep your Spanish sharp and accurate. So what’s the real conclusion of today’s post on false cognates? Just because a word looks familiar, doesn’t mean it’s your friend!