Good
afternoon, dear students!
Today I
have a series of images for you to check out to help you learn about false cognates. What’s a false cognate?
Well first,
what’s a cognate?
A cognate is a word
that looks very similar to another word in another language, and they mean the
same thing. For example, Additional and
Adicional are cognates of English and Spanish.
There are (fortunately) a lot of cognates between these two languages. However, there are a few that are ‘’False
Cognates’’—words that look like cognates, but in reality mean very different
things.
False
Cognates are tricky. If you use one that
you think is a true cognate, people will misunderstand what you are trying to
say. Sometimes they can lead to
embarassing mistakes. Like REALLY embarassing.
Because I
love you all so much, today’s mini-lesson is just on embarassing false
cognates and how to avoid using them incorrectly. Most of them are embarassing because they
imply some type of sex joke (it’s shocking, I know).
Let’s take
a look!
Preservativo
– Preservative
A
preservativo is a condom in English. A preservative is a conservante, something used in foods to make them last
longer. VERY.IMPORTANT.DIFFERENCE.
Preservativo:
Condom
Preservative: Conservante
Embarazada—Embarrassed
You are
going to be super embarrassed if you use this one incorrectly. Embarrassed is Avergonzado; Embarazada is pregnant.
Embarrassed:
Avergonzado; Embarrassment: verguenza
Embarazada:
Pregnant; Embarazo: Pregnancy
Molestar—Molest
This is a
reaaaalllly important mistake to avoid.
In Spanish,
you use ‘’molestar’’ for annoy or bother.
In English, to molest is to touch
someone in a sexual manner without their consent. It’s a serious crime, so it’s important to be
careful not to accuse someone of a sexual assault when you’re trying to
communicate how much they are annoying you or bothering you by talking on the
phone too loudly.
Molestar—to
Annoy, to Bother
Molest— Abusar sexualmente
Have you ever used one of these false cognates incorrectly? I have! I hope that you remember to laugh at your mistakes-- it's super normal to say crazy things while you're learning your second or third language, but it's also important to learn from them and try not to commit the same mistake again.
Happy Tuesday and happy studying!