This document discusses true cognates and false cognates between English and Spanish. True cognates are words that have a common etymological origin and the same meaning in both languages, like "vacation" and "vacación". Knowing true cognates can help in learning vocabulary. However, there are also false cognates that just coincidentally look or sound similar but have different meanings, like "embarrassed" and "embarazada". The document provides many examples of true and false cognate word pairs to be aware of when learning English and Spanish. It emphasizes being careful of context to avoid mistakes from assuming false cognates have the same meaning.

1. TRUE COGNATES
The origin of words, etymology, can be reduced to a handful
of ancient languages from which emerged the modern
languages, with its own grammatical rules. English and
Spanish, although very different, they also share their roots
somewhere in the past, and these roots are reflected in a
number of common words in both languages, which are
called TRUE COGNATES.

2. TRUE COGNATES MAY BE TRACES OF KINSHIP THAT
KEEP DIFFERENT TONGUES, OR THE INFLUENCE OF
ONE LANGUAGE OVER ANOTHER. THEY MAY ARISE
FROM THE MOLDING OF LOANWORDS.
The word COGNATE derives from the Latin noun COGNATUS,
which means "blood relative". Its translation would be
“consanguineous, with a common ancestor, or related by a
same nature”. In linguistics, TRUE COGNATES are words that
have a common etymological origin. They are words that exist
in two languages that are spelled exactly or almost exactly the
same way and have the same meaning.
For example, the ENGLISH word “VACATION” and the SPANISH
word “VACACIÓN” both come from the LATIN word
“VACATIONEM”.

3. HOW DOES A TRUE COGNATE HELP TO LEARN
ENGLISH/SPANISH?
Spanish is a language that evolved from Latin over the last two
thousand years. English, although it is not as closely related to
Latin as Spanish, borrows thousands of words from Latin, many of
them the same words that Spanish uses. Both languages have
borrowed many words from Classical Greek. So, this results in
thousands of true cognates between English and Spanish. This
helps to give us an advantage in learning vocabulary in English.

4. EXAMPLES OF ENGLISH/SPANISH TRUE COGNATES
My name is Adrian Garcia. I was born in September 4, 2005. My
family is from Puerto Rico. I am seven years old. I like to go to the
supermarket with my mother. I like to eat bananas. This week I
celebrate my birthday. My favorite color is blue. My party is
decorated with blue balloons.

5. OTHER EXAMPLES
LOS APARTAMENTOS - APARTMENTS
EL HOTEL - HOTEL
EL AEROPUERTO - AIRPORT
EL MAPA - MAP
EL OPERADOR - OPERATOR
EL TOMATE - TOMATO
EL MELÓN - MELON
WE CAN SEE 9 COGNATES IN THIS PARAGRAPH:
1. SEPTEMBER – SEPTIEMBRE
2. FAMILY- FAMILIA
3. SUPERMARKET- SUPERMERCADO
4. BANANAS-BANANA
5. CELEBRATE-CELEBRAR
6. FAVORITE- FAVORITO
7. COLOR- COLOR
8. DECORATED-DECORADO
9. BALLOONS- BALÓN

6. FALSE COGNATES
As we have seen, True Cognates are words that sound similar,
have similar spelling and have the same meaning in the two
languages. For example teléfono-telephone; persona- person;
invitar-invite. However, there are many words called FALSE
COGNATES.
The term “FALSE COGNATES” to refer to words from two
languages that look alike through pure coincidence; false
cognates have no common root or meaning.

7. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO LEARN ENGLISH FALSE COGNATES, IN
ORDER NOT TO MAKE MISTAKES, SUCH AS TELLING SOMEONE:
SYMPATHETIC (COMPREHENSIVE) – COMPRENSIVO. WHEN WHAT WE
MEAN IS NICE – SIMPATICO.
“I actually work and study”.
ENGLISH: “ACTUALLY” – SPANISH: “EN REALIDAD O REALMENTE”.
ENGLISH: “CURRENTLY” – SPANISH: “ACTUALMENTE”.
“ACTUALMENTE ESTUDIO Y TRABAJO.”
“I CURRENTLY WORK AND STUDY”.
ACTUAL (INGLÉS) = REAL, VERDADERO (ESPAÑOL).
ACTUAL (ESPAÑOL) = CURRENT (INGLÉS).
He has retired, but he is still an ACTUAL leader.
Se ha retirado, pero todavía él es un VERDADERO dirigente.
I'm satisfied with my CURRENT income.
Estoy satisfecho con mi salario ACTUAL.

8. Beware of false cognates! Students whose first language is
Spanish may begin to assume that all English words that
sound the same as Spanish words also have the same
meaning. These students fall victim to false cognates and
this can lead to embarrassing situations.

9. THE FOLLOWING LIST OF FALSE COGNATES WILL BE HELPFUL TO PEOPLE WHO WANT
TO LEARN ENGLISH LANGUAGE. IF THEY ARE FALSE COGNATES IT IS PRECISELY
BECAUSE THE WORDS LOOK ALIKE BUT THEIR MEANING IS DIFFERENT.
FALSE COGNATES
FALSOS COGNADOS
EXAMPLES
EJEMPLOS
TO ADVERTISE
ANUNCIAR
TO WARN
ADVERTIR
THERE'S NO NEED TO ADVERTISE A GOOD
WINE
NO HAY NECESIDAD DE ANUNCIAR UN BUEN
VINO
TOM TRIED TO WARN MARY, BUT SHE
IGNORED HIM
TOM TRATÓ DE ADVERTIR A MARY, PERO
ELLA LO IGNORÓ
ADVICE
CONSEJOS
NOTICE
AVISO
I NEED YOUR ADVICE
NECESITO TU CONSEJO
TOM WAS DISMISSED WITHOUT NOTICE

10. ARM
BRAZO
GUN
ARMA
SOMEBODY CAUGHT ME BY
THE ARM
ALGUIEN ME AGARRÓ POR EL
BRAZO
BILL WAS KILLED WITH A GUN
MATARON A BILL CON
UN ARMA
MISERY
TRISTEZA
POVERTY
MISERIA
THE MISERY OF OTHERS LEAVES A
WEIRD TASTE
LA TRISTEZA AJENA DEJA UN
EXTRAÑO SABOR
HE WAS DOOMED TO LIFE-LONG
POVERTY
FUE DESTINADO A PASAR MISERIA DE
POR VIDA

11. TO COMPLAIN
QUEJARSE
TO PLEASE
COMPLACER
I HAVE NOTHING TO
COMPLAIN ABOUT
NO TENGO NADA DE QUE
QUEJARME
JOHN IS EASY TO PLEASE
JOHN ES FÁCIL DE COMPLACER
CONDUCTOR
DIRECTOR DE ORQUESTA
DRIVER
CONDUCTOR
THE CONDUCTOR APPEARED ON
THE STAGE
EL DIRECTOR APARECIÓ EN EL
ESCENARIO
THE DRIVER ASKED ME WHICH
WAY TO GO
EL CONDUCTOR ME PREGUNTÓ
QUÉ CAMINO TOMAR

12. CONTEST
CONCURSO
TO ANSWER
CONTESTAR
WE WILL HAVE A
MUSIC CONTEST SOON
PRONTO TENDREMOS UN CONCURSO
DE MÚSICA
NO STUDENT WAS ABLE TO ANSWER
THE QUESTION
NINGÚN ESTUDIANTE PUDO
CONTESTAR LA PREGUNTA
CURSE
MALDICIÓN
COURSE
CURSO
THE FAMILY SEEMED TO BE UNDER
A CURSE
LA FAMILIA PARECÍA ESTAR BAJO
UNA MALDICIÓN
STUDENTS WILL TAKE ONE OF THESE
ENGLISH COURSES
LOS ESTUDIANTES TOMARÁN UNO DE
ESTOS CURSOS EN INGLÉS

13. DATE
FECHA
DATA
DATO
WRITE DOWN YOUR DATE OF BIRTH
HERE
ESCRIBA SU FECHA DE NACIMIENTO
AQUÍ
THE DATA HASN'T BEEN COMPILED
YET
LOS DATOS NO HAN
SIDO COMPILADOS AÚN
DECEPTION
ENGAÑAR
DISAPPOINTMENT
DECEPCIÓN
THE ART OF PLEASING IS THE ART
OF DECEPTION
EL ARTE DE COMPLACER ES EL
ARTE DE ENGAÑAR
THE PARTY WAS A BIG
DISAPPOINTMENT
LA FIESTA ES UNA GRAN DECEPCIÓN

14. EMBARRASSED
AVERGONZADO
PREGNANT
EMBARAZADA
I WAS EMBARRASSED TO LOOK HER
IN THE EYE
ESTABA AVERGONZADO PARA
VERLA A LOS OJOS
SHE IS EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT
ELLA ESTÁ EMBARAZADA DE OCHO
MESES
ELABORATE
DETALLADO
MANUFACTURING
ELABORADO
HIS THEORY IS BASED
ON ELABORATE INVESTIGATION.
SU TEORÍA ESTÁ BASADA SOBRE
UNA DETALLADA INVESTIGACIÓN
HIS COMPANY ENGAGES IN THE
MANUFACTURING OF STAINLESS
STEEL
SU EMPRESA SE DEDICA
AL ELABORADO DE ACERO
INOXIDABLE

15. THIS INFORMATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOU DO NOT
MAKE MISTAKES AND DO NOT WORRY BECAUSE WE ALL DO, BUT IT
WILL HELP YOU AVOID THEM, JUST BE PATIENT AND TRY TO
UNDERSTAND THE WORD ACCORDING TO ITS CONTEXT.