Do you know what a False Friend is? It's not a matter of friendship, it's a matter of using the correct word in the appropriate context. A False Friend is a word which is written similarly (or almost similarly) in Spanish and English, but whose meanings and uses are different. What follows is a list of some of the most common False Friends with which Spanish students of English as a foreign language show a greater difficulty.
attend in Spanish means asistir (a clases, a un curso...) not atender
advice in Spanish means consejo not aviso
carpet in Spanish means alfombra / moqueta not carpeta
casual in Spanish means informal / superficial not casual
conductor in Spanish means director de orquesta not conductor
constipated in Spanish means estreñido-a not constipado-a
disgust in Spanish means asco / repugnancia not disgusto
embarrassed in Spanish means avergonzado-a not embarazada
exit in Spanish means salida not éxito
fabric in Spanish means tejido / tela not fábrica
to intend in Spanish means tener la intención de not intentar
large in Spanish means grande / extenso / amplio not largo
lecture in Spanish means conferencia / sermón not lectura
library in Spanish means biblioteca not librería
notice in Spanish means anuncio not noticia
parents in Spanish means padres (padre y madre) not parientes
to pretend in Spanish means fingir not pretender
to realize in Spanish means darse cuenta / cumplir not realizar
to record in Spanish means grabar / registrar not recordar
sensible in Spanish means sensato-a not sensible
stranger in Spanish means desconocido-a / forastero-a not extranjero-a
success in Spanish means éxito not suceso
Imagine if someone says: "I'm constipated" (estoy estreñido) and what he really wants to communicate is: "I've got a cold" (estoy constipado).
Another example: "I went to the Giraldillo library to buy El Quijote". What this person means is not a library but a book-shop.
