False Friends Between English and Spanish

To the English-speaking learner of Spanish, false friends (falsos amigos) are Spanish words that look the same (or just about) as English words, but do not mean the same as their English look-alikes. As a matter of fact, false friends often have wildly different meanings.

English and Spanish are both Indo-European languages. English, however, is a Germanic language, while Spanish is a Romanic language, i.e. a descendant of Latin. Although they belong to different language sub-families, English and Spanish share a lot of cognates and false friends-the reason being that English vocabulary is overwhelmingly non-Germanic.

For your amusement, here is a sampler of false friends between English and Spanish:

Sometimes things are not as bad as they seem...

If you are feeling decepcionado (-a), you may be disappointed, but at least it is not as bad as being deceived, right? The Spanish verb decepcionar means "to disappoint", not "to deceive".

Don't freak out if a total stranger comes up to you and says, "Perdona que le moleste...": She is not making sexual advances, she is simply saying, "Sorry to bother you...". The Spanish verb molestar means "to bother", "to trouble", without any sexual connotations.

Are you destituido (-a) (= dismissed from a job, fired)? It is tough, but take heart: It beats being destitute, doesn't it? (In Spanish, destitute is indigente.)

In Spanish, the verb contestar means "to answer" (e.g. a question, a letter, the phone). There is nothing combative about contestar, unlike its English false friend, the verb contest. A contestador (automático) is an answering machine (and not a lawyer on retainer...)

The Spanish verb enviar means "to send" (e.g. a letter or a package), and has nothing to do with envy (which is envidia in Spanish).

If someone is disgustado (-a) with you, relax! Yes, they are upset with you; no, they are not disgusted with you. Spanish disgusto is more like the English displeasure: It is an emotional upset for sure, maybe even a heartache, but nothing like disgust or revulsion (= repugnancia in Spanish).

... sometimes they are worse:

There's nothing delightful about a Spanish delito (= criminal offense). In Spanish, delight would be deleite or placer.

As if agony were not bad enough, Spanish agonía (= death throes) can't get much worse.

Dismay may be an unpleasant feeling of hopelessness and fear, but it is not half as bad as its Spanish false friend, desmayo (= a fainting fit).

Mixed Bag

In Spanish, carga means "cargo" and cargo means "responsibility", "duty".

Your parientes are your relatives, your padres are your parents.

An event is suceso, success is éxito, and exit is salida.

Spanish once is eleven (think of it as the English once times eleven), ropa is clothing (not rope), sopa is soup (not soap), carpeta is a folder (not a carpet), vaso is a drinking glass or (blood) vessel (not a vase), and tuna is... a kind of cactus.

A boda is a wedding, not a body. Ergo, bodas de oro is Spanish for "golden wedding anniversary" (and most assuredly not something out of Goldfinger!)

Source:
http://www.wordreference.com/