Language/Multiple-languages/Vocabulary/False-Friends

“False friends of a translator” (faux amis du traducteur) means two words in two languages which look or sound similar, but have different meanings.

Types of false friends include:

1. same origin, similar meanings, different parts of speech;
2. same origin, one language has more meanings than the other (or one language has fewer meanings than the other);
3. same origin, different meanings;
4. different origin, different meanings.

In addition, some words in different languages have the same meaning, but their frequencies and usages are different.

Please sort by alphabet, or number of strokes of the first character. If a character has more than one version of stroke number, adopt the one with fewer stokes.

Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese

This is surely not complete: words are not completed; some Sino-Xenic words may be missing; some common meanings may have not been included, while some obsolete meanings may have been.

Meanings of some words may have changed through time.

Chinese (Mandarin; Cantonese; Taiwanese)	Japanese	Korean	Vietnamese
1 stroke
一切 (yīqiè; jat1 cai3; it-tshè) Wiktionary	一切 (い​っさい), (いっせつ), (ひときり), (ひと​きれ) Wiktionary	일체 (一切) 한국어기초사전	nhất thiết (一切) Wiktionary
一杯 (yī bēi; jat1 bui1; tsi̍t poe)	一杯 (いっぱい) Wiktionary	입빠이 Wiktionary	-
一體／一体 (yìtǐ; jat1 tai2; it-thé) Wiktionary	一体 (いったい) Wiktionary	일체 (一體) 우리말샘	-
2 strokes
十分 (shífēn; sap6 fan1; tsa̍p-hun) Wiktionary	十分 (じゅうぶん), (じゅっぷん) Wiktionary	십분 (十分) 한국어기초사전	thập phân (十分) Wiktionary
人事 (rénshì; jan4 si6; jîn-sū, lîn-sū) Wiktionary	人事 (じんじ), (ひとごと) Wiktionary	인사 (人事) 한국어기초사전	nhân sự (人事) Wiktionary
人參／人参 (rénshēn; jan4 sam1; jîn-sim, lîn-sim) Wiktionary	人参 (にんじん) Wiktionary	인삼 (人蔘) 한국어기초사전	nhân sâm (人參) Wiktionary
人間／人间 (rénjiān; jan4 gaan1; jîn-kan, lîn-kan) Wiktionary	人間 (にんげん) Wiktionary	인간 (人間) 한국어기초사전	nhân gian (人間) Wiktionary
3 strokes
工夫 (gōngfu; gung1 fu1; kang-hu) Wiktionary	工夫 (くふう), (こうふ) Wiktionary	공부 (工夫) 한국어기초사전	-
工作 (gōngzuò; gung1 zok3; kang-tsok) Wiktionary	工作 (こうさく) Wiktionary	공작 (工作) 한국어기초사전	công tác (工作) Wiktionary
工役 (gōngyì; gung1 jik6; kang-i̍k) Wiktionary	工役 (こうえき) Yahoo!辞書	공역 (工役) 우리말샘	công việc (工役) Wiktionary
工場／工场 (gōngcháng/gōngchǎng; gung1 coeng4; kang-tshiúnn) Wiktionary	工場 (こうじょう) Wiktionary	공장 (工場) 한국어기초사전	công trường (工場) Wiktionary
才子 (cáizǐ; coi4 zi2; tsâi-tsú) Wiktionary	才子 (さいし) Jisho.org (EDICT)	재자 (才子) Naver	tài tử (才子) VDict
大家 (dàjiā; daai6 gaa1; ta-ke) Wiktionary	大家 (おおや), (たいか), (たいけ) Wiktionary	대가 (大家) 한국어기초사전	đại gia (大家) Wiktionary
大學／大学 (dàxué; daai6 hok6; tāi-ha̍k) Wiktionary	大学 (だいがく) Wiktionary	대학 (大學) 한국어기초사전	đại học (大學) Wiktionary
下水 (xiàshuǐ; haa6 seoi2; hā-suí) Wiktionary	下水 (げすい) Wiktionary	하수 (下水) 한국어기초사전	hạ thủy (下水) VDict
下手 (xiàshǒu; haa6 sau2; hē-tshiú) Wiktionary	下手 (へた), (したて), (しもて) Wiktionary	하수 (下手) 우리말샘	hạ thủ (下手) VDict
下品 (xiàpǐn; haa6 ban2; ē-phín) Wiktionary	下品 (げひん) Wiktionary	하품 (下品) 우리말샘	-
上手 (shàngshǒu; soeng6 sau2; tsiūnn-tshiú) Wiktionary	上手 (じょうず), (うわて), (かみて) Wiktionary	상수 (上手) Naver	-
上品 (shàngpǐn; soeng6 ban2;tsiūnn-phín) Wiktionary	上品 (じょうひん) Wiktionary	상품 (上品) 우리말샘	thượng phẩm (上品) VDict
大丈夫 (dàzhàngfū; daai6 zoeng6 fu1; tāi-tiōng-hu) Wiktionary	大丈夫 (だいじょうぶ) Wiktionary	대장부 (大丈夫) 한국어기초사전	đại trượng phu (大丈夫) Wiktionary
丈夫 (zhàngfū; zoeng6 fu1; tiōng-hu) Wiktionary	丈夫 (じょうぶ) Wiktionary	장부 (丈夫) 한국어기초사전	trượng phu (丈夫) Bab.la
小康 (xiǎokāng; siu2 hong1; siáu-khng) Wiktionary	小康 (しょうこう) Wiktionary	소강 (小康) Naver	-
4 strokes
中古 (zhōnggǔ; zung1 gu2; tiong-kóo) Wiktionary	中古 (ちゅうこ) Wiktionary	중고 (中古) 한국어기초사전	trung cổ (中古) Glosbe
中國／中国 (Zhōngguó; zung1 gwok3; Tiong-kok) Wiktionary	中国 (ちゅうごく) Wiktionary	중국 (中國) 한국어기초사전	Trung Quốc (中國) Wiktionary
以上 (yǐshàng; ji5 soeng6; í-siōng) Wiktionary	以上 (いじょう) Wiktionary	이상 (以上) 한국어기초사전	-
心事 (xīnshì; sam1 si6; sim-sū) Wiktionary	心事 (しんじ) Jisho.org (EDICT)	심사 (心事) 우리말샘	tâm sự (心事) Wiktionary
天井 (tiānjǐng; tin1 zeng2; thinn-tsénn) Wiktionary	天井 (てんじょう) Wiktionary	천정 (天井) Naver	-
不一 (bùyī; bat1 jat1; put-it) Wiktionary	不一 (ふいつ) Wiktionary	불일 (不一) 우리말샘	bất nhất (不一) Wiktionary
文句 (wénjù; man4 geoi3; bûn-kù) Wiktionary	文句 (もんく) Wiktionary	문구 (文句) 한국어기초사전	-
方面 (fāngmiàn; fong1 min6; hong-bīn) Wiktionary	方面 (ほうめん) Wiktionary	방면 (方面) 한국어기초사전	phương diện (方面) Wiktionary
方便 (fāngbiàn; fong1 bin6; hong-piān) Wiktionary	方便 (ほうべん) Wiktionary	방편 (方便) 한국어기초사전	phương tiện (方便) [https://en.wiktion English & French See full article here: https://polyglotclub.com/wiki/Language/French/Vocabulary/False-Friends actually - actuellement ancient - ancien apology - apologie assist - assister attend - attendre blanket - blanquette bless - blesser bleesed - bleesé bras - bras brassiere - brasserie button - bouton cent - cent character - caractère chair - chair chance - chance change - change coin - coin college - collège comprehensive - compréhensif concourse - concours deception - déception envy - envie eventually - éventuellement excited - excité grand - grand grape - grappe introduce - introduire jolly - joli journey - journée library - librairie location - location luxurious - luxurieux money - monnaie pass - passer pile - pile prejudice - préjudice preservative - préservatif prune - prune raisin - raisin sensible - sensible slip - slip trainee - traînée English & German also - also ambulance - Ambulanz art - Art bald - bald beamer - Beamer become - bekommen blend - blenden body bag - Bodybag brand - Brand cracker - Cracker decent - dezent dick - dick direction - Direktion dose - Dose eventually - eventuell evergreen - Evergreen fast - fast fraction - Fraktion genie - Genie gift - Gift grab - graben gross - groß gymnasium - Gymnasium handy - Handy herd - Herd hose - Hose hut - Hut irritate - irritieren caution - Kaution kind - Kind confession - Konfession concurrence - Konkurrenz consequent - Konsequent concern - Koncern craft - Kraft labor - Labor leck - leck last - last lecture - lektüre local - Lokal lock - locken lyrics - Lyrik map - Mappe meaning - Meinung mess - Messe mist - Mist note - Note notice - Notiz objective - Objektiv oldtimer - Oldtimer ordinary - Ordinär paragraph - Paragraph pickle - Pickel preservative - Präservativ pregnant - Prägnant probe - Probe promotion - Promotion prospect - Prospekt provision - Provision process - Prozess public - Publikum rat - Rat rate - Rate realise - realisieren rent - Rente receipt - Rezept ring - Ringen rock - Rock Roman - Roman schmuck - Schmuck sect - Sekt sensible - sensibel serious - seriös smoking - Smoking spend - spenden spot - spotten staple - Stapel stark - stark stern - Stern stock - Stock sympathetic - sympathisch tablet - Tablett tag - Tag taste - Taste toll - toll trunk - Trunk warehouse - Warenhaus wink - winken More https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/False_Friends_of_the_Slavist https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Esperanto/Appendix/False_friends https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Spanish/Common_False_Cognates https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Dutch/Vocabulary/False_friends AUTHOR GrimPixel