Language/Portuguese/Vocabulary/False-Cognates-(English-and-Portuguese)

False Friends (English and Portuguese)

Learning a language can be a bit annoying at times. Imagine just hearing a word in a language that is completely foreign to you and saying, “Wow! I know the meaning of that word.” Then you decide to use it in a sentence after a while and in doing so you get raised eyebrows and pursed lips. Perhaps the word just used was a false cognate.

This is a continuation of the lesson on false friends. In this lesson, the false friends in Portuguese and English will be considered. When languages share a complex history, look out for false friends.

• Actually, atualmente In English actually means ‘in the real sense of it’ or ‘really’. Actually resembles the Portuguese word ‘atualmente’ is be translated as ‘currently’.

• Advert, advertir Advert is the English word meaning ‘a notice or advertisement’. The Spanish cognate for advert is advertir. Advertir is translated as ‘to advise’.

• Agenda, agenda These false cognates look frightfully similar and can be very misleading. Thankfully language learners do not encounter words like these often. In English, agenda means ‘a particular plan’. In Portuguese, agenda translates to ‘a diary’.

• Alias, alias The English ‘alias’ means ‘a codename or nickname’ while the Portuguese ‘alias’ is translated to mean ‘by the way, besides’.

• Alumnus, aluno Actually the meanings of these cognates are as close as they get. While alumnus means ‘graduated student of’, aluno means ‘a student or a pupil’.

• Attend, atender Attend means ‘to be present’ and atender means ‘to pick up’. In order to say attend in Portuguese, use the verb ‘comparecer’.

• Collar, colar Collar in English means ‘an item worn around the neck of dogs’. In Portuguese colar means ‘a necklace for humans’. Okay that was a bit similar.

• Costume, costume These very similar words have very different meanings. The English ‘costume’ means ‘an outfit worn mostly for acting’, while the Portuguese ‘costume’ refers to ‘habits’.

• Data, data Yet another very similar pair. Data in English means ‘unprocessed information’. The word ‘data’ in Portuguese means ‘a date on the calendar’.

• Deception, decepcão To say deception in Portuguese the words ‘fraude’ or ‘enganar’ should be used. And not the word decepcão which means ‘disappointment’.

• Diversion, diversão Diversão does not mean diversion nor is it related to it. Diversão means ‘fun’. Diversion on the other hand can be translated to ‘desvio’ in Portuguese.

This list will be continued in subsequent lessons.