10 Portuguese/Spanish False Friends

Portuguese/Spanish Flags

Although Portuguese and Spanish are closely related to the point to be somehow mutual intelligible, there are also important differences between them, which can pose difficulties for people acquainted with one of the languages who attempt to learn the other.
In this article, I will focus on the Portuguese learner’s point of view that approaches to the Spanish language.
He always has to pay attention to “false friends”:
In Spanish “estar embarazada” means ‘to be pregnant’. In Portuguese “estar embaraçada” means ‘to be embarrassed’ or ‘to be entangled’. Nevertheless, Spanish has the term “embarazoso/a “meaning ’embarrassing’.’Pregnant’ in Portuguese is “grávida”.

Portuguese/ Spanish False Friends: Embarazada

Spanish “vaso” means ‘drinking glass ‘, while in Portuguese “vaso” means toilet (from “vaso sanitário”). A ‘drinking glass’ in Portuguese is “copo”, while Spanish “copa” is a wine glass.

Here a top ten of the most frequent errors done by a Portuguese learner, due to false friends:

1.Port.: aceitar (to accept) Esp.: aceptar; Esp: aceitar (to oil) Port: lubrificar com óleo

2.Port.: alargar (to enlarge) Esp.: ampliar; Esp.:alargar (to lengthen) Port.: Alongar

3.Port.: brincar (to joke) Esp.:bromear/jugar; Esp.:Brincar (to jump) Port.:Saltar

4.Port.: Cena (scene) Esp.:escena; Esp.:cena(dinner) Port.:jantar

5.Port.:contestar (to protest) Esp.:manifestar contra; Esp.:Contestar(answear) Port.:responder

6.Port.:doce (sweet) Esp.:dulce; Esp.:doce (twelve) Port.:doze

7.Port.:esquisito (strange) Esp.: raro/excéntrico; Esp.:exquisito(delicious) Port.:delicios

8. Port.:ferias (holidays) Esp.:vacaciones; Esp.:feria(fair) Port.:feira

9. Port.:polvo (octopus) Esp.:pulpo; Esp.:polvo (dust) Port.:pó

Portuguese/Spanish False Friends: Polvo

10. Port.:rato (mouse) Esp.:ratón; Esp.:rato (moment) Port.:momento

How to correct false friends?

False friends can be fixed and corrected thanks to the context. However we should also to take into consideration the mental and cultural predisposition of the learner. Indeed, the learner of a proximate language, as the Portuguese one in this case, has to put more effort in acquiring the new language (Spanish), as a lot of attention must be put to keep separate the two proximate languages.

Therefore, I would suggest you to keep attention always to the context and not to trust in false friends.

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