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Spanish False Cognates
Words in Spanish that look like English
words but whose meanings are quite
different
atender / attend
 Atender (ie) is “to attend” as in “to take care of”
(affairs, duties), as well as “to listen to, pay attention,
wait on, serve.” La camarera (mesera) nos atendió.
The waitress waited on us. To attend (“to be present
at”) basically means asistir a, estar presente a.
[Notice the required preposition a in Spanish.]
Asistimos al funeral. We attended the funeral.
Atento means “attentive,” as in “paying attention,”
but the most common usage of atento is “polite,
considerate, kind, thoughtful.” ¡Para ser un niño es
muy atento! Míra cómo no interrumpe a los demás
cunado habla. He’s polite for a child! Notice how he
doesn’t interrupt when others are talking.
librería / library
 Librería is not “library” but “bookstore” and also
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“bookcase.”
Librería de ocasión = secondhand bookstore
Library means biblioteca.
Hemeroteca = newspaper library
Biblioteca circulante / mobile library (bookmobile)
Librero means “bookseller,” as well as “bookcase”
and “bookshelf”
Lenguaje / language
 Lenguaje (m.) is “language” in the sense of a
particular form of speaking of a person, group, or
region. This meaning of lenguaje is roughly
equivalent to the word dialect in English. No conozco
el lenguaje de los jóvenes de hoy. I don’t know the
language of today’s youth. Language in general is
most commonly translated as lengua. ¿Cuál es la
lengua oficial de Irlanda? What is the official
language of Ireland?
mover / move
 Mover (ue.) shares with to move the concepts of “to
change place or location, push, carry, pull, stir, wag
(tail / rabo), incite.” To move has the additional
meanings of mudarse (to change from one house to
another, to go to reside in another place) and
conmover (ue.) (feelings, heart). Se mudaron de
Chicago a Miami. They moved from Chicago to
Miami. Se conmovió al ver tanta pobreza. He was
moved when he saw so much poverty.
noticia / notice
 Noticia is not “notice” but “news item, information.” Notice
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means aviso, advertencia, letreto, anuncio, cartel (m.;
“poster”), dimisión, plazo.
Dar un despido = to give notice
En seguida = at a moment’s notice
Hasta nuevo aviso = until further notice
Sin previo aviso = without notice, with no notice
Una semana de plazo a / week’s notice llamar la
atención / to attract notice (attention) El aviso prohíbe
fumar. The notice (sign) says “no smoking.” Noticiar
means “to notify”, to give notice.” To notice means
observar, notar, fijarse en. No se fijó en mi sombrero. He
didn’t notice my hat. Notición (m.) means “big news,
bombshell.”
orden, ordenar / order
 Orden (m.) means “order” (arrangement”), whereas
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orden (f.) means “order, command, religious order” and
also “warrant, decree, nature.”
La orden del día = the order of the day
Cumplir las órdenes / to obey orders. Order, for example,
of merchandise, translates as pedido (of products).
Cheque nominativo = check to order
La secretaria hizo dos pedidos de zapatos. The secretary
placed two orders for shoes. Ordenar means “to order”
(“to arrange, fix, command”) and also “to ordain” (bishops,
priests, etc.)To order food or goods is translated as pedir
(i) encargar, hacer un pedido. ¿Ya pediste la comida?
Did you order dinner already? Ayer encargué un abrigo.
Yesterday I ordered a coat.
particular / particular
 Particular does nor mean “particular” but “special, peculiar to,
individual, personal, private.” As a noun, particular (m.) means
“matter, subject, point, item, private individual, civilian.”
 Lecciones particulares = private lessons
 Profesor particular = private tutor
 Particular de una región / peculiar (unique) to a region. No sé
nada de este particular. I know nothing about this matter.
Vestido de particular / dressed as a civilian. Nada de
particular / nothing special. Particular, on the other hand,
means concreto, detallado, exigente, delicado. As a noun,
particular means detalle (m.), pormenor ((m.), dato. Es muy
exigente con la puntualidad. He is very particular about
punctuality. Entrar en pormenores / to go into particulars.
popular / popular
 Popular and popular share the idea of “common, prevalent, for
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the public, folkloric.” [In Spanish, popular stresses the meaning
of “folkloric,” but in its latest dictionary, the Real Academia has
included the meaning of “acepto y grato al pueblo”, in other
words, it is now the equivalent of popular in English.]
Precios populares = popular prices
Julio Iglesias es popular (bien conocido) en muchos países.
Julio Iglesias is popular in many countries. Educación popular /
education of the people. Popular in English is also translated
as bien conocido, estimado, democrático, de moda.
Ropa de moda = popular (fashionable) clothes
Elección democrática = popular election
Es muy estimado por sus amigos. He is very popular among
his friends.
principal / principal
 Principal and principal share the idea of “main,
important” as adjectives. Carretera principal / main
road. Lo principal / the principal / (main) point.
Principal in English is also a noun, meaning director
(m.; of a school); in the commercial world, it means
capital (m.; of a loan); and in legal terminology, it
means autor (m.; of a crime). El director del colegio
lo decidió. The school principal made the decision.
El capital a pagar es de un millón de dólares. The
principal to be paid is one million dollars. The noun
principle translates as principio, regla, ley, esencia.
Principios morales / moral principles. Por principio
/ on principle.
referir / refer
 Referir (ie, i) and to refer both mean “to relate, mean,
be speaking about.” However, referir also means “to
tell of, account.” No me refiero a usted. I am not
referring to you. Refirió su vida en cinco minutos.
He told the story of his life in five minutes. To refer
also means remitir, dirigir, enviar, calificar, consultar.
Remitió el estudiente al director. She referred the
student to the principal. Véase la página 10. Refer to
page 10. Consulte los archivos para eso. Refer to
the archives for that.
 Continued…
 To send. Mandar. Enviar.
 I was referred to a specialist. Me enviaron a un
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especialista.
They referred me to the manager. Me mandaron
hablar con el gerente.
To a tribunal. Remitir.
To refer a matter to a tribunal. Remitir un asunto a un
tribunal.
Consult. Consultar, remitirse.
To refer to one’s note. Consultar los apuntes.
For more information refer to the manual. Para mayor
información consulte (remítase a) el manual.
Direct (to source of information). Remitir.
The reader is referred to page 15. Se remite al lector
a la página 15.
Sumbit (problem, proposal). Remitir.
I shall refer the proposal to the board. Remitiré su
propuesta a la junta.
 Mention, make reference to. Aludir, hacer referencia,
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mencionar.
She didn’t refer to the subject. No aludió (hizo
referencia) al tema.
We will not refer to it again. No lo volveremos a
mencionar.
Apply to, concern. Atañer.
This criticism doesn’t refer to you. Esta crítica no va
para ti.
[An event to a date]. Situar.
Historians refer this event to the sixteenth century.
Los historiadores sitúan este acontecimiento en el
siglo dieciséis.
To attribute. Atribuir.
The discovery of gun powder is usually referred to
China. Se suele atribuir el descubrimiento de la
pólvora a China.
 [An effect to its cause]. Atribuir, achacar.
 He refers his emotional problems to his childhood.
Atribuye sus problemas emocionales a su infancia.
 Classify. Clasificar.
 This insect is to be referred to the genus Pieris. Este
insecto ha de clasificarse en el género Pieris.
 Refer to drawer (on back of check). Devolver al
librador (por falta de fondos).
reporte / report
 Reportar does not mean “to report” but “to bring, get
(profit, adventage, etc.)” La tienda reporta buenas
ganancias. The store brings in a good profit. To
report has several denotations such as relatar,
redactar (actas), presentar (un informe), declarar,
hacer un reportaje, presentarse (al trabajo). Se
presentó ante el capitán. He reported to the capitan.
Informó sobre la muerte de Picasso. She reported
on the death of Picasso. Reportar is often used to
mean “to report” by Spanish speakers in the United
States, but this is generally considered to be an
anglicism.