Linguistic False Friends

By Rachel Rowland (ABC School's Academic Coordinator)

False cognates, commonly referred to as false friends, are words in two languages that look or sound very similar but actually have different meanings. These false friends can cause problems for international students who are trying to learn new words in English as they think they have the exact same meaning in both languages and believe they can count on them to communicate effectively.

There are many false friends within English, Spanish and French because these languages share a lot of words with Latin roots, but sometimes words with the same origin can take a separate path in each language. The good news is that by knowing who these false friends are, you will be able to avoid making embarrassing or silly mistakes in the future. Here are some of the most commonly confused ‘friends’ I have encountered.

Spanish and English

Libreria and library look very similar and it would be easy to presume that they have the same meaning. However, Libreria is the Spanish word for a bookstore and a library is the English word for a building containing books for use or borrowing by the public. One is for profit and the other is not.

Bizarro in Spanish means brave, however the word bizarre in English has a very different meaning and is used to describe people or situations that are very strange or unusual. You wouldn’t want to refer to somebody who has just saved your life as strange, would you?

Realizar and realize look so similar but do not be lulled into a false sense of security by these two troublesome twins as they will try to fool you every time unless you learn their differences. Realizar is a Spanish verb which means to perform or achieve something whereas the English verb realize means to become fully aware of something or to understand something clearly. For example, you now realize that these two words have very different meanings.

French and English

When French words look like English words, they often mean the same thing. However, some words do not play nicely. By learning which ones are out to get you, you will save yourself from future embarrassment.

Monnaie and money sound very similar which can easily confuse international students. However, monnaie is a French word which specifically refers to small change/coins whereas the English word money refers to coins and notes collectively. If you say to a waiter that you do not have any money when receiving your bill in a restaurant, then you really will be in trouble!

Joli and Jolly are both adjectives that sound very similar. However, Joli is a French word which means pretty or attractive, jolie is feminine and joli is masculine, whereas the English word Jolly refers to somebody who is happy and cheerful.

Apology and apologie must have the same meaning, right? Sorry, fooled again!

Picture this scenario, you have accidentally let out a loud burp at a French dinner party. Dying of embarrassment, you quickly let out an “apologie”. The problem is that in French, you’ve just told them that you condone or justify your rude behaviour. You should just say “excusez-moi" instead, which is an actual apology.

As you can see, there are a lot of false friends out there, waiting to trip you up. Unfortunately, there are far too many to write about in one article. Just remember that, although some of these can cause embarrassment, making funny mistakes is all a part of the learning process and many of these mistakes tend to amuse others rather than offend them. However, by using a monolingual dictionary to look up new words, you will save yourself from potentially embarrassing situations.