Speak English Fluently

Just in case you are wondering, false friends/cognate are words with similar spelling and/or meaning but with a distinct origin. So when a word appears to be a cognate, but it actually isn’t, is very appropriately entitled false cognate. It’s surely a tricky thing to distinguish false cognates from real ones while learning a new language, and because there are so many of them in between American English and Portuguese. Here are some of the most popular ones

         Actually (actual, existing fact) — Atualmente (nowadays, today)

         Anticipate (expect, look forward to) — Antecipar (to bring forward, to move forward)

         Assist (to give support, aid to) — Assistir (to watch)

         Balcony (balustraded, railed elevated platform) — Balcão (counter)

         Contest (competition, dispute) — Contexto (context)

         Costume (worn on the stage or at balls) — Costume (custom, habit)

         Data (individual facts, statistics) — Data (date)

         Design (especially to plan the form and structure) — Designar (to appoint)

         Educated (displaying qualities) — Educado (with a good upbringing, well-mannered, polite)

         Enroll (register, to put in a record) — Enrolar (to roll, to wind, to curl)

         Exit (a way or passage out) — Êxito (success)

         Expert (a person who has special skill or knowledge) — Esperto (smart, clever)

         Fabric (a cloth made by weaving, knitting) — Fábrica (plant, factory)

         Grip (the act of grasping) — Gripe (cold, flu, influenza)

         Injury (harm or damage) — Injúria (insult)

         Legend (a nonhistorical or unverifiable story) — Legenda (subtitle)

         Library (a place to contain books) — Livraria (book shop)

         Lunch (a light midday meal between breakfast and dinner) — Lanche (snack)

         Novel (fictitious narrative of considerable length and complexity) — Novela (soap opera)

         Office (a room or set of rooms for a business or professional organisation) — Oficial (official)

         Parents (a father or a mother) — Parentes (relatives)

         Particular (distinguished or different, exceptional, especial) — Particular (personal, private)

         Push (to press upon or against (a thing)) — Puxe (to pull)

         Pull (to draw or haul toward oneself or itself) — Pular (to jump)

         Record (to cause to be set down or registered) — Recordar (to remember, to recall)

         Refrigerant (a cooling substance) — Refrigerante (soft drink)

         Resume (to take up or go on with again after interruption) — Resumir (summarize)

         Service (an act of helpful activity, the providing or a provider) — Serviço (job)

         Stranger (person with whom one has no personal acquaintance) — Estrangeiro (foreigner)

         Tax (sum of money demanded by a government) — Taxa (rate, fee)

Plenty of opportunities for misunderstandings, uh? Hence the importance of learning about these tricky creatures of languages, and please, bear in mind there are many more false cognates intersecting English and Portuguese. The best advice I can give is to keep that in mind whenever you stumble into a new Portuguese word that is similar to one in English, it may be a false cognate.

• Just in case you are wondering, false friends/cognate are words with similar spelling and/or meaning but with a distinct origin. So when a word appears to be a cognate, but it actually isn’t, is very appropriately entitled false cognate. It’s surely a tricky thing to distinguish false cognates from real ones while learning a new language, and because there are so many of them in between American English and Portuguese. Here are some of the most popular ones

           Actually (actual, existing fact) — Atualmente (nowadays, today)

           Anticipate (expect, look forward to) — Antecipar (to bring forward, to move forward)

           Assist (to give support, aid to) — Assistir (to watch)

           Balcony (balustraded, railed elevated platform) — Balcão (counter)

           Contest (competition, dispute) — Contexto (context)

           Costume (worn on the stage or at balls) — Costume (custom, habit)

           Data (individual facts, statistics) — Data (date)

           Design (especially to plan the form and structure) — Designar (to appoint)

           Educated (displaying qualities) — Educado (with a good upbringing, well-mannered, polite)

           Enroll (register, to put in a record) — Enrolar (to roll, to wind, to curl)

           Exit (a way or passage out) — Êxito (success)

           Expert (a person who has special skill or knowledge) — Esperto (smart, clever)

           Fabric (a cloth made by weaving, knitting) — Fábrica (plant, factory)

           Grip (the act of grasping) — Gripe (cold, flu, influenza)

           Injury (harm or damage) — Injúria (insult)

           Legend (a nonhistorical or unverifiable story) — Legenda (subtitle)

           Library (a place to contain books) — Livraria (book shop)

           Lunch (a light midday meal between breakfast and dinner) — Lanche (snack)

           Novel (fictitious narrative of considerable length and complexity) — Novela (soap opera)

           Office (a room or set of rooms for a business or professional organisation) — Oficial (official)

           Parents (a father or a mother) — Parentes (relatives)

           Particular (distinguished or different, exceptional, especial) — Particular (personal, private)

           Push (to press upon or against (a thing)) — Puxe (to pull)

           Pull (to draw or haul toward oneself or itself) — Pular (to jump)

           Record (to cause to be set down or registered) — Recordar (to remember, to recall)

           Refrigerant (a cooling substance) — Refrigerante (soft drink)

           Resume (to take up or go on with again after interruption) — Resumir (summarize)

           Service (an act of helpful activity, the providing or a provider) — Serviço (job)

           Stranger (person with whom one has no personal acquaintance) — Estrangeiro (foreigner)

           Tax (sum of money demanded by a government) — Taxa (rate, fee)

  Plenty of opportunities for misunderstandings, uh? Hence the importance of learning about these tricky creatures of languages, and please, bear in mind there are many more false cognates intersecting English and Portuguese. The best advice I can give is to keep that in mind whenever you stumble into a new Portuguese word that is similar to one in English, it may be a false cognate.