What Are Spanish Cognates?

Here you will learn about Spanish cognates along with false cognates, how to pronounce them and their meanings.

Cognates are words in different languages that originate from the same word and therefore share the same meaning. They are both easy to translate and recognize.

There are 3 types of cognates:

Pure cognates: are spelled exactly the same in both languages

actor (ahk-tor) actor
animal (ahn-eemahl) animal
central (sen-trahl) central
error (eh-rrohr) error
hospital (ohs-pee-tahl) hospital
idea (ee-deeah) idea
natural (naht-oor-ahl) natural

NOTE: Even though these words are spelled the same and their meanings are the same, the Spanish pronunciation is different from that of the English

True Spanish cognates: the spelling is similar and they share the same meaning in both languages.

accidente (ahk-see-dehn-tay) accident
autor (ow-tohr) author
elefante (ehlee-fahn-tay) elephant
presidente (prehs-ee-dehn-tay) President
teléfono (teh-leh-fohno) telephone

False cognates: have the similar spelling and origin, but totally different meanings.

So don't be fooled by these.

anciano (ahn-see-ah-noh) elderly man NOT ancient
chanza (chahn-sah) joke NOT chance
delito (deh-lee-toh) crime NOT delight
recordar (reh-korr-dahr) to remember NOT record
constipado (kohn-stee-pah-doh) congested, like when you have a cold NOT constipated
asistir (ahsees-teehr) to attend NOT to assist

Here are a few tricks to recognizing true Spanish cognates:

Words that end in -cion or -sion are often the same in English but with a -tion at the end.

NOTE: All of these words will be feminine in gender

And as we discussed on the Spanish diphthongs page there is an accent mark on the o to indicate where the stress will be in the pronunciation.

atención (ahtehn-cee-yohn) attention
confusión (kohn-foos-ee-yohn) confusion
comunicación (kohm-oonee-kah-seeohn) communication
información (in-form-ahsee-yohn) information

Words that end -ario are often the same in English but with -ary at the end.

millonario (meehl-ohn-ahr-eeyoh) millionaire
voluntario (vohl-oohn-tah-reeyoh) voluntary
necesario (neh-ses-ahrr-eehoh) necessary

Spanish cognates that end in -dad are often the same in English but with -ty or -ness at the end.

claridad (klah-ree-dahd) clarity
prosperidad (prrohs-pehrree-dahd) prosperity
enfermedad (ehn-fehrmee-dahd) sickenss, disease

Words that end in -ico/-ica are often the same in English but with -ic and -al at the end.

físico (fees-eekoh) physical, physicist
político (pohlee-teekoh) political, polite
idéntico (ee-dehn-tee-koh) identical

Words than end in -ante/-ente are often the same in English but with -ant and -ent at the end. These words typically are adjectives.

importante (impohr-tahn-tay) important
suficiente (sufees-ee-ehn-teh) sufficient
potente (poht-ehn-teh) potent, powerful

Words than end in -mente are often the same in English but with -ly at the end. These words typically are adverbs.

afortunadamento (ahfohr-toon-ahdah-mehn-toh) fortunately
especialmente (ehs-pes-eeyahl-mehn-teh) especially
generalmente (ghen-eral-mehn-teh) generally

With words that end in -al, -ble and -or, you will notice a one-to-one correspondence in both English and Spanish.

criminal (kree-meen-ahl) criminal
hospital (ohs-pee-tahl) hospital
adorable (ahd-hor-ah-bleh) adorable
convertible (kohn-vehr-tee-bleh) convertible
inventor (eehn-vehn-tohr) inventor
confesor (kohn-fehs-orr) confessor

There are several other methods of recognizing Spanish cognates, but I won't bore you. I think you have seen enough to realize how easy they are to detect and how much Spanish you actually already know.