Word NotebookSpanish-English false friends: 20 words that fool you
In this post
Spanish-English false friends are Spanish words that look like English words but mean something different. Embarazada means pregnant, not embarrassed; actual means current, not actual; a librería is a bookshop, not a library. Below are 20 of them, grouped by how badly they can trip you up, each with the word to use instead and example sentences.
What is a false friend?
A false friend is a word in another language that looks or sounds like a word in your own but means something else. Spanish and English share thousands of words from Latin, and most of them are true friends: información is information, universidad is university. False friends are the ones whose meanings drifted apart. The Latin exitus, "a going out", gave English exit; in Spanish, éxito now means success.
There are two kinds, and both matter:
- Complete false friends never share the English meaning: ropa is clothes, never rope.
- Partial false friends share it only in some contexts: asistir can mean to assist in formal or medical Spanish (Los enfermeros asisten al cirujano), but in everyday speech asistir a means to attend.
For English speakers, the danger is mostly in one direction: you want to say something in Spanish, reach for the word that looks like the English one, and say something else. That's why every row below includes what to say instead.
20 false friends at a glance
The 20 are sorted into three groups: words that can embarrass you, words that change the meaning of a sentence, and words that just cause a moment of confusion.
Embarrassing
| Spanish | Looks like | Actually means | For the English word, say | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| embarazada | embarrassed | pregnant | avergonzado/a | Mi hermana está embarazada de cinco meses. (My sister is five months pregnant.) |
| constipado | constipated | (in Spain) having a cold | estreñido/a | Estoy constipado y no puedo ir a clase. (I've got a cold and can't go to class.) |
| en absoluto | absolutely | not at all | por supuesto, totalmente | —¿Te molesta la música? —En absoluto. (Does the music bother you? Not at all.) |
| educado | educated | polite | culto/a, con estudios | Tu hijo es muy educado. (Your son is very polite.) |
| sensible | sensible | sensitive | sensato/a | Mi abuela es muy sensible al frío. (My grandmother is very sensitive to the cold.) |
Confusing
| Spanish | Looks like | Actually means | For the English word, say | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| actual | actual | current, present-day | real, verdadero | El precio actual es de veinte euros. (The current price is twenty euros.) |
| realizar | to realise | to carry out, to do | darse cuenta de | Vamos a realizar una encuesta. (We're going to carry out a survey.) |
| asistir a | to assist | to attend | ayudar | Mañana no puedo asistir a la reunión. (I can't attend the meeting tomorrow.) |
| recordar | to record | to remember; to remind | grabar | No recuerdo dónde dejé las llaves. (I can't remember where I left my keys.) |
| éxito | exit | success | salida | El concierto fue todo un éxito. (The concert was a real success.) |
| suceso | success | event, incident | éxito | La policía investiga el suceso. (The police are investigating the incident.) |
| decepción | deception | disappointment | engaño | La película fue una decepción. (The film was a disappointment.) |
| pretender | to pretend | to intend, to try to | fingir | ¿Qué pretendes hacer con tanto dinero? (What do you intend to do with so much money?) |
| largo | large | long | grande | Fue un día muy largo. (It was a very long day.) |
Mostly harmless
| Spanish | Looks like | Actually means | For the English word, say | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| librería | library | bookshop | biblioteca | Compré el diccionario en una librería del centro. (I bought the dictionary at a bookshop in the centre.) |
| carpeta | carpet | folder | alfombra | Guarda los papeles en esta carpeta. (Keep the papers in this folder.) |
| ropa | rope | clothes | cuerda | Tengo que lavar la ropa. (I need to wash my clothes.) |
| fábrica | fabric | factory | tela | Mi tío trabaja en una fábrica de muebles. (My uncle works in a furniture factory.) |
| vaso | vase | (drinking) glass | jarrón, florero | ¿Me das un vaso de agua? (Can I have a glass of water?) |
| lectura | lecture | reading | clase, conferencia | Me encanta la lectura. (I love reading.) |
A few of these have a second, rarer meaning in the Royal Spanish Academy's dictionary: embarazado can also mean "ill at ease", decepción can mean "deception" and librería can mean a bookcase. In everyday conversation, the meanings in the table are the ones you'll hear.
Two partial false friends are worth adding to the list once you know the 20:
- soportar can mean to hold up a weight, but in conversation it usually means to put up with: No soporto el ruido (I can't stand the noise). To support a person or a team, say apoyar.
- introducir means to insert or bring in: Introduzca su tarjeta (Insert your card), as a cash machine says. To introduce one person to another, say presentar: Te presento a mi hermano (This is my brother).
The five that cause real trouble
Most false friends cause a puzzled look and a quick correction. These five can change what you've said, or make you say something you really didn't mean.
1. embarazada
The classic. An English speaker who wants to say "I'm so embarrassed" and reaches for embarazada announces a pregnancy instead.
- ✗ Estoy muy embarazada. (I'm very pregnant.)
- ✓ Me da mucha vergüenza. or Estoy muy avergonzada. (I'm really embarrassed.)
2. constipado
In Spain, estar constipado means having a cold. In Latin America, constipado can mean constipated, so the same sentence can mean two different things depending on where you are. The safe choices work everywhere: resfriado for a cold, estreñido for constipated.
- ✗ Estoy constipado (when you mean constipated, in Spain)
- ✓ Estoy resfriado. (I've got a cold.) Estoy estreñido. (I'm constipated.)
3. en absoluto
En absoluto means "not at all". Answering an enthusiastic question with it, as if it meant "absolutely!", turns yes into no.
- ✗ —¿Te gustó la película? —¡En absoluto! (Did you like the film? Not at all!)
- ✓ —¿Te gustó la película? —¡Me encantó! or ¡Claro que sí! (I loved it! / Of course!)
4. actual and actualmente
Actual means current, and actualmente means at present or nowadays. English speakers often use actualmente to mean "actually", which changes the sentence.
- ✗ Actualmente, no me gusta el café. (At the moment, I don't like coffee.)
- ✓ En realidad, no me gusta el café. (Actually, I don't like coffee.)
5. realizar
Realizar means to carry out: realizar un proyecto, realizar una encuesta. To realise something, in the sense of becoming aware of it, is darse cuenta de.
- ✗ Realicé que era tarde.
- ✓ Me di cuenta de que era tarde. (I realised it was late.)
How to study false friends
False friends are easy to understand when you read about them and easy to forget when you're speaking. The fix is to practise them in the direction where the trap springs: from English into Spanish.
- Learn each one as a pair. Not just embarazada = pregnant, but embarazada = pregnant; embarrassed = avergonzado/a. The pair is the lesson.
- Write the warning down. In a paper notebook, the note column is the right place: "≠ embarrassed → avergonzado". The layout is explained in how to make a vocabulary notebook.
- Test yourself from English. Cover the Spanish and ask yourself: how do I say "I'm embarrassed", "I realised", "actually"? That's the moment you'd make the mistake.
- Write one sentence about your own life with the right word: Ayer me di cuenta de que...
- Go back to the ones you miss. A false friend you got wrong once is likely to catch you again. More ways to make words stick are in nine methods to memorize vocabulary.
If you want a structured list alongside your own words, Word Notebook (Dil Defteri) has a Spanish course: A1 to C2, 246 words in 24 units, with an example sentence for every word (courses).
Quiz
Cover the answers and choose first.
- A friend tells you, Estoy embarazada. What's her news? (a) She's embarrassed. (b) She's pregnant.
- How do you say "I realised I had lost my keys"? (a) Realicé que había perdido las llaves. (b) Me di cuenta de que había perdido las llaves.
- El precio actual means: (a) the actual price (b) the current price.
- Someone asks, ¿Te molesta si abro la ventana? You don't mind at all. What do you say? (a) En absoluto. (b) Absolutamente.
- Where do you borrow books for free? (a) en la librería (b) en la biblioteca
- Es una chica muy educada means: (a) she's very polite (b) she's highly educated.
Answers: 1 (b) · 2 (b) · 3 (b) · 4 (a) · 5 (b) · 6 (a)
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common Spanish false friend?
The best known is embarazada, which means pregnant, not embarrassed; to say you're embarrassed, use me da vergüenza or estoy avergonzado/a. For everyday misunderstandings, actualmente (currently, not actually) and realizar (to carry out, not to realise) probably cause more confusion, because they don't sound like mistakes.
Are false friends the same as false cognates?
Not quite, though many people use the terms interchangeably. Strictly, cognates share a historical origin, so a false cognate only looks related. Many Spanish-English false friends, such as éxito and exit, really are related through Latin; their meanings simply drifted apart. For learners the difference rarely matters: both are words to double-check.
Do Spanish speakers make the same mistakes in English?
Yes, in the opposite direction. Spanish speakers learning English often say actually when they mean currently, sensible when they mean sensitive, or I assisted the meeting when they mean attended. If you're learning English with Spanish as your first language, the table in this post works just as well read from right to left.
Which Spanish-English cognates can I trust?
Many word endings match reliably: -ción and -tion (nación, información), -dad and -ty (universidad, posibilidad), -mente and -ly (rápidamente). These are usually true friends. Still, check any word you plan to use in an important email or conversation, because the exceptions are exactly the words in this post.
Sources
- Real Academia Española, Diccionario de la lengua española: embarazado, constipado, constipar, absoluto (en absoluto), educado, sensible, actual, realizar, asistir, recordar, éxito, suceso, decepción, pretender, largo, librería, carpeta, ropa, fábrica, vaso, lectura, resfriado, soportar, introducir, presentar: dle.rae.es (checked 30 September 2026)
- Cambridge Dictionary, Spanish–English (the same entries, including the Latin American sense of constipado): dictionary.cambridge.org (checked 30 September 2026)
Every example sentence here is our own. See how we write and check our posts.
Written by the small team behind Word Notebook (Dil Defteri). How we write these posts and where to report a mistake is on the About page.
