List of English–Spanish false friends

This is a list of false friends in Modern English and Modern Spanish. False friends are words in two languages or dialects that look or sound similar, but differ significantly in meaning.

Nouns

Spanish noun

Meaning

False friend of

advertencia

amígdala

aurora

babel

bafle

balón

bando

barro

batata

bruma

cacerola

camarera

campo

cardo

cargo

carpeta

cáscara

casualidad

cata

celibato

chacra

cigarra

cola

colonia

colono

comentario

compromiso

concha

conducto

conmoción

costumbre

cova

cuesta

curso

dato

demanda

demencia

deportista

desgracia

destreza

ducha

editorial

encuesta

envío

equivocación

factura

faro

fastidio

fatalidad

finalidad

fleco

ganga

hipo

incremento

insolación

intento

internar

juicio

Labrador

molesto

negocio

nudo

olivo

panti

papa

parada

peregrino

plumero

preservativo

pulpo

pupa

quid

recipiente

recuerdo

red

refrán

reinserción

repartición

resorte

resortes

robo

ropa

ruin

sauce

sauco

según

sensible

soberbia

submarinista

tímpano

tobogan

tope

trampa

vaso

Verbs

Spanish verb

Meaning

False friend of

advertir

anticipar

asesorar

balancear

barrer

bordar

bordear

censar

chafar

chillar

constiparse

damnificar

demandar

denominar

depurar

desgraciar

duchar

editar

elaborar

encauzar

enrollar

entablar

enterrar

escamar

fechar

fingir

fracasar

garrotear

grabar

molestar

negar

pinchar

rebotar

reclamar

recolectar

recordar

recurrir

regresar

restar

resumir

suceder

Adjectives

Spanish adjective

Meaning

False friend of

ajustado

constipado

desgraciado

embarazada

entrañable

grandiose

inedito

soso

vidrioso

See also

  • False friend
  • False cognate
  • List of orthographically identical words in English and Spanish
  • Influences on the Spanish language
  • Foreign language influences in English
  • Longest word in English
  • Longest word in Spanish