Falsche freunde
6 cards from across every topic, each citing a source. Tap one to open it in the feed.
- 'Actual' isn't 'aktuell' – but Spanish 'actual' is.
English 'actual' means real, not current. Spanish 'actual', like German 'aktuell', means current; 'actualmente' means …
- 'Estoy embarazada' does not mean 'I'm embarrassed'.
Spanish 'embarazada' means pregnant, not embarrassed. It's the classic false friend: translate 'I'm embarrassed' …
- A look-alike word is a hypothesis, not a translation.
Spanish and English share thousands of cognates: nación/nation, animal/animal, importante/important. That speeds up …
- How to unmask false friends before they embarrass you.
Three checks for a word that looks familiar: First, is it used in a context where the familiar meaning makes no sense? …
- Never order jam "without préservatif" in France.
French "préservatif" is not a preservative but a condom: a thin sheath of latex or polyurethane. Food preservatives are …
- Why 'Gift' is deadly in German but lovely in English.
Both words share the same Germanic root meaning 'to give'. In German, Gift originally meant a present too, you can …