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A false friend is a word in English which looks similar
to a word in your own language. However, it has a different meaning.
Examples
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Embarrassed means to feel uncomfortable or shy.
It looks like the Spanish word for being pregnant: embarazada.
An editor is the person responsible for checking
and approving the content of a book or newspaper. In Portuguese,
Italian and French it looks like the word for publisher (the
company or person who finances and / or produces the book
or newspaper).
Actually means really or in fact.
However, in many European languages it means now.
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Note that sometimes the meanings are very different and sometimes
quite similar. You will also notice that there are different
false friends for different languages.
What about you?
A. Write three false friends in the table below:
Particular problems with false friends
| 1. |
Sometimes the word has the same meaning in
some, but not all, situations.
Example
Conveniente in Italian has several meanings. It can
have the same meaning as convenient in English (suitable
for your needs and not difficult) but in Italian the word
also means profitable and cheap. It does not
have these meanings in English. |
| 2. |
The formation of noun, adjective, verb or adverb forms
of the word can be different.
Example
Electrician NOT elettricist (ellectricista in
Italian).
Vacation NOT vacance (vacance in French). |
| 3. |
Often the word has a different pronunciation
and word stress.
Example
'motor in English. In German: Mo'tor |
What can you do?
If you see a word in English that looks familiar to you, it
may be a false friend. Look up the word in a dictionary and check
the meaning. Also, look at the different ways the word is used
and the way it is pronounced.
Keep a list of false friends. Include notes on meaning(s) and
pronunciation. Write some example sentences which show the ways
in which each false friend is used.
Test it out!
B. Look at the false friends you wrote in Exercise A above.
Write example sentences with each of these words.
True friends
There is some good news! Some English words may well be true
friends which are words which do have the same meanings as words
which look similar. Necessary, for instance, tends to
have the same meaning as similar words in many other European
languages. |
