Cognates

There are thousands of words in Spanish and English that share the same roots and therefore may appear or sound very similar in the two languages (cognates).

A true Cognate  is a Spanish word that looks or sounds similar to an English word and has the same meaning. Some examples are shown below.

Spanish Word    English Translation  
profesor          professor
carácter           character
música            musica
literatura         literature
inteligente       intelligent

A false cognate is a Spanish word that looks or sounds similar to an English word but has a totally different meaning. Some examples are shown below.


Spanish Word     English Translation     Confused With     Spanish Translation

abandonar	to quit	to remove	quitar
absoluto	absolute	absolutely	absolutamente

Workshop

1. In pair task. Go to this page and work on the exercises. Copy the exercises in a Google document so both of you can edit and work in the same document.
2. Individual task. Look for an article related to your field of expertise. Use Google, write key words related to a topic you want to read about.
3. Write a post in your blog. Introduce the topic of the article. Make sure to add the link where you got it from. Write a short summary of the article. Say what it is about.Give your opinion about it.
4. Select two paragraphs from your article and copy them in your blog
5. Draw a chart with examples of true and false cognates.

Resources and References
FALSE FRIENDS OR FALSE COGNATES
http://www.saberingles.com.ar/curious/falsefriends.html

COGNATES/PALABRAS AFINES
http://dlti.us/doc/COGNATESDISD.pdf

False cognates
http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/false_cognates

Keep on shining Love and peace!