One of the great things about learning any European language is that there are so many similarities with other European languages. This means that, if you’re learning English and you already speak a language like French, Spanish, German or Dutch, you already share thousands of words that come from the same origin – and that can help you recognise new words and speed up your learning dramatically.
But beware! Just because a word looks or sounds similar to a word in your own language, or in another language you speak, it doesn’t necessarily mean exactly the same thing. Languages evolve over time and people change the way that they use words. Two words that share the same route can end up meaning very different things.
We call those words that look as if they should be easy but actually have a totally different meaning “false friends”.
For example, a Spanish friend of mine who speaks English to a very high level told me that he had a very awkward situation at work recently, all because of one of these “false friends”.
His boss had taken a few days off because she was sick. When she came back to work, she was still sneezing and coughing, and he could hear from her voice that she had a blocked nose.
In Spanish, when someone has a bad cold with a blocked up nose, you say that they are “constipado”. It’s very easy to turn this into the English word “constipated”, and my friend presumed that this meant exactly the same thing.
However, the English word constipated does not mean that you have a cold. In fact, it is typically used to mean that a person is having trouble going to the toilet!
But my friend didn’t realise this, so when his boss walked in through the door, he said very loudly in front of all his colleagues, “Oh, poor you – it sounds like you are still constipated!”
Which as you can imagine, shocked his boss and his colleagues and made him extremely embarrassed when he realised his mistake!
Not all false friends are as bad as this one, but they can create plenty of confusion in conversation.
Take the word “gymnasium”. In Ancient Greece and Rome, this was a place where young men would train their bodies and their minds, both by exercising and learning about philosophy. In modern German, “gymnasium” still means a place for learning – but not for exercising. In English, it means a place for exercising – but certainly not somewhere you would go to talk about philosophy!
Or what about the verb “to attend”? If you speak French, you might see this and automatically assume that it also means “wait for” or “expect” in English. In fact, if you “attend” to someone in English, you look after them or serve them in some way. If you tell your friend you’re attending them in the bar, they might think you are planning to serve them drinks.
Of course, not all words that look or sound the same between languages are false friends, and usually you can make an educated guess about what a familiar-looking word means from the context.
Just remember that, even if a word is spelt the same, it’s unlikely to have an identical meaning to the one you are used to. Don’t just assume you can use it in the same way – if you’re unsure, double check the definition with a native speaker to avoid any red-faced moments!
Have you ever been caught out by an embarrassing “false friend” while learning English? Tell us about your experience in the comments section below!
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