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| An emergency call box for assistance (help). Photo Credit: Eric E. Johnson |
Hello again! In a few days I'll post more about the Third Conditional, but for today we have another False Friend. If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this introductory post. I want to look at the difference between asistir in Spanish and assist in English. My students commonly confuse these two words:
| False Friend: asistir vs. assist | ||
| This SPANISH word... | Looks like this ENGLISH word... | ...but they are DIFFERENT because... |
| asistir | assist | In English, assist is usually used as a verb. It is similar to the word help. For example: "If you have English problems, please tell me and I'll be happy to assist you." In Spanish, asistir is a verb that often means to go to or to attend. BUT, it can also mean to help, depending on the context. As nouns in English, an "assistant" is a helper, and "assistance" is help. Note that "attendance" is a noun form of "attend." Compare: "When her car broke down, Jane called her insurance company to ask for assistance." "It's important to go to every English class because 10% of my final grade is based on class attendance." As nouns in Spanish, asistencia can mean either "attendance" (in a class) or "assistance" (help, like in the photo above). |
I hope that helps you. If you're confused or have any questions, please leave a comment below and I'll be happy to try to assist you! If you have suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
this is one of those ones that is so diametrically opposed, that it has started to confuse me not only in Spanish but also English - like driving again in a country where you drive on the left after a long time driving on the right (or whatever) - it gets hard to remember which is which, where - or in this case, in what language.... *hopeless shrug* =(
ReplyDeleteHi Lucy,
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Just wait until we talk about "attend"!
Thanks for the comment,
Ryan
The english word "attend" can also be understood as "help" in the context or "attend to" :)
ReplyDeleteYes, exactly. I just realized now that I've not done the post for "attend," so I'll have to do that ASAP. Thanks for the comment, Mr./Ms./Miss Anonymous! :)
ReplyDelete