Monday, November 7, 2011

False Friend: Éxito vs. Exit


Hello again! Today we have another False Friend. If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this introductory post. Today we'll look at the difference between éxito in Spanish and exit in English. They're not as frequently confused as some False Friends, but they definitely look very similar: 

False Friend: éxito vs. exit 
This SPANISH word...
Looks like this ENGLISH word...
...but they are DIFFERENT because...
éxito
exit
In English, exit can be a verb or a noun:
-(Verb): "Sir, you're being disruptive-- please exit the theater."
-(Noun): "Many buses have two doors; one is the entrance and the other is the exit."

In Spanish, éxito is a noun that often means success, like when a person does things correctly and becomes successful:
"Mi presentación no fue muy exitosa porque estaba muy nervioso."
("My presentation wasn't very successful because I was very nervous.")

I wish you a lot of success when using these words! If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. If you have suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

2 comments:

  1. how about COMMITMENT and COMPROMISE? or did you do that already?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Lucy!

    It's actually on my to-blog list, but thanks! I'll try to do it soon!

    Ryan

    ReplyDelete

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-Ryan

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