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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!
