False Friend: Groserías vs. Groceries

Good evening, and welcome to Word Wednesday! Today we'll look at another False Friend. If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this post (and go here for a list of the False Friends we've already talked about). Today we'll look at the difference between groserías in Spanish and groceries in English. 

This is our refrigerator right now. I'd say it's about time we bought some groceries!

False Friend: groserías vs. groceries
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
groserías	groceries	In Spanish, groserías are bad words: "No me digas groserías!" ("Don't say bad words to me!") In English, groceries is a word that refers to all the food you buy at a store or supermarket: "We're almost out of milk, and we need to buy more pasta, also. Let's go to the store to buy some groceries." Notice also that the "c" in "groceries" is pronounced like an "sh," like in the word "she," at least in American English.

This is pretty easy to remember, and it's not that commonly confused --but when it is, it's pretty funny! Now that I think about it, I'll have to do a series on bad words in English and Spanish, since there are some that are very similar, but they're less serious or offensive in one language or the other. So stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

False Friend: Terrorífico vs. Terrific

Hello! I've been pretty busy lately, so instead of a (longer) Common Error post, I decided to do a False Friend post today (especially since we talked about this word in my class this evening). If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this post. Today we'll look at the difference between terrorífico in Spanish and terrific in English. 

Is this clown terrific or terrorífico? I guess it depends on your point of view, but read on to find out the difference between these two words (they're very different)! Image by Graeme Maclean via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

False Friend: terrorífico vs. terrific
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
terrorífico	terrific	In Spanish, something that is terrorífico is very scary; the English equivalent is terrifying: "La foto del payazo es terrorífica!" ("The photo of the clown is terrifying!") In English, terrific is a synonym for words like excellent, wonderful, or amazing: "I had a terrific time on my vacation. I can't wait to show you the pictures I took!"

So, I think this is pretty easy. Just remember that "terrorífico" and "terrifying" are bad, and "terrific" is good!

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

False Friend: Colegio vs. College

A hallway at a colegio (high school) in San José, Costa Rica.
(Picture by Ryan Sitzman)

Hello! It's been a long time since we had a False Friend, so let's look at another one today. If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this post. Today we'll look at the difference between colegio in Spanish and college in English. 

False Friend: colegio vs. college
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
colegio	college	In Spanish, a colegio is like a high school in English: "Ella va a un colegio bilingüe." ("She goes to a bilingual high school.") In English, college is basically the same thing as a university (apparently there's a difference in Britain and Canada, but in my experience in the US, the two were  essentially the same): "Most people in Costa Rica graduate from high school when they're between the ages of 17 and 19. After graduation, some of them go to college, and others get jobs right away."

So, it's pretty easy to tell the difference between these two words, right? Just remember, college=university. For our next False Friend I think we'll talk about the differences between a bachelor, a Bachelor's degree, and a bachillerato in Spanish. 

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

False Friend: Resumen vs. Resume (and Résumé)

If you've play video games, a screen like this may look familiar.
"Pause" means to stop or take a break, "resume" means to start playing again.

Hello again, and welcome to Word Wednesday--although it's almost Thursday, so I need to type fast! It's been a while since we specifically looked at a False Friend, so today we'll talk about a common vocabulary problem. If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this introductory post. Today we'll look at the difference between resumen in Spanish and the words resume and résumé in English: 

False Friend: resumen vs. resume
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
resumen	resume or résumé	In Spanish, a resumen is something that converts a lot of information or text into a smaller unit. The English word for this is a summary, and the verb is to summarize: "I didn't have time to read the whole book, but I found a summary that gave me the basic information." The words resume and résumé are completely different. Resume is a verb. If you stop doing an action and then start doing it again later, you resume the action: "Every day during the conference we took a one-hour lunch break, and then the presentations resumed in the afternoon." Résumé is a noun. The word résumé is sometimes written without the accent marks (like "resume"), but that can cause confusion for pronunciation, since the two words aren't pronounced the same. (Click here for pronunciation: resume résumé.) A résumé is a document that you give to businesses when you are looking for a job. It contains information about your biographical history, your studies, and your work experience: "I just got fired, so I have to look for a new job. But first I need to update my résumé or else I'll never get a job!"

I wish I could have given you a quicker summary of these words, but they're complicated. Thanks for reading, and now you can resume whatever you were doing before you started reading this blog! 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!

False Friend: Fábrica vs. Fabric

Hello! Today we have another quick False Friend. If you don't know what a False Friend is, see this introductory post. Today we're going to look at the difference between fábrica in Spanish and fabric in English. These two words also look very similar: 

False Friend: fábrica vs. fabric
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
fábrica	fabric	In English, fabric is a noun; synonyms include cloth or textile: "I need to go to the fabric store to buy some material to make a pair of pants." In Spanish, fábrica is a noun that means factory or mill: "Trabajo en la fábrica de zapatos." ("I work in the shoe factory.") One more note: the verb "fabricar" in Spanish is very similar to "fabricate" in English, but the meaning is often different. "fabricar" is normally translated as "produce" in English, because "fabricate" often means to invent a false story or to tell a lie!

A roll of fabric. Photo credit.

Good luck! If you have any questions, please leave a comment below, but do understand I may be slow in responding. If you have suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

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!

False Friend: Asistir vs. Assist

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!