Cognates are words that share meaning and spelling with another language.

While English shares very few cognates with Chinese, 30 to 40% of all English words share words with Spanish. (Spanish Cognates)

Not surprisingly, researchers studying first and second language acquisition have discovered that students benefit from recognizing cognates.

For this reason I think it is important that you have a list that you can consult at any time of words that you already know and that you can use in the beginning to learn Spanish.

In this article you will find 30 rules of cognates to finally have a list of false cognates.

 

 

 

Some words ending “al” in English may have their Spanish equivalent with the same ending.

 

English           Spanish

 

abdominal     abdominal

abnormal       anormal

abysmal         abismal

accidental      accidental

 

 

 

Some words that end in “ant” in English, in Spanish end in “ante”.

 

English           Spanish

 

abundant       abundante

distant           distante

elegant           elegante

important      importante

instant           instante

 

 

 

To the following words is added “ar” o “ir” and you already have the same word

 

English           Spanish

 

abandon        abandonar

adapt             adaptar

adjust             ajustar

admit             admitir

adopt             adoptar

 

 

Some words ending in “ar” in English are usually the same in Spanish

 

English           Spanish

 

altar               altar

angular          angular

circular           circular

familiar          familiar

lunar              lunar

 

Some words ending “ary” in English end in “ario” in Spanish

 

English                       Spanish

 

actuary                      actuario

calvary                       calvario

canary                       canario

diary                          diario

estuary                      estuario

 

Some words that end in “ate” in English, in Spanish end in “ar”.

 

English           Spanish

 

abbreviate     abreviar

abdicate         abdicar

accelerate      acelerar

accentuate     acentuar

activate          activar

 

Some words ending in “ble” in English also end in “ble” in Spanish

 

English           Spanish

 

abominable   abominable

adjustable      ajustable

admirable      admirable

adorable        adorable

cable              cable

Algunas palabras que terminan en “ct” en inglés, en español terminan en “cto”.

English           Spanish

 

act                  acto

compact         compacto

conflict           conflicto

contact          contacto

contract         contrato

 

 

 

Some words that end in English “e” in English, in Spanish you add “ar” or “ir”.

 

English           Spanish

 

accuse            acusar

acquire           adquirir

admire           admirar

analyze          analizar

assume          asumir

debate           debatir

 

Some words ending in “ify” in English, in Spanish “ificar” is added to them

 

English           Spanish

 

certify            certificar

clarify             clarificar

classify           clasificar

codify             codificar

crucify            crucificar

 

Some words that end in “ence” in English, in Spanish end in “encia”.

 

English                       Spanish

adolescence              adolescencia

audience                    audiencia

benevolence              benevolencia

coincidence               coincidencia

competence              competencia

 

Some words that end in “ic” in English, in Spanish end in “ico”.

 

English           Spanish

 

esoteric          esotérico

ethnic             étnico

exotic             exótico

fantastic         fantástico

generic           genérico

 

Some words that end in “id” in English, in Spanish end in “ido”

 

English           Spanish

 

acid                ácido

avid                ávido

fluid               fluido

liquid              líquido

lucid               lúcido

 

Some words in “ile” in English, in Spanish end in “il”.

 

English           Spanish

 

agile               ágil

automobile    automóvil

facsimile        facsímil

fragile            frágil

hostile            hostil

Taken from Blania <a href="https://www.blania.co/spanish-cognates/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.blania.co/spanish-cognates/</a>;