Kilo Lingo
Part of Chapter 45

CEFR B2

5 min read

Test yourself (14 questions)

Spanish False Friends, Part 2: The Verbs and the Tricky Ones

Part one rounded up the nouns that trip up beginners: is not embarrassed, is soup not soap, and a is a bookshop, not a library. Those are the famous ones, the traps you learn to sidestep in your first term.

This second batch is meaner. These are mostly verbs, and verbs bury themselves inside whole sentences, so the mistake sails past unnoticed until the meaning quietly goes wrong. Each false friend here produces a real, grammatical Spanish sentence - just not the one you intended. Nobody blinks. The damage is done in silence.

The one that sounds like a crime

looks alarming and is entirely harmless: it means to bother, annoy or disturb. No is a polite "I don't want to trouble you". ¿ ? means "Do you mind if I smoke?" It carries none of the weight of the English molest. For that darker sense, Spanish reaches for abusar or acosar. So when a parent says no a , they mean "stop pestering your sister", nothing sinister.

Verbs that mean the opposite of what you expect

looks supportive; it is the reverse. It means to put up with, to bear, to tolerate, usually something unpleasant: no ("I can't stand the noise"). To back someone morally, use : decisión ("I support your decision"). To support someone financially, use : a ("he supports the whole family").

is not a recording studio. It means to remember, or, with an indirect pronoun, to remind: a ("I remind you the meeting is at three"). To record sound or video is : a .

does not mean to pretend. It means to intend, to aim to, to be after: ¿ con ? ("what are you trying to achieve with that?"). To pretend, in the sense of faking, is : ("he pretended to be ill").

is not to attend. It means to attend to, to serve, to see to: ("the waitress served us very well"). To attend an event is a: a ("I went to the wedding").

Remover is not to remove. It mostly means to stir or to turn something over: remueve ("stir the soup"). To remove, in the sense of taking away, is or .

leans harder than English "discuss". It usually means to argue or quarrel: ("we argued about money"). To calmly discuss a topic is or .

The subtle nouns

Asignatura is not a signature; it is a school subject: asignatura ("my favourite subject"). A signature is a .

is not college or university. It is a school, usually primary or secondary. University is . Sending your child does not mean you have enrolled a six-year-old at Oxford.

is not a parent. It means a relative, any relative: ("a distant relative"). Your parents are your .

is not a camp. It means field or countryside: . A camp, as in a summer camp, is a .

The two that reverse your meaning

is the cruellest of the lot, because it looks like absolutely and means the opposite: not at all. Asked ¿ ?, if you answer you have said "not in the slightest". To agree emphatically, say , or .

is not ultimately. It means lately, recently: ("I've been sleeping badly lately"). Ultimately, in the sense of in the end, is final or instancia.

And a small extra caution: is not gracious. It means funny, amusing: ("your brother is very funny"). Gracious, in the sense of kind, is . One last spelling trap: ("to send") is one letter away from ("to envy"). sends the email; covets your sunshine.

The false-friend table

Spanish wordLooks likeReally meansEnglish word you wanted -> Spanish
to molestto bother, annoyto molest -> abusar , acosar
to recordto remember, remindto record ->
to supportto put up with, bearto support -> ,
to pretendto intend, aim toto pretend ->
to attendto serve, see toto attend -> a
removerto removeto stir, turn overto remove -> ,
to discussto argue, quarrelto discuss -> ,
to envyto sendto envy ->
asignaturaa signaturea school subjectsignature ->
collegeschoolcollege ->
parentrelativeparents ->
campfield, countrysidecamp ->
graciousfunny, amusinggracious ->
absolutelynot at allabsolutely ->
ultimatelylately, recentlyultimately -> final

Why these stick

The reason these outlive the noun traps is that they are all plausible in context. Tell someone a and it parses fine; you have merely said you tolerate your relatives rather than support them, which is a different family dinner entirely. Say with a smile and you have politely refused the thing you meant to accept. The grammar covers for you, which is exactly why the meaning slips through.

The fix is not cleverness but drilling. Learn the pair each time - the false friend and the word that actually does the job - so that and live in the same slot in your head, ready to be told apart.

See also

Practise: test yourself

Fill in the blank

0/8

Complete each sentence with the correct Spanish verb. Choose the true friend, not the one that merely looks like the English.

  1. No quiero a nadie con mis preguntas. (to bother) (bother, not molest)

  2. ¿ dónde dejaste las llaves? (do you remember) (remember, not record)

  3. No el calor de agosto. (I cannot stand) (put up with, not support)

  4. ¿Qué decir con eso? (do you intend) (intend, not pretend)

  5. La camarera nos muy bien. (served) (serve, not attend an event)

  6. Voy a la leche antes de que hierva. (to stir) (stir, not remove)

  7. Siempre con mi hermano por tonterías. (I argue) (argue, not just discuss)

  8. he dormido fatal. (lately) (lately, not ultimately)

Pick the right one

0/6

Choose the word that says what the English means, not the one that merely looks similar.

  1. Tengo que a una boda el sábado. (attend an event)

  2. Mi favorita es la historia. (school subject)

  3. Mi hija va al por la mañana. (primary school)

  4. Es un lejano por parte de mi madre. (relative)

  5. Tu hermano es muy , siempre me hace reír. (funny)

  6. Pasamos el verano en el , lejos de la ciudad. (countryside)

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Frequently asked questions

Does molestar really mean to molest in Spanish?
No, and this one causes genuine alarm. Molestar simply means to bother, annoy or disturb. No te quiero molestar means I do not want to trouble you, and ¿Le molesta si fumo? means Do you mind if I smoke? It carries none of the sinister sense of the English molest. If you need that darker meaning, Spanish uses abusar de or acosar. So a small child who says no molestes a tu hermana is being told to stop pestering their sister, nothing worse. Treat molestar as a polite, everyday verb and you will use it correctly.
What is the difference between recordar and grabar?
Recordar means to remember or to remind: te recuerdo que la reunión es a las tres means I remind you the meeting is at three. It never means to record. To record sound or video is grabar: voy a grabar el concierto means I am going to record the concert. The overlap in English is an accident of spelling. Note that recordar is stem-changing (recuerdo, recuerdas) and often works with an indirect pronoun when it means to remind someone: me recuerda a mi padre means he reminds me of my father.
Why is soportar not the same as to support?
Soportar means to bear, tolerate or put up with, usually something unpleasant: no soporto el ruido means I cannot stand the noise. It does not mean to support in the sense of backing someone or funding them. For emotional or moral backing use apoyar: te apoyo en tu decisión, I support your decision. For financial support use mantener: mantiene a toda la familia, he supports the whole family. A physical structure that holds weight can be soportar, which is where the confusion starts, but for people you almost always want apoyar or mantener.
What does en absoluto actually mean?
This is the trap that reverses your meaning. En absoluto means not at all, an emphatic no, despite looking exactly like the English absolutely. If someone asks ¿Te molesta? and you reply en absoluto, you have said not in the slightest. To agree emphatically, say por supuesto, desde luego or claro que sí. So the two phrases are near opposites: absolutely yes is por supuesto; en absoluto is absolutely not. Get them the wrong way round and you will cheerfully contradict everything you meant to confirm.