Kilo Lingo
Part of Chapter 45

CEFR B2

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: embarazada is not embarrassed, sopa is soup not soap, and a librería 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

Molestar looks alarming and is entirely harmless: it means to bother, annoy or disturb. No te quiero molestar is a polite "I don't want to trouble you". ¿Le molesta si fumo? 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 de or acosar. So when a parent says no molestes a tu hermana, they mean "stop pestering your sister", nothing sinister.

Verbs that mean the opposite of what you expect

Soportar looks supportive; it is the reverse. It means to put up with, to bear, to tolerate, usually something unpleasant: no soporto el ruido ("I can't stand the noise"). To back someone morally, use apoyar: te apoyo en tu decisión ("I support your decision"). To support someone financially, use mantener: mantiene a toda la familia ("he supports the whole family").

Recordar is not a recording studio. It means to remember, or, with an indirect pronoun, to remind: te recuerdo que la reunión es a las tres ("I remind you the meeting is at three"). To record sound or video is grabar: voy a grabar el concierto.

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

Atender is not to attend. It means to attend to, to serve, to see to: la camarera nos atendió muy bien ("the waitress served us very well"). To attend an event is asistir a: asistí a la boda ("I went to the wedding").

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

Discutir leans harder than English "discuss". It usually means to argue or quarrel: discutimos por dinero ("we argued about money"). To calmly discuss a topic is hablar de or tratar.

The subtle nouns

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

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

Pariente is not a parent. It means a relative, any relative: un pariente lejano ("a distant relative"). Your parents are your padres.

Campo is not a camp. It means field or countryside: pasamos el verano en el campo. A camp, as in a summer camp, is a campamento.

The two that reverse your meaning

En absoluto is the cruellest of the lot, because it looks like absolutely and means the opposite: not at all. Asked ¿te molesta?, if you answer en absoluto you have said "not in the slightest". To agree emphatically, say por supuesto, desde luego or claro que sí.

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

And a small extra caution: gracioso is not gracious. It means funny, amusing: tu hermano es muy gracioso ("your brother is very funny"). Gracious, in the sense of kind, is amable. One last spelling trap: enviar ("to send") is one letter away from envidiar ("to envy"). Te envío el correo sends the email; te envidio el sol covets your sunshine.

The false-friend table

Spanish wordLooks likeReally meansEnglish word you wanted -> Spanish
molestarto molestto bother, annoyto molest -> abusar de, acosar
recordarto recordto remember, remindto record -> grabar
soportarto supportto put up with, bearto support -> apoyar, mantener
pretenderto pretendto intend, aim toto pretend -> fingir
atenderto attendto serve, see toto attend -> asistir a
removerto removeto stir, turn overto remove -> quitar, eliminar
discutirto discussto argue, quarrelto discuss -> hablar de, tratar
enviarto envyto sendto envy -> envidiar
asignaturaa signaturea school subjectsignature -> firma
colegiocollegeschoolcollege -> universidad
parienteparentrelativeparents -> padres
campocampfield, countrysidecamp -> campamento
graciosograciousfunny, amusinggracious -> amable
en absolutoabsolutelynot at allabsolutely -> por supuesto
últimamenteultimatelylately, recentlyultimately -> al final

Why these stick

The reason these outlive the noun traps is that they are all plausible in context. Tell someone soporto a mi familia and it parses fine; you have merely said you tolerate your relatives rather than support them, which is a different family dinner entirely. Say en absoluto 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 recordar and grabar 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)

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.