El cognado es el trmino que se utiliza para denominar a una palabra de una

lengua X que guarda cierto parecido y comparte significado con una palabra
de una lengua Y. Por ejemplo, encyclopaedia (en ingls) es un cognado
de enciclopedia (en espaol).

Estrategias para reconocer cognados verdaderos

Como acabamos de ver existen un sinnmero de palabras en Ingls que son muy parecidas
y hasta idnticas al espaol; se les conoce como cognados o palabras transparentes.

English Spanish
intuitive intuitivo
neurosis neurosis
psychology psicologa
system sistema

En ingls las palabras pueden terminar con cualquier vocal o cualquier consonante,
excepto: j, q y v.

Esto no sucede as en espaol, pero con un ligero cambio de aquellas palabras que no se
entienden resulta muy claro. Basta con usar nuestro sentido comn y las siguientes
estrategias.

Regla 1. En algunos casos es suficiente con agregar una vocal a la palabra inglesa para
convertirla en una palabra en espaol.

English Spanish
incident incidente
important importante

Regla 2. La e del ingls se cambia por otra vocal.

English Spanish
complete completo/ar
explore explora/ar
Regla 3. La y del ingls frecuentemente cambia a una i en espaol.

English Spanish
type tipo
analysis anlisis
system sistema

Regla 4. La ph se convierte en f.

English Spanish
graph grfica
photo foto

Regla 5. La ty o ity, se convierten en dad idad.

English Spanish
ability habilidad
quantity cantidad
capacity capacidad

Regla 6. La ch se convierte en c.

English Spanish
chaber cmara
character carcter

Regla 7. A las palabras que empiezan con una s seguida de una consonante, se les antepone
una e.

English Spanish
scale escala
student estudiante
spirit espritu
Regla 8. Si la palabra inglesa termina en sion, quedar igual.

English Spanish
occasion ocasin
passion pasin
conclusion Conclusin

Los falsos cognados en ingls tambin son llamados falsos amigos, estas palabras
en ingls y espaol se asemejan entre s pero tienen un significado diferente, como por
ejemplo:

actual (ingls) = Real, verdadero (espaol).

actual (espaol) = current (ingls)

He has retired, but he is still an actual leader

Se ha retirado, pero todava es l verdadero dirigente

I'm satisfied with my current income

Estoy satisfecho con mi salario actual

Como se puede notar, muchas palabras en ingls se parecen a las palabras en espaol,
Algunas tienen el mismo significado y son llamados cognados,
comotelevision (televisin), pero otras tienen significados totalmente diferente. Estas
palabras parecidas pero de distintos significados son llamados false friends (falsos
amigos) o false cognates (falsos cognados).

Es muy importante para quienes aprendemos ingls conocer los falsos cognados, con
el propsito de no cometer errores, como por ejemplo decir a alguien:

Sympathetic (comprensivo)
cuando lo que queremos decir es nice (simptico)

Para ayudar a reconocer estos falsos cognados, se presenta a continuacin una lista de
los 40 ms comunes. Identifica y escribe el significado de ambas palabras en el
cuadro y traduce las oraciones que encontraras en la columna de la derecha.

False Cognates
Translate

He is actually not the manager

________________________________
actually at present
1
My cousin is in France at present
__________________________________
 There's no need to advertise a good wine

___________________________________
to advertise to warn
2
Tom tried to warn Mary, but she ignored him

_____________________________________

I need your advice

____________________________________
advice notice
3
Tom was dismissed without notice
_____________________________________

Somebody caught me by the arm

_____________________________________
arm gun
4
Bill was killed with a gun

I borrowed this cartoon from his sister

cartoon cardboard
5
I just bought some cardboard

I have nothing to complain about

to complain to please
6
John is easy to please

The conductor appeared on the stage

conductor driver
7

The driver asked me which way to go

We will have a music contest soon

contest to answer
8

No student was able to answer the question

The family seemed to be under a curse

curse course
9
Students will take one of these English courses

date data Write down your date of birth here

10
 The data hasn't been compiled yet

The art of pleasing is the art of deception

deception disappointment
11
The party was a big disappointment

Put on your shoes. Let's go out for dinner

dinner money
12
He's rich. He doesn't need money!

I was embarrassed to look her in the eye

embarrassed pregnant
13
She is eight months pregnant

His theory is based on elaborate investigation

elaborate manufacturing
14
His company engages in the manufacturing of
stainless steel

The building has no fire exit

exit success
15
I'm sure of your success

This fabric is impermeable to water

fabric factory
16
The factory produces cotton goods

Please fill out this form first

form shape
17
You're in better shape than I am

18 grocery rude A long list of grocery stores agreed to situate my

 products

How rude of you!

To catch the bull, grab its horns

horn oven
19

I want a new oven

Relationships involve compromise

involve wrap
20

Just wrap it up

His lectures are boring

lecture reading
21
He spent the evening reading a book

I have free access to the library

library bookshop
22

Every bookstore has its own appeal

The mayor is not available now

mayor bigger
23
My dog is the bigger of the two

The media doesn't distribute the news

media sock
24
Take off your socks, please.

The misery of others leaves a weird taste

misery poverty
25
He was doomed to life-long poverty

The notice was badly printed

notice news
26
No news is good news
 I once wanted to be an actor

once eleven
27
It is already eleven

This pan has several uses

pan bread
28
I'd like some more bread, please

I mean to quit this company

to quit to remove
29

The coffee stain was difficult to remove

Let go of the rope

rope clothes
30

Mary spends a lot of money on clothes

What a rude man!

rude rough
31

He received rough treatment

It took him a while to realize the situation

to realize to make
32
It is easier to make plans than to put them into
practice

Are you going to record today's episode?

to record remember
33
Do you remember seeing me before?

He resumed his work after a short break

to resume to summarize
34
I want to summarize the content of the
presentation

It comes with soup and salad

salad salty
35

This food is too salty

 They are sensible girls

sensible sensitive
36
You are too sensitive to criticism

This letter bears no signature

signature subject
37

Which subject do you like best?

The wages of sin is death

sin without
38

My life is hollow without him

The soap hurt my eyes

soap soup
39

This soup is exquisite

The first attack missed the target

target card
40

Can I pay by credit card?

FALSE FRIENDS
1.-WRITE THE CORRECT WORD IN THE BOX .

1.-She was appointed of my fathers inheritance executor/executioner

2.-He never listens to the teacher during the class, he is very
charlatan/talkative.
3.-Could you this test? resume/summarise
4.-If you eat this plant youll get intoxicated/poisoned.
5.-He is so that everybody pulls his leg. candid/innocent
6.-The was so good that nobody realised anything. deception
/disappointment
7.-The was so deep that she is very angry and sad. disappointment
/deception
8.-He has Doctor Jones for five years. assisted to/attended
9.-He one of his lectures last year. attended/assisted to
10.-The was very good but not very famous for his
music. compositor/composer
11.-They wanted the city to be olimpic but it didnt have
commodities/facilities.
12.-Despite being so old he is rather unconscious/irresponsible.
13.-Albert Einstein was a famous physician/physicist.
14.- Could you keep this in the ? ,please. folder/carpet
15.-He covered the book with some paper. adherent/adhesive