Mastering Spanish Cognates: Your Key to Quick Language Learning

Key takeaways

• Cognates are Spanish words that look and mean the same (or nearly the same) as English words — making them great vocabulary boosters.
• Spanish has thousands of true cognates with English, like animal, hospital, and color.
• Watch out for false cognates (a.k.a. "false friends") that look similar but mean something different — like embarazada (pregnant, not embarrassed).
• Recognizing common patterns like "-tion" → "-ción" or "-ly" → "-mente" helps you learn faster.
• Promova makes learning with cognates easier with personalized lessons, flashcards, and AI-powered speaking practice.

If you’re looking for tips and tricks to fast-track mastering the Spanish language, you've come to the right place. 

In this article, we’ll explore true and false cognates with rich Spanish cognate examples of their usage in everyday conversations. We’ll also share tips for using cognates to improve your Spanish grammar and vocabulary, and much more. 

What is a cognate in Spanish?

A cognate in Spanish is a word that’s spelled almost the same way in another language and has a similar meaning and pronunciation to that variant. 

The Spanish language shares cognates with many other languages, including Portuguese, Romanian, French, English, and Italian.

The primary reason for this similarity is that Spanish and the languages mentioned above share the same roots and have borrowed words from each other over the centuries. 

For example, the word "natural" in Spanish is a perfect cognate because it’s spelled and means the same as the "natural" in English and Portuguese. The word "natural" in Spanish is also an imperfect cognate of "naturelle" in French. 

However, our focus for this article is English-Spanish cognates. There are approximately 10,000 to 15,000 common cognates between the English and Spanish languages. 

How to recognize cognates in Spanish

There is no hard-and-fast rule for recognizing cognates in Spanish. That said, there are repeatable patterns for translating English words into their Spanish cognate equivalents, and vice versa.

Pattern 1: "-tion" to "-ción" 

Many English words that end in "-tion" have Spanish equivalents ending in "-ción." 

Note that there are exceptions to this rule, regardless of whether you’re translating from Spanish to English or the other way round. 

For example, the Spanish equivalent of "standardization" is "estandarización," not "standardización." The same applies to "stabilization" and "auction," whose Spanish equivalents are "estabilización" and "subasta," respectively. 

You may also be tempted to think "question" equates to "questión," but that would be incorrect as well, as that word does not exist in Spanish. The correct versions would be "cuestión" (when referring to an issue or matter) or "pregunta" (when asking a question). 

These examples highlight the importance of being careful with false cognates, which we’ll discuss in more depth later. 

Pattern 2: "-ty" to "-dad" or "-tad"

Many Spanish words that end in "-dad" correspond to an English version that ends in "-ty," as shown in the examples below:

So, when do you use "tad" instead of "dad"? When the English word has an "l" or "r" before the ending "ty," then you use "-tad" as in the case of "difficulty" to "difficultad" and "liberty" to "libertad." 

And when the English word has a vowel sound preceding the "ty" ending, then you use "-dad" as in the case of "unity" to "unidad."

These are some of the nuances that excellent online Spanish classes help you master. 

Pattern 3: "-ous" to "-oso"

Another predictable pattern in recognizing Spanish-English cognates is the "-ous" to "-oso" route. Examples include:

From the examples above, you may have observed that the English words that end in "-tious" or "-cious" have a Spanish equivalent that almost always ends in "-cioso."

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Pattern 4: "-al" to "-al"

English nouns ending with "-al" often stay spelled the same way in Spanish, albeit pronounced differently. Examples include:

Pattern 5: "-ic" to "-ico"

Another easily recognizable pattern is that English words ending in "-ic" often end in "-ico" in Spanish, as shown in the examples below. 

Pattern 6: "-ly" to "-mente"

This pattern is applicable to converting English words ending in "-ly" to Spanish words ending in "-mente." 

One observation: When the English word has an "e" before the "-ly," then the "e" is replaced with "a" in the Spanish equivalent. For example, "completely" becomes "completamente" and "absolutely" becomes "absolutamente."

Pattern 7: "ph" to "f"

The "ph" sound or spelling in English is simplified to "f" in Spanish. 

Pattern 8: "-sion" to "-sion"

Another pattern to help you recognize some Spanish cognates is the "-sion" to "-sión" pipeline that births mostly perfect cognates. Here are a few examples:

Again, there are always exceptions, sometimes many. For example, "permission" is "permiso" in Spanish, not "permissión." Notwithstanding, "permiso" is still a Spanish cognate. 

These are some of the quirks you’ll experience while learning Spanish and adding more cognates to your Spanish vocabulary. 

True vs. false cognates

True cognates are Spanish and English words that look and/or sound alike and also have the same meaning in both languages. 

All the examples we shared so far are true cognates, but as a refresher, here are a few more examples:

On the other hand, false cognates, also known as "false amigos" or "false friends" in Spanish, are English and Spanish word pairs that share a superficial resemblance in terms of spelling and even pronunciation, but have different meanings. 

It’s essential to recognize that false Spanish cognates exist because they bear little resemblance to their English counterparts. These words will alter the intended meaning of your Spanish sentences. 

Here are a few examples of false cognates:

List of cognates in Spanish with meanings

Below, we share many common perfect and near-perfect Spanish cognates that you can start using today. 

Perfect Spanish cognates

Perfect cognates are words spelled the same way in English and Spanish, and have the same meaning or are extremely close.

Here’s a broad list of perfect cognates to help you improve your Spanish vocabulary: 

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Rather, it’s an expansive list to show you what perfect cognates look like. 

Near-perfect Spanish cognates

Near-perfect cognates have the same meaning but slight variations in their spellings, often a different ending. 

Spanish cognates in sentences

Now, let’s use some of the cognates we’ve shared so far in everyday conversations. 

These examples show how prevalent cognates can be in everyday Spanish conversations. You are well on your way to learning Spanish to a reasonable level if you master cognates. 

Tips for using Spanish-English cognates to improve your vocabulary

Cognates are a powerful language learning strategy that takes advantage of your native language knowledge. 

So, whether you're an English speaker learning Spanish or the other way round, cognates can help you add a significant number of words to your vocabulary. 

Here are practical tips for learning Spanish cognates:

Hunt for cognates

The first tip is to chase after cognates now that you’re aware of them. Look for them in regular, everyday conversations in places like social media, on product labels, news articles, and restaurant menus, among others. 

The idea is to find words that look familiar and guess their English equivalent. For example, say you see the word "información" or "oficina" on an X post; you can guess what the word means before checking the actual meaning. 

Another great way is to try to spot cognates while doing Spanish exercises and quizzes. Cognates are easy Spanish words to remember due to their familiarity. 

Master the patterns

Earlier in the article, we shared some of the patterns to recognize Spanish cognates. Master these patterns rather than trying to memorize thousands of words. In particular, focus on the following:

• "-tion" → "-ción"
• "-ty" → "-dad"
• "-ly" → "-mente"
• "-ous" → "-oso"

Guess the Spanish word first

For this one, try to guess the Spanish equivalent of English words based on the patterns you’ve mastered. Guessing and finding out the answer later, whether it's right or wrong, makes assimilation much easier. 

Document your learnings

As you guess and put the patterns to the test, document your learnings. Write out Spanish words and their English equivalents and use them in sentences that resonate with you. 

You’ll also come across many "false friends." Have a section for them in your notebook as well. 

Build your Spanish fluency with Promova

The three key principles to learning any language, including Spanish, are exposure to the language you’re learning, comprehensible output (a fancy way of saying speaking or writing the language you’re learning), and review or feedback. 

Building a solid cognate vocabulary bank is only one of the first steps towards Spanish mastery. You need a more structured environment, like Promova, a Spanish language learning app, that encourages effective growth and provides feedback. 

Here’s how Promova can elevate your Spanish fluency:

• Get a personalized learning path powered by AI that adapts to your goals, learning style, and current level.
• Learn anytime, anywhere with bite-sized lessons that fit into your lunch break or daily commute.
• Build real-life vocabulary and practice using it in everyday situations.
• Understand Spanish grammar with simple, clear explanations.

Conclusion

If there's anything you take away from this blog, it should be that cognates are much more than a clever learning hack. They are one of the foundational building blocks of learning Spanish as an English speaker, considering the many similarities and Latin roots between the two languages. 

And with a platform like Promova, you can turn your cognate knowledge into real-world fluency. Take a bold step in your Spanish journey. Download the Promova app to find the perfect Spanish lessons tailored to your needs.