Lección 59: Spanish Cognates

A cognate is a word that is the same (or similar) in two languages, such that a speaker of the first language can easily determine its meaning in the second language. It is the fastest way to increase your Spanish vocabulary. For example: la opera, el patio.  Check out this website that is totally dedicated to Spanish cognates: http://spanishcognates.org

Cognates are broken down into two groups: those whose spelling are the same in both languages, and those that are very similar. For this second group, certain rules apply that enable you to easily translate between the two.

Same Spelling Cognates

Here are some additional examples that enjoy the same spelling, although the pronunciation may be different:  e.g.

la lava	la visa	sociable	funeral
el metro	el hospital	la idea (ee-DEH-a)	el escape (es-SKA-peh)
el funeral	el cereal	horrible (oh-RREE-bleh	terrible (te-RREE-bleh
inevitable	normal	digital	vital
temporal	rural	actual	principal

Cognates that Add -ir. or -ar

These generally are verbs with a stem similar in English, so you just add the -ir or -ar ending.

adoptar	calmar	controlar
limitar	invertir	insistir

Cognates that change -tion to -ción

This is often used to form noun versions of verbs. All of these nouns are feminine. The -ción is pronounced like a single syllable with an accent: SEE-OHN.

nation / nación	action / acción	celebration / celebración	condition / condición
rotation / rotación	fiction / ficción	institution / institución	abolition / abolición

Cognates that Add an -o

This cognate is so common that you one is tempted to add an -o to any English word in the hope that it works.

domestic/doméstico

academic/académico

alcoholic/alcohólico

panic/pánico

Cognates that Change -ist to -ista

Although the Spanish word ends in -a. the gender can be either masculine (el pianista) or feminine (la pianista), depending on the person being described.

pianist/pianista

artist/artista

communist/comunista

socialist/socialista

Cognates that Change -ty to -idad

There are many. All are feminine.

university/universidad

society/sociedad

eternity/eternidad

personality/personalidad

Cognates that Change -ous to -oso

curious/curioso

amorous/amoroso

virtuous/virtuoso

Cognates that Change -ance to -ancia or -ence to -encia

Examples: ambulance/la ambulancia, permanence/permanencia, existence/la existencia,

ambulance/ambulancia

permanence/permanencia

existence/existencia

science/ciencia

Cognates that Change -ly to -mente

intensely intensamente

normally normalmente

simply simplemente

occasionally ocasionalmente

Be cBe careful with this one…as not every Spanish adverb ending with -mente has an equivalent English cognate. For example:  easy/facilmente, unfortunately/ desgraciadamente, happily/alegremente.

BEWARE OF FALSE COGNATES

These will trip you. For example: el pie/the foot (not the pie), embarazada/pregnant (not embarrassed), egoista/selfish (not egotist),  ocurrencia/idea (not occurrence), el argumento/the plot (not the argument)  

Discución: Capítulo 3 de “Un Poquito Tuyo”

Ahora vamos a discutir el argumento del tercer capítulo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzI9EGD9JKQ

Key Events:

1.     Catalina confronts Julieta at the store, faints and goes to the hospital

2.     Javi goes to another protest with his love interest

3.     Eduardo meets prospective tenants

4.     Viviana catches the American guest go skinny dipping in the pool

Key phrases

Es tu culpa.                                                      It’s your fault.

¡Ándale!                                                          Mexican version of “go” (“ve” or “vete”)