Spanish words similar to English
Building a strong Spanish vocabulary can be quite a challenge. You need to have a good strategy to learn the most frequently used words in the shortest time possible. Starting from this lesson and continuing in the next four lessons, we will be covering some shortcuts which will help you build your Spanish vocabulary more effectively. We will be introducing some certain patterns which you can make use of to learn more words. But, be careful not every word which looks like an English word is a true cognate. We will deal with the false cognates in the next lesson. Another shortcut to expand your Spanish vocabulary is to concentrate on prefixes and suffixes. In lesson Spanish prefixes we will cover the essential frequency prefixes and in lesson Spanish suffixes we will do the same for the suffixes. Finally, we will cover the topic Spanish compound words in this series. Let us start with what you already have in your hands to start making sentences in Spanish.
Start with what you already have at your disposal
Spanish has many words which are similar to English. Therefore, it is a good idea to recognize which English words can be used in Spanish as well so that you can start using them immediately in your sentences.
These words are called Spanish cognates and to differentiate them from the false cognates, they are sometimes called as true cognates as well.
For example, the Spanish verb abandonar means to abandon. Very often you will notice that many Spanish verbs are formed by adding one of the possible infinitive forms, i.e. –ar, -er, -ir to the infinitive of the English verb, as in the case of abandoner. In other cases, the English and Spanish words can be exactly the same. For example, abnormal is used in both languages as adjectives. Yet in some other cases, the two words just resemble each other, as in the case of acusar which means to accuse. Many nouns which end in “–tion” in Spanish have English counterparts which end in –ción.
In the vocabulary section below, you may find a collection of some of the essential ones.
Vocabulary
similar verbs
abdicar: to abdicate
abolir: to abolish
acusar: to accuse
acelerar: to accelerate
adapt: to adaptar
ajustar: to adjust
administrar: to administrar
admire: to admirar
admit: to admitir
adoptar: to adopt
adorar: to adore
affectar: to affect
aparecer: to appear
atacar: to attack
atenuar: to attenuate
calmar: to calm
combinar: to combine
contribuir: to contribute
controlar: to control
declarar: to declare
dedicar: to dedicate
decider: to decide
falsear: to falsify
fascinar: to fascinate
iluminar: to illuminate
imaginar: to imagine
justificar: to justify
laborer: to labor
lamenter: to lament
limitar: to limit
calcular: to calculate
necesitar: to need
obligor: to obligate
ocurrir: to occur
obtener: to obtain
offender: to offend
observer: to observe
recibir: to receive
similar nouns
abstracción: abstraction
abundancia: abundance
actor: actor
actriz: actress
arrogancia: arrogance
ataque: attack
atención: attention
atracción: attraction
atributo: attribute
audiencia: audience
balcón: balcony
banco: bank
banquero: banker
barbero: barber
beneficio: benefit
bicicleta: bicycle
biografía: biography
blusa: blouse
bomba: bomb
calendario: calendar
candidato: candidate
capacidad: capacity
conflicto: conflict
contacto: contact
contracto: contract
danza: dance
efecto: effect
electricidad: electricity
imperio: empire
eternidad: eternity
facultad: faculty
faciliad: facility
familia: family
factor: factor
fama: fame
fatalidad: fatility
generosidad: generosity
gesto: gesture
gradtitud: graditude
historia: history
idea: idea
kilogramo: kilogram
localidad: locality
libertad: liberty
latitud: latitude
lista: list
nacionalidad: nationality
necesidad: necessity
objeto: object
pausa: pause
pasta: paste
perla: pearl
realista: realist
realidad: reality
talent: talent
temperatura: temperature
Note that the English nouns ending in “–tion” have Spanish counterpart ending in –ción. Similarly, Spanish nouns ending in –dad have English counterparts which end in –ty.
similar adjectives/adverbs
absolutamente: absolutely
abundantemente: abundantly
arrogante: arrogant
aspirante: aspirant
atractivo: attractive
absurd: absurdo
atento: attentive
activo: active
automático: automatic
defecto: defect
elegante: elegant
eterno: eternal
esencial: essential
falso: false
famoso: famous
favorable: favorable
glorioso: glorious
imposible: impossible
justo: just
necesario: necessary
negativo: negative
objetivo: objective
obscuro: obscure
quieto: quite
razonable: reasonable
Note that many English adjectives ending in –ous have Spanish counterparts which end in –o.