Use Cognates to speak Spanish but take care!!! (San José)

One day I was in class, and one of my students told me she was EMBARAZADA. I immediately told her CONGRATULATIONS. But she was surprised because I said to her that! And she answered that she was EMBARAZADA because she had forgotten her homework at home. At that moment, I realized we were in a very common situation among Spanish students.

She wanted to say EMBARRASSED, and in Spanish, the word EMBARAZADA is very similar, but its meaning is totally different:

- embarrassed: avergonzada
- embarazada: pregnant

In Spanish, we call this: Falsos Cognados. In English, you call them: False Cognates.

Let me explain a little about this: What is a cognate word?

Cognates are words with the same origin that appear in two or more different languages. Cognates are similar and sometimes even identical in spelling, pronunciation, and/or meaning. Identical cognates are called "true cognates."

Examples:

- normal: normal
- similar: similar
- cognate: cognado
- dictionary: diccionario
- professional: profesional
- professor: profesor
- category: categoría

However, also you can find "false cognates.", exactly the same cognates in my story.

More examples:

- exit and éxito - exit: salida - éxito: success
- to realize and realizar - to realize: darse cuenta - realizar: to do
- to support and soportar - to support: apoyar - soportar: to bear

Using cognates when learning Spanish is very useful, but you must be careful with false cognates.

Do you have any similar stories about using false cognates that you want to share?