False Friends
Words that look like English but mean something else — Spanish, French, German, and Italian.
Showing 39 of 39 false friends.
Looks like embarrassed
Actually means pregnant
Embarrassed is avergonzada.
Looks like exit
Actually means success
Exit is salida.
Looks like actual
Actually means current, present-day
Actual (real) is real or verdadero.
Looks like library
Actually means bookshop
A library is a biblioteca.
Looks like rope
Actually means clothes
Rope is cuerda.
Looks like carpet
Actually means folder
Carpet is alfombra.
Looks like sensible
Actually means sensitive
Sensible (level-headed) is sensato.
Looks like to assist
Actually means to attend
To assist (help) is ayudar.
Looks like to realize
Actually means to carry out, to accomplish
To realize (grasp) is darse cuenta.
Looks like constipated
Actually means having a cold
Constipated is estreñido.
Looks like library
Actually means bookshop
A library is a bibliothèque.
Looks like actually
Actually means currently, at present
Actually is en fait or vraiment.
Looks like to assist
Actually means to attend (assister à)
To assist (help) is aider.
Looks like sensible
Actually means sensitive
Sensible (level-headed) is raisonnable.
Looks like blessed
Actually means injured, wounded
Blessed is béni.
Looks like coin
Actually means corner
A coin is une pièce.
Looks like pain
Actually means bread
Pain (hurt) is douleur.
Looks like preservative
Actually means condom
A food preservative is un conservateur.
Looks like journey
Actually means day (the whole day)
A journey is un voyage.
Looks like to attend
Actually means to wait for
To attend is assister à.
Looks like gift
Actually means poison
A gift (present) is ein Geschenk.
Looks like to become
Actually means to receive, to get
To become is werden.
Looks like also
Actually means so, therefore
Also (in addition) is auch.
Looks like rat
Actually means advice, counsel
A rat is eine Ratte.
Looks like handy
Actually means mobile phone
Handy (useful) is praktisch.
Looks like chef
Actually means boss
A chef (cook) is ein Koch.
Looks like rock
Actually means skirt
A rock (stone) is ein Fels or Stein.
Looks like see
Actually means lake (der See) or sea (die See)
To see is sehen.
Looks like fabric
Actually means factory
Fabric (cloth) is Stoff.
Looks like gym
Actually means academic high school
A gym is eine Turnhalle or ein Fitnessstudio.
Looks like camera
Actually means room
A camera is una macchina fotografica.
Looks like library
Actually means bookshop, bookcase
A library is una biblioteca.
Looks like parents
Actually means relatives
Parents are i genitori.
Looks like factory
Actually means farm
A factory is una fabbrica.
Looks like morbid
Actually means soft
Morbid is morboso.
Looks like cold
Actually means hot, warm
Cold is freddo.
Looks like estate
Actually means summer
An estate is una proprietà or tenuta.
Looks like confidence
Actually means intimacy, familiarity
Confidence (self-assurance) is fiducia or sicurezza.
Looks like educated
Actually means polite, well-mannered
Educated is istruito or colto.
A false friend is a word that looks or sounds like an English word but means something different. German Gift, for example, means poison — not a present. Spanish embarazada means pregnant, not embarrassed. This reference lists common false friends across Spanish, French, German, and Italian, with the meaning each one really carries.
Why false friends matter
False friends — faux amis in French — are the words that ambush learners. Because they resemble an English word, your brain assumes the meaning, and the sentence quietly goes wrong. Telling a Spanish speaker you are embarazada announces a pregnancy; offering a German colleague a Gift offers them poison. The tool above lets you filter by language and search by the word or its true meaning.
Two kinds of false friend
Some false friends are total: the meanings share nothing (French coin means corner, never a coin). Others are partial: the words overlap in some senses but not the one you reach for. Spanish sensible and French sensible both mean “sensitive”, not “sensible” — a distinction that changes the tone of a whole sentence. Reading each entry’s note is the quickest way to fix the pairing in memory.
Common false friends by language
A selection of the most frequent traps — the tool above lists the full set.
| Word | Language | Looks like | Actually means |
|---|---|---|---|
| embarazada | Spanish | embarrassed | pregnant |
| librería | Spanish | library | bookshop |
| actual | Spanish | actual | current, present-day |
| librairie | French | library | bookshop |
| pain | French | pain | bread |
| journée | French | journey | day (the whole day) |
| Gift | German | gift | poison |
| bekommen | German | to become | to receive, to get |
| Rock | German | rock | skirt |
| camera | Italian | camera | room |
| caldo | Italian | cold | hot, warm |
| parenti | Italian | parents | relatives |
Where false friends come from
Most false friends are not coincidences — they are cognates whose meanings drifted apart. Spanish librería, French librairie, and Italian libreria all trace to Latin liber (book), the same root as English “library”; over centuries the Romance words settled on “bookshop” while English kept the collection of books. German Gift once simply meant “something given” (the same idea as English “gift”) before it narrowed to the sense of a poisoned dose. Because the drift is gradual and language-specific, the only reliable defence is context: notice when a familiar-looking word does not fit the sentence, and check its real meaning rather than trusting the resemblance.