Hey buddies, hoy os hablamos de los false friends y os dejamos una lista de los 25 más comunes.

Los false friends o falsos amigos son esas palabras que son parecidas en inglés y español pero que pueden crear malentendidos porque en realidad significan cosas distintas.

Éstos son algunos de los false friends con los que más metemos la pata. Presta atención y toma nota.

Actually

Actually no es actualmente, actually significa «de hecho», «en realidad».
Para decir actualmente utilizamos currently o nowadays.

E.g.
Currently I work in the marketing department.
Actually, I was just promoted.

Advertisement

Advertisement no es advertencia, una advertencia es un warning. Un advertisement (o un ad, en su versión abreviada) es un anuncio.

E.g.
They created a fantastic ad for the new perfume.
The warning said beware of the dog.

Assist

Assist no es asistir, sino ayudar. Asistir, por ejemplo a un evento o una reunión es attend.

E.g.
I’ll be happy to assist (=help) you if you need anything.
They didn’t attend to the last sales meeting.

Be constipated

Be constipated no es estar constipado, ojo! sino estar estreñido y no solemos ir hablando a la ligera de estos temas, no? Si lo que quieres decir es que estás resfriado utiliza to catch / have a cold.

E.g.
I had a cold last week / I caught a cold last week.
To avoid constipation you should eat lots of fruits and vegetables.

Bland

Bland no es blando. En inglés utilizamos bland para decir que una comida está sosa. Para decir que algo es blando podemos utilizar soft, pero también otros adjectivos dependiendo del contexto.

E.g.
Can you pass me the salt, please? This food is bland.
It was a very soft and fluffy cushion.

Carpet

Carpet no es carpeta, sino alfombra o moqueta. Para decir carpeta podemos decir file o folder.

E.g.
We have a new red carpet on our living room.
I usually keep important documents on a file.

Colleague

Colleague no es un colega, sino un compañero de trabajo. También puedes decir co-worker, work mate para referirte a personas que trabajan contigo. Para referirte a tu amigos puedes utilizar friend, y/o pal, buddy, de una manera más informal.

E.g.
My colleagues are really helpful.
Hey pal, what’s up? / Hey buddy, what’s up.

College

College hace referencia a la universidad, no al colegio. Para referirnos al colegio o instituto decimos school / high school (or primary/secondary school).

E.g.
They have three children, two of them attend high school.
Their oldest daughter started college last year.

Compromise

Compromise no es compromiso como tal, en el sentido de una persona comprometida (con su trabajo) sino, a committed person. Pero sí podemos utilizar compromise en el sentido de alcanzar un acuerdo/ compromiso.

E.g.
We promote employees that are committed to our company.
Goverment says they are firmly commited to improving the health system.
They reached a compromise about number of working hours.

Disgust

Disgust no es disgusto. Si estás disgustado, en inglés puedes decir upset. Disgusting se utiliza para hablar de algo asqueroso.

E.g.
I was upset after she told me the truth.
They served us a disgusting food.

Embarrased

Embarrased no es estar embarazada sino estar avergonzado. Para decir estar embarazada utilizamos to be pregnant.

E.g.
He felt very embarrassed when he fell on the ground.
She is 5 months pregnant.

Eventually

Eventually no se refiere a eventualmente sino a finalmente. Para decir eventualmente podemos decir occasional(ly) o para un trabajador eventual utilizamos a temporary employee.

E.g.
We had an occasional difficulty but everything is fine.
I worked and studied hard and eventually I got my certificate.
He worked on a series of temporary jobs before getting his current job.

Exit

Exit no es éxito. Exit es la salida de un lugar que vemos en los carteles. Tener éxito en inglés es to be successful (no to have success, cuidado).

E.g.
Could you please tell me where the nearest exit is?
He is a successful entrepreneur.

Fabric

Fabric no es fábrica. Una fábrica es una factory, donde se producen coches, por ejemplo. Fabric es tela, tejido.

E.g.
Many people stopped working at factories during the crisis.
The designs are printed on the fabric by hand.

Large

Large no es largo sino grande. Careful! con estos adjetivos, long sí se refiere a la longitud o duración de algo.

E.g.
I have always wanted a large house.
It was a pretty long and boring speech.
There was a long road to arrive to the beach.

Library

Library no es una librería o tienda de libros. Library es una biblioteca. Una tienda de libros es una bookshop / bookstore. Y una papelería, donde comprar otros materiales como cuadernos, bolis y demás, es una stationery’s.

E.g.
On a library you can borrow all types of books and also films, music, etc.
They went to the bookshop to buy some of the course books.

Molest

Molest no es molestar y mucho, mucho cuidado con esta palabra. To molest en inglés es acosar (sexualmente). Si lo que quieres decir es que algo o alguien es una molestia o que no te molesten, puedes utilizar bother, annoy.

E.g.
Please don’t bother me with silly things, I’m doing something important.
He can be a really annoying person.
The man has been arrested for molesting young boys.

Parent

Parent no es pariente, sino uno de tus progenitores. Un pariente o miembro de tu familia es un relative. Por cierto, esas comidas familiares donde se reunen todos tus parientes, son family meals (no familiar meals).

E.g.
We arranged a family meal to get together and many relatives came.
My parents (my mother and my father) lived in Boston before I was born.

Presume

Presume no es presumir de «fardar» sino de asumir o dar algo por sentado (con más o menos acierto). Para referirnos a una persona a que le gusta presumir decimos to brag, to show off.

E.g.
Sorry, I presumed you were not coming today.
He is always bragging about his new beach house.

Pretend

Pretend no es pretender. Pretend en inglés es fingir. Para indicar algo que pretendes hacer o lo que es lo mismo, tu intención de hacer algo (o no) utilizamos intend.

E.g.
She pretends she is not interested on it but we know she is.
Children pretended to be robots when playing.
We intend to go to Australia next summer.
I didn’t intend to hurt them (it was not my intention).

Resume

Resume no es un resumen. En inglés to resume significa continuar algo donde lo dejaste o retomar (una reunión, un proyecto). Para decir resumir podemos utilizar to summarise o to sum up.

E.g.
After some months, I resumed my personal project of creating a blog.
We went to have lunch and then, we resumed our annual meeting.
At the end, we summarised the most important decisions made.

Sensible

Sensible no es sensible. Éste es muy popular y aún así, no nos aclaramos. A sensible person es una persona con sentido común, incluso razonable. A sensitive person es una persona que experimenta las emociones más profundamente, por decirlo así. También puedes utilizar sensitive para hablar de temas delicados o más «peliagudos».

E.g.
I think the sensible thing to do is to ask for help.
You can trust her decisions, she’s a sensible person.
Be careful with what you say, they are very sensitive.
Sex education is a sensitive issue in many countries.

Support

Support no es soportar sino demostrar tu apoyo. Si no soportas a alguien, puedes utilizar to tolerate, to put up with.

E.g.
All the team supported his decision to move to a different location.
I really can’t put up with them, they are always making fun of everybody.

Sympathy

Sympathy no se utiliza para referirse a simpatía o a una persona simpática. Para esto utilizamos nice, kind, friendly. A sympathetic person en inglés es una persona compasiva.

E.g.
When travelling, you will find friendly people in all places.
Nurses are some of the most sympathetic people because of their job.

Ultimately

Ultimately, que no últimamente sino finally. Si utilizamos ultimately quiere decir al final, finalmente. Pero para decir últimamente utilizamos recently, lately.

E.g.
Ultimately, they had to leave their house and move to the countryside due to health problems.
I have recently started a new hobby, gardening.

Bueno pues con esto terminamos este post sobre false friends, esperamos que os haya sido de gran utilidad y que a partir de ahora los tengáis en cuenta cuando practiquéis vuestro inglés.

Queremos ampliar la lista de false friends, si conoces algún otro que no esté en la lista, déjanos un comentario con tu aportación. Thanks!

Fun y funny son palabras que usamos muy a menudo cuando hablamos en inglés. Tienen significados parecidos aunque estas palabras nos resultan confusas cuando las tenemos que utilizar en una frase.

Common mistakes:

 My weekend was funny, I had a funny time with my friends.
 My weekend was fun. I had a fun time with my friends.

 Our trip to London was funny and exciting, we did lots of funny activities.
 Our trip to London was fun and exciting, we did lots of fun activities.

 We went to see a comedian, he was really fun.
 We went to see a comedian, he was really funny.

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre fun y funny?

Fun es un nombre incontable (uncountable noun) que significa que algo nos hacer sentir bien y disfrutar, o lo que es lo mismo «you enjoy doing it» «you have a good time doing it»

E.g.
We had so much fun together at the theatre.
It was fun to go to a theme park with all my friends.
Playing games is not my idea of fun.
Time flies when you are having fun.
Have fun!

Fun también se utiliza como adjetivo de manera informal, sobre todo en inglés hablado (informal spoken English)

E.g.
It was a fun day with all my friends. We did lots of fun activities and we had a great time.
Jake is a fun guy, I always have a good time with him.

El comparativo y superlativo de fun en este caso sería:

Riding a bicycle is more fun than skating.
Travelling is one of the most fun things you can do.

Funny es un adjetivo que significa divertido, porque algo te hace reír, «it makes you laugh» (pueder ser una persona o una situación, una broma…)

E.g.
We watched a comedy last weekend, it was really funny, we laughed a lot.
We all laughed when he started telling jokes, he’s a funny comedian.
Do you know any funny jokes?
I find some comedians very funny.
A funny thing happened in the office the other day.
Jake is a funny guy (he makes me laugh)

El comparativo y superlativo de funny sería:

His new book is funnier than the previous ones.
She’s the funniest person I know, she knows many jokes.

Se puede usar fun y funny también en frases negativas

E.g.
Going to a dentist is not fun!
Doing a long boring exam is not fun.
Nobody laughed because his joke was not funny.
An accident is never funny. (Well, it’s not supposed to be funny)

Funny puede tener también el significado de extraño, sorprendente, inesperado o difícil de explicar (‘strange’, ‘surprising’, ‘unexpected’ or ‘difficult to explain or understand’)

She was wearing a funny hat (strange, weird).
That’s funny (strange, surprising), I think my glasses were here a minute ago.
I have this funny feeling that something is going to happen (difficult to explain).
This place smells funny (strange, weird).
He has some funny ideas about love (strange, difficult to understand)
What’s that funny noise (strange, unexpected)?

In short, en resumen

Fun things > make you happy / make you feel good.
Funny things / people > make you laugh.

Y ahora una pequeña prueba, a little test

Are the following situations fun or funny?

A party with your friends is…
A clown is…
Playing a game is…
Visiting new places is…
A friend tells you a great joke. The joke is…

VER RESPUESTAS CORRECTAS

Bueno pues esperamos que os haya gustado el post and you had a fun time reading it. 😉