Spanish–English Cognates
80 Spanish words you already know from English. Your existing vocabulary is bigger than you think.
Cognates are your secret weapon when learning Spanish. These words look similar to English and mean the same thing — giving you an instant vocabulary of hundreds of words before you even start studying. Learn the patterns below and you'll be able to guess Spanish words you've never seen before.
80
Cognates Listed
Words you can recognise immediately
Identical Words(25)
hotelhotel
taxitaxi
radioradio
pianopiano
animalanimal
hospitalhospital
naturalnatural
normalnormal
festivalfestival
finalfinal
locallocal
metalmetal
totaltotal
digitaldigital
controlcontrol
tropicaltropical
centralcentral
criminalcriminal
originaloriginal
chocolatechocolate
problemaproblem
diferentedifferent
perfectoperfect
importanteimportant
necesarionecessary
-ción Pattern(15)
-tion → -ción
naciónnation
comunicacióncommunication
informacióninformation
educacióneducation
situaciónsituation
estaciónstation
operaciónoperation
conversaciónconversation
tradicióntradition
producciónproduction
construcciónconstruction
direccióndirection
atenciónattention
soluciónsolution
reacciónreaction
-dad Pattern(9)
universidaduniversity
ciudadcity
oportunidadopportunity
realidadreality
actividadactivity
sociedadsociety
identidadidentity
electricidadelectricity
sociedadsociety
-oso Pattern(8)
-ous → -oso
famosofamous
deliciosodelicious
nerviosonervous
curiosocurious
generosogenerous
religiosoreligious
peligrosodangerous/perilous
maravillosomarvellous
-ble Pattern(8)
-ble → -ble
posiblepossible
terribleterrible
responsableresponsible
increíbleincredible
comfortablecomfortable
flexibleflexible
probableprobable
admirableadmirable
-mente Pattern(6)
-ly → -mente
naturalmentenaturally
completamentecompletely
exactamenteexactly
absolutamenteabsolutely
normalmentenormally
finalmentefinally
Food & Drink(9)
cafécoffee
bananabanana
tomatetomato
limonadalemonade
ensaladasalad
hamburguesahamburger
pizzapizza
pastapasta
yoguryogurt
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Spanish–English cognates?▾
Cognates are words in two languages that share a common origin and look or sound similar. Spanish and English share hundreds of cognates — words like "hotel" (hotel), "taxi" (taxi), "radio" (radio). These give you an instant vocabulary boost.
How many Spanish–English cognates are there?▾
We've compiled 80 Spanish–English cognates organized by pattern. The real number is even higher — once you learn the patterns, you can predict hundreds more.
Are cognates the same as false friends?▾
No! Cognates are words that look similar AND mean the same thing. False friends look similar but mean something different. Check our Spanish false friends guide to avoid those traps.
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