Palabras que se confunden y falsos amigos

actually: en realidad. currently: actualmente.

I thought he was French, but he's actually Italian.

advice: consejo, sustantivo incontable. advise: aconsejar, verbo.

Can you give me some advice?

✗ Mal: an advice.

affect: afectar, verbo. effect: efecto, sustantivo.

The strike will affect thousands of travellers.

alone: solo, sin compañía. lonely: que se siente solo.

He lives alone but he never feels lonely.

argument: discusión o razonamiento. plot: argumento de una historia.

The plot of the film was hard to follow.

attend: asistir a (ir). assist: ayudar.

Over two hundred people attended the conference.

beside: al lado de. besides: además.

Come and sit beside me.

bored: aburrido (cómo te sientes). boring: aburrido (lo que aburre).

I was bored because the lesson was boring.

borrow: tomar prestado. lend: prestar a otro.

Could you lend me your pen? I'll give it back.

borrow something from someone; lend someone something.

bring: traer hacia donde está quien habla. take: llevar a otro sitio.

Take an umbrella with you when you go out.

degree: carrera universitaria, el título. career: trayectoria profesional.

She has a degree in chemistry and a long career in industry.

Colegio es school. college: centro de formación para mayores de 16 años o de estudios superiores (en EE. UU., la universidad).

My little brother goes to school near our house.

Estar resfriado es have a cold. constipated: estreñido.

I can't come to the party because I have a cold.

custom: costumbre. costume: disfraz o traje típico.

In Spain it's a custom to eat twelve grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Decepción es disappointment. deception: engaño.

The final result was a big disappointment for the fans.

discuss: hablar de algo, sin preposición. argue: discutir, pelearse.

We discussed the plan at the meeting.

✗ Mal: discuss about.

during + un periodo: cuándo. for + una duración: cuánto tiempo.

I worked in a café during the summer.

economic: de la economía. economical: que ahorra, barato de usar.

This small car is very economical.

embarrassed: avergonzado. Embarazada es pregnant.

I was so embarrassed when I forgot her name.

especially: sobre todo. specially: a propósito, para un fin.

I love fruit, especially strawberries.

eventually: al final, con el tiempo. «Eventualmente» es possibly u occasionally.

After hours of waiting, the bus eventually arrived.

Éxito es success. exit: salida.

The concert was a great success.

expect: esperar que pase (creerlo). hope: esperar que pase (desearlo). wait: esperar (dejar pasar el tiempo).

I hope you have a good trip.

Esperar a alguien: wait for.

Fábrica es factory. fabric: tela.

My uncle works in a car factory.

fit: quedar bien de talla. suit: favorecer. match: combinar con.

These shoes don't fit; they're too small.

hard: mucho, con esfuerzo. hardly: apenas.

I could hardly hear what she said.

hear: oír (percibir un sonido). listen to: escuchar (prestar atención).

I love listening to music on the train.

✗ Mal: listen music.

historic: importante en la historia. historical: relacionado con el pasado.

Today is a historic day for the country.

job: un empleo, contable. work: trabajo en general, incontable.

She's looking for a new job.

✗ Mal: a work con el sentido de empleo.

journey: trayecto. trip: viaje corto, de ida y vuelta. travel: viajar; como sustantivo, los viajes en general (incontable).

How long is the journey from London to Edinburgh?

travel como sustantivo es incontable (air travel): ✗ a travel; un viaje es a trip o a journey.

large: grande. Largo es long.

They live in a large house with a garden.

late: tarde. lately: últimamente.

Have you seen any good films lately?

learn: aprender. teach: enseñar.

My grandmother taught me how to cook.

lecture: conferencia, clase magistral. Lectura es reading.

The professor gave a lecture on modern art.

library: biblioteca. Librería es bookshop.

You can borrow books from the library for free.

lie (lay, lain): estar tumbado. lay (laid, laid): poner, colocar.

Don't lie in the sun for too long.

Mentir es lie (lied, lied).

lose: perder, verbo. loose: suelto, flojo, adjetivo.

This screw is loose.

lose: perder algo o un partido. miss: perder un transporte o una oportunidad; echar de menos.

Hurry up or we'll miss the train.

Noticia es news, incontable y con verbo en singular. notice: aviso, cartel.

The news is good: the road is open again.

✗ Mal: a news; una noticia es a piece of news.

parents: padre y madre. Parientes es relatives.

All our relatives came to the wedding.

price: precio. prize: premio.

She won first prize in the competition.

priceless: de valor incalculable. worthless: sin ningún valor.

The painting turned out to be worthless.

raise: subir o levantar algo (con objeto). rise: subir, sin objeto.

Prices rose by ten per cent last year.

rise, rose, risen; raise es regular.

realise: darse cuenta. Realizar es carry out o do.

I didn't realise it was so late.

recipe: receta de cocina. receipt: tique, recibo.

Keep the receipt in case you need to return the jumper.

record: grabar, registrar. Recordar es remember.

Do you remember the name of the hotel?

remember: recordar tú. remind: hacer que otro recuerde.

Can you remind me to call the bank?

steal algo. rob a una persona o un lugar.

Someone stole my bike last night.

say algo. tell algo a alguien: suele llevar persona detrás (salvo tell the truth, tell a lie, tell a story).

She told me she was leaving.

✗ Mal: she said me.

scenery: paisaje natural, incontable. view: lo que se ve desde un sitio.

The view from our hotel room was amazing.

see: ver. look at: mirar. watch: ver algo que se mueve o dura.

We watched a film last night.

sensible: sensato. Sensible es sensitive.

It was sensible to take an umbrella.

sympathetic: comprensivo. Simpático es nice o friendly.

My new neighbours are really nice.

win: ganar un premio o un partido. earn: ganar dinero trabajando. beat: ganar a un rival.

She earns a good salary as a nurse.