When learning Spanish we’ve all run into some of these words that resemble English words, but have a completely different meaning. In my years of Spanish study, I’ve come across quite a few of these, and I thought I’d share some of them.

In no particular order:

Receta. This word refers to a medical prescription or a recipe for cooking something. It never means “receipt”, which is better translated recibo, comprobante, nota, or even ticket, an Anglicism.

Ropa. Fortunately, this word is learned early on in your Spanish studies, so you know it means clothes, not rope. Rope would most commonly be soga, cuerda or lazo.

Fábrica. Not this does not mean fabric, it means factory. Fabric would be tela.

Tuna. The Spanish word tuna refers to a small fruit that grows on the top of the nopal cactus, which, as I hear is actually the “prickly pear cactus” in English. Tuna fish would be atún. This one really messed me up the first time I travelled to Mexico.

And the last word for today is:

Éxito. Although it’s very similar to the English “exit”, the meaning is just not there. Éxito means success, exitoso means successful and exitosamente means successfully. If you want out of here, look for the nearest salida.

12 April 2007 2:57 pm
Cats: Vocabulary
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