The number of Brazilians who intend to learn or perfect their Spanish is increasing. Many of them do it to improve their resume and get a better job, to travel and enjoy neighboring countries, or to enjoy music and audiovisual productions in Spanish.

Although they are two similar languages, when it comes to speaking, Brazilians face many false friends that can affect the message they transmit, preventing good communication. For this reason, during the process of studying Spanish, it is important to identify these types of words, memorize their meaning and thus avoid making mistakes, sometimes funny and sometimes very embarrassing.

Remember that, according to the Dictionary of ELE Terms of the Instituto Cervantes, the term fake friends "It is used to refer to those words that, despite belonging to two different languages, have a certain similarity in form while their meaning is considerably different" .

So that you do not make these mistakes speaking Spanish, in this article we have gathered for you fake friends common between Portuguese and Spanish:

"agree" and "agree":

• agree (Portuguese) = wake up (Spanish)
• agree (Spanish) = lembrar (Portuguese)

"drunk" and "drunk":

• borracha (Portuguese) = eraser, rubber (Spanish)
• borracha (Spanish) = bêbada (Portuguese)

"hip" and "cadeira":

• cadeira (Portuguese) = chair (Spanish)
• hip (Spanish) = quadril (Portuguese)

"jump" and "jump":

• brincar (portuguese) = play, joke (spanish)
• jump (Spanish) = pular (Portuguese)

"throw" and "throw":

• tirar (Portuguese) = remove (Spanish)
• tirar (Spanish) = lançar, jogar (Portuguese)

"mouse" and "mouse":

• rato (portuguese) = mouse (spanish)
• rato (Spanish) = moment, instant (Portuguese)

"classroom" and "classroom":

• aula (Portuguese) = class (Spanish)
• aula (Spanish) = classroom (Portuguese)

«subject» and «assinatura»:

• assinatura (Portuguese) = signature (Spanish)
• asignatura (Spanish) = discipline, matéria (Portuguese)

We see, then, that there are great similarities between the words of Portuguese and those of Spanish, even in many cases being perfectly homonymous. However, even if the pronunciation and writing of the words become the same, it is possible that the proximity of both languages ​​plays a trap and makes us fall into errors.

The best way for Spanish not to give you a bad "time" (ie a moment, not a rodent) is to practice it, and the best way to practice it is traveling. Therefore, so that when you go out dancing in Colombia you do not end up moving the chairs instead of the "hips", it is necessary that you put your Spanish vocabulary into practice through real communication scenarios and direct social experiences.

La Nueva Lengua School has four locations around Colombia, where you can learn and practice your Spanish through tourism and cultural immersion, with professional teachers and colleagues from all over the world. Master “fake friends” while having fun and making real friends.

Check the courses what we have for you, or write to info@newspeak.com for more information on how learn spanish in colombia.