10 Spanish words you’ve always known – Episode 48

10 Spanish words you’ve always known – Episode 48

Podcast episode 48 – SEE ALL EPISODES

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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Today you’re going to discover 10 Spanish words that you already know.

10 Spanish words: today’s question

Today’s question comes from Steven, one of my Facebook followers. Steven says: “I’ve noticed that there are many Spanish words that look quite similar in English. But they don’t always mean the same thing. Can you give me some words that look similar in both languages, and also have the same meaning?”

See also: Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses.

Words that look similar in English and Spanish, and have the same meaning, are called cognates, true cognates or true friends. Words that look similar but have a different meaning are called false cognates, or false friends.

There are dozens of everyday words in Spanish that look similar, or even identical in English. In previous lessons we’ve seen some of them.

Learning true cognates or true friends is the fastest way of expanding your Spanish vocabulary.

10 Spanish words: true friends

Whenever I’m studying a language, I always try to to learn as many cognates as possible. I find it really motivating to learn new words fast, and it helps me become familiar with other, more difficult words.

Today I’m going to introduce you to 10 true cognates. 10 words that look identical in both languages and have the same meaning. Notice that the 10 words I’ve chosen for you today are all masculine nouns. Here they are. Repeat them after me:

• el alcohol – the alcohol
• el animal – the animal
• el bar, the bar
• el cable, the cable
• el director, the director
• el doctor, the doctor
• el hospital, the hospital
• el motel, the motel
• el motor, the motor
• el piano, the piano

Let’s say those 10 words again. Repeat after me.

10 Spanish words: pronunciation tips

Those 10 words are easy to learn and remember, but they often aren’t easy to pronounce. The main problem is that you’re going to be tempted to say them like in English. And that’s going to make them very difficult to understand. These are some of the pronunciation mistakes you’re likely to be making:

When you say ‘El alcohol’ and ‘el hospital’ make sure your H is silent. El alcohol, el alcohol, el hospital, el hospital

In the word, el cable, make sure you say the B before the L: el cable, el cable.

When saying the ten words in this lesson, remember to pronounce the vowels correctly: a, e, i, o, u. In particular, make sure you don’t drop the E in ‘el cable’. And that the O in ‘el piano’ sounds O, ‘el piano’ and not like in the English ‘piano’.

And one final tip. Notice that the stress on many of these words goes on a different vowel in English: el alcohol, el animal, el director, el doctor, el hospital, el motor.

10 Spanish words: listening drill

And now, let’s do a listening drill. Can you tell me what these 10 words mean?

• el animal – the animal
• el piano – the piano
• el hospital – the hospital
• el bar – the bar
• el director – the director
• el alcohol – the alcohol
• el motel – the motel
• el doctor – the doctor
• el motor – the motor
• el cable – the cable

10 Spanish words: speaking drill

Now, let’s do a speaking drill. Can you tell me these 10 words in Spanish? Make sure you’re saying them correctly:

the motor – el motor
the piano – el piano
the alcohol – el alcohol
the doctor – el doctor
the cable – el cable
the animal – el animal
the hospital – el hospital
the bar – el bar
the motel – el motel
the director – el director

To recap, let’s say those 10 words again. Repeat after me:

el alcohol
el animal
el bar
el cable
el director
el doctor
el hospital
el motel
el motor
el piano

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