50+ False Friends in Portuguese and What You Actually Want To Say
Here’s a mixed bag of false friends in Portuguese that i’ve stumbled on before. False friends or false cognates are words from one language that look similar to a word in another language, except it’s a trick. False cognates are words that mean something entirely different from what you would guess. I’ve included the Portuguese word your actually looking for, as well as other similar words that mean utterly different things.
Bookmark these words because they’ll stab you in the back at the best of times.
Verbs that are false friends in Portuguese
aplicar
apply, enforce or impose
candidatar-se
apply for a (job/ course)
realizar
perform or carry out
perceber / dar-se conta
to realize
passar
to spend (time) or pass (an exam)
ser aprovado/a
to pass (an exam)
atender
to serve or see to someone
participar
to attend
suportar (also aguentar)
endure or withstand something
apoiar
to support
apontar
to point out
nomear
to appoint (someone)
consulta
appointment
introduzir
to insert or enter (introduce a new plant species)
