Portuguese Language Blog
Menu
Search

07 False Friends In Portuguese Posted by on Jan 12, 2015 in Culture, Uncategorized, Vocabulary

Olá, pessoal! Tudo bem?

Today we’re going to learn seven false friends in Portuguese. False friends are those words that look alike in English and Portuguese, but have different meanings.

By the way, in Portuguese we have a word to indicate that phoney friend: amigo-da-onça, basically a false friend, a backstabber.

Image via http://bit.ly/1DPVjvb

 

Are you ready to learn? Let’s do this!

 

01. Parentes x Parents. Parentes are your relatives, not your parents. Pais are parents.

Meus parentes estão vindo nos visitar. – My relatives are coming to visit us.
Meus pais são gente boa. – My parents are good people.

02. Largo X Large. Largo is wide. Large is translated as grande.

Este corredor não é muito largo. – This hallway is not very wide.
O Brasil é um país muito grande. – Brazil is a very large country.

03. Livraria x Library. Livraria is a bookstore. Library is translated as biblioteca.

Aquela livraria tem uma grande coleção de livros. – That bookstore has a large colleciton of books.
A biblioteca está fechada aos domingos. – The library is closed on Sundays.

04. Push x Puxar. Push is empurrar. Puxar is pull.

Ele não tem força suficiente para empurrar o carro. – He’s not strong enough to push the car.
Puxe a porta para entrar. – Pull the door (in) to enter.

05. Atual x Actual. Atual is current, happening these days. Actual is translated as verdadeiro, real.

Qual foi a verdadeira razão para essa reunião? – What was the actual reason for that meeting?
Ele é nosso atual professor de português. – He’s our current/present Portuguese teacher.

06. Atualmente x Actually. Atualmente means currently, these days. Actually is translated as realmente, na verdade.

Ele na verdade não quis dizer isso. – He actually didn’t mean that.
O que anda fazendo atualmente? – What have you been doing these days?

07. Pretend x Pretender. Pretend is translated as fingir, whereas pretender means to intend (to do something).

Pretendo visitar meus avós na semana que vem. – I intent do visit my grandparents next week.
Ele fingiu não me conhecer. Que idiota! – He pretended not to know me. What an idiot!

Por hoje é só! Nos vemos em breve!

Tags: ,
Keep learning Brazilian Portuguese with us!

Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Try it Free Find it at your Library
Share this:
Pin it

About the Author: Adir

English / Spanish teacher and translator for over 20 years. I have been blogging since 2007 and I am also a professional singer in my spare time.


Comments:

  1. Helen:

    I think you should include I am excited (estou animado) and estou excitada! To prevent an embarrassing situation

  2. crosswindsshetlands.com:

    E sim companheiro, são dicas rápidas e também práticas a
    fim de que usuários comuns, a fim de que obterem um melhor desempenho em
    seus aparelhos.