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Some foreign words look exactly like a word you already know, then mean something completely different. Pick a language to see its most common false friends, each with the English word it resembles, what it really means, and how to say the English sense instead. Every entry is real and verified.
False friends are words in two languages that look alike but mean different things, and every language has them. Afrikaans aktueel means current, not actual; Azerbaijani maฤaza means a shop, not magazine. This free tool lists verified false friends across 48 languages. Pick a language to see its list and stop the mix-ups before they happen.
A false friend is a word that looks or sounds like a word in your language but means something else. English overlaps heavily with European languages because it borrowed from Latin, Greek, and French, and shares older roots with the Germanic ones. The spelling often stayed close while the meaning drifted, which is how you end up with words that read like an old friend and behave like a stranger.
The reason they catch you is psychological, not grammatical. A familiar-looking word feels safe, so you skip the check and guess the English meaning. That guess is right often enough to become a habit, and the habit is exactly what the exceptions exploit. Learning the common offenders once, then meeting them in context, is what breaks the habit for good. Parallel text and audio make that context effortless, which is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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False friends are pairs of words in two languages that look or sound alike but mean different things. Spanish embarazada looks like embarrassed but means pregnant; German Gift looks like a present but means poison. They come from shared roots or borrowings whose meanings drifted apart, and they trip up learners because a familiar-looking word feels safe to guess.
Your brain rewards the shortcut. When a foreign word looks like one you already know, you skip the check and assume the English meaning. That works most of the time, which is exactly why the exceptions catch you off guard, often in the middle of a sentence where the wrong meaning changes everything.
Learn the common ones once, then get repeated exposure in context. Reading real sentences, with a translation a tap away, attaches the correct meaning to a situation instead of to the English lookalike. That contextual memory sticks far better than a flashcard list. Lingo7 pairs reading with native audio for exactly this.
No. Each language has its own set, shaped by its history with English and Latin. Some are shared across the Romance languages (the library trap appears in Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese), while others are unique. Pick your language above to see the ones that will actually trip you up.