embarassada Adjective
Looks like embarrassed Really means pregnant
To say embarrassed in Catalan, use avergonyit.
Some Catalan words look like an English word you already know, then mean something completely different. Here are 18 of the most common traps, each with the English word it resembles, what it really means, and how to say the English sense instead.
False friends in Catalan are words that look like an English word but mean something completely different. For example, embarassada means pregnant, not embarrassed, and constipat means having a cold, not constipated. This free guide lists 18 real Catalan false friends: the English word each one resembles, what it truly means, and how to say the English sense correctly.
All 18 Catalan false friends.
Looks like embarrassed Really means pregnant
To say embarrassed in Catalan, use avergonyit.
Looks like constipated Really means having a cold
To say constipated in Catalan, use restret.
Looks like fabric Really means factory
To say fabric in Catalan, use teixit or tela.
Looks like library Really means bookshop
To say library in Catalan, use biblioteca.
Looks like carpet Really means folder (for papers)
To say carpet in Catalan, use catifa.
Looks like molest Really means to bother, to annoy
To say molest in Catalan, use abusar sexualment.
Looks like sympathetic Really means nice, friendly
To say sympathetic in Catalan, use comprensiu.
Looks like actual Really means current, present day
To say actual (real) in Catalan, use real or efectiu.
Looks like actually Really means currently, nowadays
To say actually in Catalan, use de fet.
Looks like sensible Really means sensitive
To say sensible in Catalan, use sensat or assenyat.
Looks like exit Really means success
To say exit in Catalan, use sortida.
Looks like record Really means to remember
To say record in Catalan, use gravar or enregistrar.
Looks like assist Really means to attend (an event)
To say assist (help) in Catalan, use ajudar.
Looks like realize Really means to carry out, to achieve
To say realize in Catalan, use adonar-se.
Looks like pretend Really means to claim, to intend, to try
To say pretend in Catalan, use fingir.
Looks like deception Really means disappointment
To say deception in Catalan, use engany.
Looks like college Really means school
To say college (university) in Catalan, use facultat or universitat.
Looks like compromise Really means commitment, pledge
To say compromise in Catalan, use cedir or arribar a un acord.
Data verified as of July 2026.
False friends stick when you meet them inside a real sentence. Lingo7 lets you read real books in Catalan with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, so the true meaning attaches to the story instead of the English lookalike. Save the tricky words and review them later. Free to start.
A false friend is a word that looks or sounds like a word in your language but carries a different meaning. English and Catalan overlap heavily because both borrowed from Latin, Greek, and French, or share older roots. The spelling stayed close while the meaning drifted, so Catalan embarassada still reads like "embarrassed" to an English eye even though it means "pregnant".
These slips are common because your brain rewards the shortcut: a familiar-looking word feels safe, so you skip the check. That is fine until embarassada or constipat changes the meaning of a whole sentence. Recognizing the pattern is half the fix. Knowing the handful of high-frequency offenders on this page is the other half.
The durable fix is not memorization but exposure in context. When you read Catalan and see one of these words doing its real job in a sentence, with a translation a tap away, the correct meaning wins. That is exactly what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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False friends are Catalan words that look almost identical to an English word but mean something different, like embarassada, which looks like "embarrassed" but means "pregnant". They exist because both languages inherited or borrowed from shared roots that then drifted apart. The fix is meeting them in real sentences until the true meaning sticks.
No. Catalan embarassada actually means pregnant, not embarrassed. To say embarrassed in Catalan, use avergonyit. This is one of the most common Catalan false friends for English speakers, so it is worth learning early.
Memorizing a list helps for a day; context makes it permanent. When you meet Catalan words like embarassada and compromís inside real sentences, with the translation one tap away, the correct meaning attaches to the situation instead of to the English lookalike. That is how reading in Lingo7 trains them out of you.
Yes. Catalan and English share a large amount of vocabulary through Latin, French, and centuries of borrowing, and that overlap is exactly what breeds false friends. This page covers 18 of the most common ones, from embarassada (looks like embarrassed) to compromís (looks like compromise). Reading in context is the surest way to keep them straight.