Spanish Cognates

Spanish Cognate Rule 1

Words that end in –ous change to –oso

Spanish words that end in -oso tend to be adjectives. In English we can often change a noun into its corresponding adjective by adding -ous e.g advantage/advantageous, harmony/harmonious, space/spacious. You can often also do this in Spanish with -oso e.g peligro (danger)/peligroso (dangerous), lujo (luxury)/lujoso (luxurious).

Spanish Cognate Rule 2

Words that end in –al are usually the same in English

Spanish Cognate Rule 3

Words that end in –ct change to –cto

Spanish Cognate Rule 4

Words that end in –ance change to –ancia

Spanish Cognate Rule 5

Words that end in –ic change to –ico

These words are usually adjectives and have the stress (and therefore an accent) on the last syllable before the -ico

Spanish Cognate Rule 6

Words that end in –ar are usually the same in English

Spanish Cognate Rule 7

Words that end in –ary change to –ario

Spanish Cognate Rule 8

Words that end in –ant change to –ante

Spanish Cognate Rule 9

Words that end in –ble are usually the same in English

Spanish Cognate Rule 10

Words that end in –ence change to –encia

Spanish Cognate Rule 11

Words that end in –id change to –ido

Note: many words following this rule have an accent on the first noun.

Spanish Cognate Rule 12

Words that end in –ment change to –mento