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Spanish
Cognates are words from two languages that are the same or similar. As English borrows many words from Latin there are many Spanish-English cognates.
By learning the rules below you will have an instant Spanish vocabulary of thousands of words.
Bonus: Get an extra 8 cognate rules, plus more shortcuts for rapid Spanish.
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).
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Curious | Curioso |
| Delicious | Delicioso |
| Glorious | Glorioso |
| Mysterious | Misterioso |
| Numerous | Numeroso |
2. Words that end in –al are usually the same in English
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Hospital | Hospital |
| Medical | Medical |
| Animal | Animal |
| Casual | Casual |
| Digital | Digital |
3. Words that end in –ct change to –cto
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Act | Acto |
| Exact | Exacto |
| Correct | Correcto |
| Insect | Insecto |
| Dialect | Dialecto |
4. Words that end in –ance change to –ancia
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Ambulance | Ambulancia |
| France | Francia |
| Distance | Distancia |
| Tolerance | Tolerancia |
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
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Alcoholic | Alcohólico |
| Basic | Básico |
| Fantastic | Fantástico |
| Generic | Genérico |
| Medic | Médico |
6. Words that end in –ar are usually the same in English
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Familiar | Familiar |
| Lunar | Lunar |
| Muscular | Muscular |
| Regular | Regular |
| Solar | Solar |
7. Words that end in –ary change to –ario
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Canary | Canario |
| Diary | Diario |
| Glossary | Glosario |
| Estuary | Estuario |
| Primary | Primario |
8. Words that end in –ant change to –ante
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Abundant | Abundante |
| Distant | Distante |
| Elegant | Elegante |
| Important | Importante |
| Mutant | Mutante |
9. Words that end in –ble are usually the same in English
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Audible | Audible |
| Cable | Cable |
| Terrible | Terrible |
| Destructible | Destructible |
| Horrible | Horrible |
10. Words that end in –ence change to –encia
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Coincidence | Coincidencia |
| Competence | Competencia |
| Difference | Diferencia |
| Excellence | Excelencia |
11. Words that end in –id change to –ido
Note: many words following this rule have an accent on the first vowel.
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Acid | Ácido |
| Fluid | Fluido |
| Rapid | Rápido |
| Solid | Sólido |
| Valid | Válido |
12. Words that end in –ment change to –mento
Note: some words such as departamento may have other minor spelling changes.
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Argument | Argumento |
| Cement | Cemento |
| Department | Departamento |
| Document | Documento |
| Element | Elemento |
Spanish Verbs 123 is a new course from Linguasorb covering all aspects of verbs, featuring over 40 lessons with practice activities.
