Original post by HelpfulDuo | Archived post
Cognates are words from different languages that not only look and sound alike but have the same meaning. Portuguese and English share many of these. For example: capital/capital, banana/banana, restaurante/restaurant, impossível/impossible, etc.
Although pronunciation and spelling may vary slightly, knowing a good number of cognates can help boost your confidence when starting out in a new language.
Portuguese | English | complementary info |
---|---|---|
acidente | accident | by extension: acidental/accidental |
ácido | acid | ----- |
adversário | adversary | by extension: adversidade/adversity |
aeroporto | airport | ----- |
agente | agent | by extension: agência/agency |
alarme | alarm | by extension: alarmante/alarming |
animal | animal | ----- |
ar | air | ----- |
área | area | ----- |
arte | art | by extension: artista/artist |
atividade | activity | by extension: ativista/activist |
atmosfera | atmosphere | ----- |
avenida | avenue | ----- |
aventura | adventure | ----- |
banana | banana | ----- |
bicicleta | bicycle | ----- |
blusa | blouse | ----- |
cafeteria | cafeteria | ----- |
calculadora | calculator | by extension: calcular/calculate |
câmera | camera | ----- |
carro | car | ----- |
centro | center | often used to refer to a city's downtown area |
cereal | cereal | ----- |
classe | class | applies to "school classes", "elegance", "type" |
companhia | company | applies to both "business" and "companionship" |
construção | construction | by extension: construir/construct |
continente | continent | by extension: continental/continental |
controle | control | intangible and tangible (controle remoto = remote control) |
costa | coast | WATCH OUT when discussing the anatomy, costas means "back" (dorsal) |
debate | debate | ----- |
desastre | disaster | ----- |
diretor | director | by extension: direção/direction, direções/directions |
distância | distance | by extension: distante/distant |
dragão | dragon | ----- |
elefante | elephant | ----- |
elevador | elevator | by extension: elevar/elevate |
erro | error | by extension: errático/erratic |
explosão | explosion | by extension: explodir/explode |
família | family | by extension: familiar/familiar |
fator | factor | ----- |
festival | festival | ----- |
fotografia | photograph | by extension: foto/photo, fotocópia/photocopy |
fruta | fruit | ----- |
funeral | funeral | ----- |
galáxia | galaxy | by extension: galático/galactic |
girafa | giraffe | ----- |
gorila | gorilla | ----- |
grupo | group | ----- |
guitarra | guitar | by extension: guitarrista/guitarist |
helicóptero | helicopter | ----- |
hipopótamo | hippopotamus | ----- |
honorário | honorary | WATCH OUT! the plural "honorários" means "payment for services rendered" – quite the opposite of the unpaid/voluntary connotation of "honorário" |
hospital | hospital | ----- |
hotel | hotel | ----- |
humano | human | by extension: humanitário/humanitarian, humanóide/humanoid |
ideia | idea | by extension: ideal/ideal |
identidade | identity | by extension: identificação/identification, idêntico/identical |
independência | independence | by extension: independente/independent |
informação | information | ----- |
inseto | insect | by extension: inseticida/insecticide |
inspeção | inspection | by extension: inspetor/inspector |
inteligência | intelligence | by extension: inteligente/intelligent |
laptop | laptop | tech-related names are often identical |
leopardo | leopard | ----- |
lista | list | ----- |
literatura | literature | ----- |
mágica | magic | magia can also be used to mean "magic" when referring to the art (magia negra = black magic) |
maneira | manner | ----- |
mapa | map | ----- |
memória | memory | ----- |
metal | metal | by extension: metálico/metallic |
microfone | microphone | the abbreviation "mic" is not used in Portuguese |
militar | military | militar can also mean "soldier" or "military officer" |
minuto | minute | ----- |
momento | moment | ----- |
música | music | música can also mean "song" |
objeto | object | by extension: objetivo/objective |
observatório | observatory | ----- |
ocasião | occasion | ocasional and "occasional" are not always equivalent; ocasional can mean "by chance" |
oceano | ocean | ----- |
paciência | patience | by extension: paciente/patient (both a medical patient and a person who has patience) |
palácio | palace | ----- |
pânico | panic | ----- |
parque | park | ----- |
parte | part | by extension: parcial/partial |
perfume | perfume | ----- |
piano | piano | ----- |
planeta | planet | by extension: planetário/planetarium |
problema | problem | by extension: problemático/problematic |
rádio | radio | by extension: radioativo/radioactive |
rancho | ranch | not the sauce! |
restaurante | restaurant | ----- |
série | series | applies to "a series of things" as well as "TV series" |
sofá | sofa | ----- |
telefone | telephone | WATCH OUT! you cannot use "fone" to mean "phone"; cell phone = celular |
televisão | television | You can also say "TV" |
teste | test | for school tests, use prova |
turista | tourist | ----- |
uniforme | uniform | applies in the sense of "consistent" as well as the identical clothes worn by a group |
universo | universe | by extension: universal/universal |
Do you know any other Portuguese-English cognates? Share your examples in the comments section!