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!
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