False Friends: Words That Look English But Aren't (And Their Gender)

False cognates — or faux amis in French — are words that look like English but mean something completely different. They’re a trap for every learner, and they’re especially dangerous because your brain wants to trust the familiar spelling.

Here are the most common false friends in French and Spanish, complete with their grammatical gender.

French False Friends

Actuellement ≠ Actually

• actuellement = currently, at the moment (Il travaille actuellement à Paris.)
• If you want “actually,” say en fait

Sensible ≠ Sensible

• sensible = sensitive (Elle est très sensible.)
• “Sensible” in English = raisonnable or sensé in French

Éventuellement ≠ Eventually

• éventuellement = possibly, maybe (Il viendra éventuellement.)
• “Eventually” = finalement or avec le temps

Librairie ≠ Library

• la librairie (feminine) = a bookshop
• “Library” = la bibliothèque

Assister ≠ Assist

• assister à = to attend (J’ai assisté au concert.)
• “To assist” = aider

Bras ≠ Bras

• le bras (masculine) = an arm (Il a mal au bras.)
• This one catches everyone off guard

Coin ≠ Coin

• le coin (masculine) = a corner (Le café du coin)
• “A coin” = une pièce de monnaie

Spanish False Friends

Embarazada ≠ Embarrassed

• embarazada = pregnant (Mi hermana está embarazada.)
• “Embarrassed” = avergonzado/a
• This is probably the most famous false friend in any language

Constipado ≠ Constipated

• constipado = having a cold (Estoy constipado.)
• “Constipated” = estreñido

Éxito ≠ Exit

• el éxito (masculine) = success (La película fue un éxito.)
• “Exit” = la salida

Recordar ≠ Record

• recordar = to remember (No recuerdo su nombre.)
• “To record” = grabar

Sensible ≠ Sensible

• sensible = sensitive (same trap as French!)
• “Sensible” = sensato

Carpeta ≠ Carpet

• la carpeta (feminine) = a folder (Abre la carpeta de documentos.)
• “Carpet” = la alfombra

Why Gender Matters Here

False cognates are doubly tricky because you might get both the meaning and the gender wrong. If you assume librairie works like English “library” and guess masculine, you’re wrong on two counts — it means “bookshop” and it’s feminine.

When you encounter a word that looks familiar, pause and check:

1. Does it mean what I think it means?
2. What gender is it?

How to Avoid the Trap

The best defense against false friends is exposure to real usage. The more you see actuellement used to mean “currently” in context, the less likely you are to confuse it with “actually.”

Flashcard apps that show words in sentence context are particularly helpful here. In Accord, every word comes with example sentences that demonstrate both the meaning and the gender agreement — so you learn the real usage, not just a translation.