EUROPEAN PORTUGUESE
False friends in European Portuguese
97 words that look like an English word and mean
something else. Every one of them can turn up in the daily game, sitting next to the right
answer and hoping you are in a hurry.
The list
Read a row as: what you want to say, the word that says it, and the trap. Most traps are a
word that looks like the English one and means something else. A few are the word another
region would use, which is worse, because it is not wrong anywhere except here.
-
actually
na verdade
atualmente = currently
-
bad
mau
mão = hand
-
balcony
varanda
balcão = a counter
-
bathroom
casa de banho
banheiro is Brazilian; in Portugal it is casa de banho
-
beef
vaca
bife = a steak
-
bookshop
livraria
biblioteca = library
-
boy
menino
garoto is Brazilian; in Portugal it is rapaz
-
bread
pão
pau = a stick
-
breakfast
pequeno-almoço
café da manhã: that is Brazilian; in Portugal it is pequeno-almoço
-
bus
autocarro
ónibus is Brazilian; in Portugal it is autocarro
-
butcher
talho
açougue is Brazilian; in Portugal it is talho
-
card
cartão
carta = a letter
-
chain
corrente
cadeia = also a prison
-
chair
cadeira
cadeia = a chain or a prison
-
cheese
queijo
queixo = chin
-
chin
queixo
queijo = cheese
-
clothes
roupa
corda = rope
-
cold
frio
constipação = a head cold, the illness
-
counter
balcão
varanda = a balcony
-
country
país
pais = parents; país with an accent is country
-
cup
chávena
copo = a drinking glass
-
currently
atualmente
na verdade = actually
-
damage
prejuízo
preconceito = prejudice
-
data
dados
data = a calendar date
-
date
data
dados = data
-
diary
diário
agenda = a diary or planner
-
employee
funcionário
empregado = also a waiter
-
exit
saída
êxito = success
-
fabric
tecido
fábrica = factory
-
fact
facto
fato = a suit
-
factory
fábrica
tecido = fabric
-
fee
taxa
imposto = tax
-
file
ficheiro
arquivo is Brazilian; in Portugal it is ficheiro
-
folder
pasta
massa = pasta
-
fridge
frigorífico
geladeira is Brazilian; in Portugal it is frigorífico
-
girl
menina
garota is Brazilian; in Portugal it is rapariga
-
glass
copo
chávena = a teacup
-
grandfather
avô
avó = grandmother
-
grandmother
avó
avô = grandfather
-
grass
relva
grama is Brazilian; in Portugal it is relva
-
habit
costume
fato = a suit
-
hair
cabelo
cabeça = head
-
head
cabeça
cabelo = hair
-
hello
olá
oi is Brazilian; in Portugal it is olá
-
honey
mel
mar = sea
-
ice cream
gelado
sorvete is Brazilian; in Portugal it is gelado
-
injury
ferimento
injúria = an insult
-
insult
injúria
ferimento = an injury
-
juice
sumo
suco is Brazilian; in Portugal it is sumo
-
letter
letra
cartão = a card
-
library
biblioteca
livraria = bookshop
-
lift
ascensor
in Portugal both elevador and ascensor are used
-
lunch
almoço
lanche = an afternoon snack
-
mobile phone
telemóvel
celular is Brazilian; in Portugal it is telemóvel
-
news
notícia
aviso = a notice
-
notice
aviso
notícia = a news item
-
ordinary
comum
ordinário = vulgar
-
parents
pais
parentes = relatives
-
password
palavra-passe
senha is Brazilian; in Portugal it is palavra-passe
-
pasta
massa
pasta = folder
-
prejudice
preconceito
prejuízo = damage or loss
-
refined
requintado
esquisito = weird
-
relatives
parentes
pais = parents
-
rent
aluguer
aluguel is Brazilian; in Portugal it is aluguer
-
rope
corda
roupa = clothes
-
screen
ecrã
tela is Brazilian; in Portugal it is ecrã
-
sea
mar
mel = honey
-
sensible
sensato
sensível = sensitive
-
sensitive
sensível
sensato = sensible
-
snack
lanche
almoço = lunch
-
sport
desporto
esporte is Brazilian; in Portugal it is desporto
-
steak
bife
vaca = cow
-
success
êxito
saída = exit
-
suit
fato
facto = a fact
-
sweet
doce
doze = twelve
-
tax
imposto
taxa = a fee or rate
-
to advise
aconselhar
avisar = to warn
-
to argue
discutir
conversar = to talk things over
-
to assign
atribuir
assinar = to sign
-
to attend
frequentar
assistir = to watch
-
to discuss
conversar
discutir = to argue
-
to intend
pretender
fingir = to pretend
-
to marry
casar
caçar = to hunt
-
to pretend
fingir
pretender = to intend
-
to push
empurrar
puxar = to pull
-
to record
gravar
recordar = to remember
-
to remember
recordar
gravar = to record
-
to sign
assinar
atribuir = to assign
-
to support
apoiar
suportar = to put up with
-
to taste
provar
comprovar = to prove
-
to warn
avisar
aconselhar = to advise
-
to watch
assistir
atender = to answer the door or phone
-
train
comboio
trem is Brazilian; in Portugal it is comboio
-
twelve
doze
doce = sweet
-
vase
jarra
vaso = a plant pot
-
weird
esquisito
requintado = refined
-
wool
lã
lá = there
How this list was built
These are not scraped. Each pair starts from a dictionary export, gets screened against a
corpus frequency table so that nothing obscure survives, and is then read by a person, one
row at a time, before it ships. A false friend is only listed once someone has written down
what the look-alike actually means, and the app refuses to start if any of them is missing
that line.
Everything here targets European Portuguese
(pt-PT) specifically. That matters more than it sounds: a word can be
perfectly correct in one region and still be the wrong answer here.
The other languages
French false friends, Italian false friends, Latin American Spanish false friends.
Want to be tested on them instead of reading them? There is a new
Portuguese game every day, the same one for everyone, and one wrong tap ends
it.