June 11, 2026

[Valeria Carrillo, Ed.D.](https://blog.duolingo.com/author/valeria/)

# Cognates in Spanish and how to learn from them

Cognates are a great tool for boosting your Spanish vocabulary!

Did you know that English and Spanish share [10,000 to 15,000 cognates](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15235882.2011.568589?ref=blog.duolingo.com)? That means that you already know the meaning of around 10,000 to 15,000 words in Spanish! ¡Qué fascinante! (You might recognize the Spanish word _fascinante_, which means _fascinating_ in English!)

But… what is a cognate anyway? And how can recognizing cognates help you communicate in Spanish? Read on for tips for using cognates to boost your vocabulary!

* * *

### In this post:

- [What is a cognate?](https://blog.duolingo.com/cognates-in-spanish/#what-is-a-cognate)
- [How can cognates help me learn?](https://blog.duolingo.com/cognates-in-spanish/#how-can-cognates-help-me-learn)
- [Patterns in Spanish cognates](https://blog.duolingo.com/cognates-in-spanish/#patterns-in-spanish-cognates)
- [Examples of cognates in Spanish and English](https://blog.duolingo.com/cognates-in-spanish/#examples-of-cognates-in-spanish-and-english)

## What is a cognate?

The word _cognate_ can have two different meanings, depending on who you ask!

In its strictest sense, cognates are words in [related languages](https://blog.duolingo.com/language-families-related-languages/) that descended from the same word in a parent language. For example, Spanish and French [both descended from Latin](https://blog.duolingo.com/what-are-romance-languages/), and ocho and huit (both meaning _eight_) are cognates, since they both came from the Latin word _octo_—even though _ocho_ and _huit_ don’t look or sound anything alike!

However, when we talk about cognates in terms of language learning, we usually mean something a little different: In general, a cognate is a word that looks similar in two languages and has similar meanings in both. It might be the result of the two languages being related, or it might be because one language borrowed a word from another. English has [borrowed many words from French](https://blog.duolingo.com/history-of-english-language/#isn%E2%80%99t-english-a-romance-language), which is one reason why we find so many similar words in English and Spanish!

In this post, we’ll focus on the second meaning of _cognate_, and talk about words with similar spelling and meaning, regardless of whether they were borrowed into one of the languages.

## How can cognates help me learn?

Cognates are a fantastic tool for increasing your vocabulary, especially in languages that share as many as Spanish and English do. Since they have the same meaning in both languages, learning to recognize them is like getting a better vocabulary in your new language for free!

While some cognates are easy to recognize, others rely on knowing [certain patterns](https://blog.duolingo.com/cognates-in-spanish/#patterns-in-spanish-cognates)—and some lookalike words don’t mean the same thing at all!

**Perfect cognates**

Some words are spelled exactly the same in both languages, and have the same meaning! These include:

- animal  
- chocolate  
- error

**Near-perfect cognates**

These Spanish words share enough letters that you could probably guess their meaning without seeing the English translation, but they aren’t identical:

- family  
- dinosaur  
- telephone

**False cognates**

These words look similar but **don’t** mean the same thing. (They’re also sometimes called _false friends_.) One of the most infamous examples is embarazada: It means _pregnant_, **not** _embarrassed_! Other false cognates include:

- assist  
- exit  
- rope

## Patterns in Spanish cognates

Sometimes, a word doesn’t _look_ like a cognate until you’ve learned to recognize some common patterns in the differences between Spanish and English. Learning these will help expand your vocabulary even more!

**English _‑tion_ and Spanish _‑ción_**  
Examples include:

- information  
- direction

**English _‑ty_ and Spanish _‑dad_ or _‑tad_**  
They include:

- necessity  
- liberty

**English _‑ous_ and Spanish _‑oso_**  
Some of the most common examples of this pattern include:

- famous  
- generous  
- ambitious

**English _s‑_ followed by a consonant and Spanish _es‑_ followed by a consonant**  
Examples include:

- special  
- stomach  
- scandal

**English _‑ly_ and Spanish _‑mente_**  
Here are a few:

- exactly  
- finally  
- probably

**English _‑ic_ and Spanish _‑ico_**  
You’ve probably already noticed that Spanish words tend to end in a vowel more often than English words do. That’s also the case with this pattern:

- panic  
- basic

**English _‑ant_ or _‑ent_ and Spanish _‑ante_ or _‑ente_**  
For example:

- restaurant  
- accident

## Examples of cognates in Spanish and English

Since cognates have similar meanings and are pronounced similarly, English speakers might be able to guess the meanings of these Spanish words—even if you’ve never learned them before!

|     |     |     |     |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| arte | elefante | limón | secreto |
| aventura | febrero | magnífico | temperatura |
| brillante | grupo | natural | trompeta |
| cámara | historia | oficina | uniforme |
| desierto | idea | parque | vegetales |

## Improve your _vocabulario_, one cognate at a time!

Understanding cognates and the common patterns behind them can help you feel more comfortable and confident in Spanish, whether you’re a new learner starting out or an advanced learner looking to level up your skills.

### Cognates in Spanish and English

| Spanish | English |
| --- | --- |
| arte | art 🎨 |
| aventura | adventure 🧭 |
| brillante | brilliant 🧠 |
| cámara | camera 📸 |
| desierto | desert 🏜️ |
| elefante | elephant 🐘 |
| febrero | February 💝 |
| grupo | group 🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 |
| historia | history 📖 |
| idea | idea 💡 |
| limón | lemon 🍋 (or lime! 🍋‍🟩) |
| magnífico | magnificent 🌟 |
| natural | natural 🌱 |
| oficina | office 💼 |
| parque | park 🌳 |
| secreto | secret 🤫 |
| temperatura | temperature 🌡️ |
| trompeta | trumpet 🎺 |
| uniforme | uniform 🧑‍✈️ |
| vegetales | vegetables 🥬 |