500+ Useful Spanish Cognates (With PDF Download)

Even if today is your first day learning Spanish, you already know plenty of Spanish words.

Actor, animal, bar, color, control… You know them in English, but they’re in italics here because they’re all Spanish cognates!

Spanish and English have many such “twins,” and taking advantage of them will speed up your Spanish learning considerably.

Let’s look at some more words that look exactly (or almost) the same in English and Spanish.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

What Are Spanish Cognates?

Cognates are words that look identical or similar in two languages and have the same meaning.

English and Spanish have borrowed many words from each other. This is helpful for English-speaking learners of Spanish (and vice versa)!

Cognates are the easiest way to expand your vocabulary. Just a quick look at the word, and you know its meaning.

But even though they look similar, there are often some differences in stress and pronunciation.

Beware of false cognates, though!

Often called “false friends,” these are words that look like cognates but aren’t. We have a full post explaining these here that you can check out after reading this one.

Common Spanish Cognates

Cognates are words that are spelled very similarly or exactly the same in both English and Spanish. And because they’re cognates, they mean exactly the same thing too.

Remember to listen for changes in pronunciation!

English	Spanish
To abandon	Abandonar
Accident	Accidente
Additional	Adicional
To administer	Administrar
To admit	Admitir
To adopt	Adoptar
Adorable	Adorable
To affect	Afectar
To adjust	Ajustar
Alcohol	Alcohol
Animal	Animal
Art	Arte
To assign	Asignar
Bank	Banco
Bar	Bar
Cable	Cable
To calculate	Calcular
To calm	Calmar
Camera	Cámara
To cancel	Cancelar
Casual	Casual
Ceremony	Ceremonia
Circle	Círculo
To clarify	Clarificar
Colony	Colonia
Color	Color
To comment	Comentar
To complement	Complementar
To consider	Considerar
To consult	Consultar
Control	Control
To control	Controlar
Conventional	Convencional
To cooperate	Cooperar
To coordinate	Coordinar
To create	Crear
To dedicate	Dedicar
Diary	Diario
To eliminate	Eliminar
Enemy	Enemigo
Essential	Esencial
To estimate	Estimar
To evaluate	Evaluar
Event	Evento
To exaggerate	Exagerar
Excuse	Excusa
To exist	Existir
To experiment	Experimentar
To facilitate	Facilitar
Family	Familia
To fascinate	Fascinar
To form	Formar
Fruit	Fruta
To gratify	Gratificar
Group	Grupo
Hereditary	Hereditario
Hospital	Hospital
Ideal	Ideal
Impartial	Imparcial
Insect	Insecto
To insert	Insertar
To insist	Insistir
Instant	Instante
To insult	Insultar
To integrate	Integrar
To limit	Limitar
Limit	Límite
Memorable	Memorable
To modify	Modificar
To motivate	Motivar
Muscular	Muscular
Music	Música
To necessitate; to need	Necesitar
Note	Nota
Ocean	Océano
To pacify	Pacificar
Part	Parte
Particular	Particular
Plant	Planta
Poem	Poema
To present	Presentar
President	Presidente
Problem	Problema
Radio	Radio
To rectify	Rectificar
Religion	Religión
To represent	Representar
Secret	Secreto
Silence	Silencio
Temperature	Temperatura
Temporal	Temporal
Tolerable	Tolerable
Tropical	Tropical
Vital	Vital

Rules and Patterns for Spanish Cognates

Knowing the patterns cognates follow makes it much easier to take an educated guess when you’re not sure of a word!

For example, if you aren’t 100% sure how to say “professional” in Spanish during a conversation, you might say profesional because you know the Spanish cognate patterns—and in this case, you’d be correct.

Here are the most common patterns for Spanish cognates that you should commit to memory:

-ant → -ante / -ente

English	Spanish
assistant	asistente
brilliant	brillante
constant	constante
distant	distante
dominant	dominante
elegant	elegante
extravagant	extravagante
exuberant	exuberante
fragrant	fragante
giant	gigante
ignorant	ignorante
immigrant	inmigrante
important	importante
militant	militante
occupant	ocupante
participant	participante
rampant	rampante
relevant	relevante
tolerant	tolerante

-al → -al

English	Spanish
accidental	accidental
capital	capital
central	central
commercial	comercial
criminal	criminal
cultural	cultural
digital	digital
educational	educacional
emotional	emocional
exceptional	excepcional
final	final
formal	formal
functional	funcional
global	global
gradual	gradual
industrial	industrial
integral	integral
international	internacional
legal	legal
local	local
manual	manual
material	material
metal	metal
musical	musical
national	nacional
natural	natural
original	original
parental	parental
personal	personal
professional	profesional
rural	rural
social	social
special	especial
total	total

-ar → -ar

English	Spanish
angular	angular
cellular	celular
circular	circular
familiar	familiar
lunar	lunar
molecular	molecular
polar	polar
popular	popular
regular	regular
secular	secular
similar	similar
singular	singular
spectacular	espectacular
stellar	estelar
vascular	vascular
vulgar	vulgar

-ary → -ario

English	Spanish
complementary	complementario
stacionary	estacionario
extraordinary	extraordinario
honorary	honorario
imaginary	imaginario
involuntary	involuntario
literary	literario
necessary	necesario
ordinary	ordinario
solitary	solitario
vocabulary	vocabulario

-ate → -ar

English	Spanish
activate	activar
appreciate	apreciar
celebrate	celebrar
collaborate	colaborar
communicate	comunicar
decorate	decorar
demonstrate	demostrar
educate	educar
investigate	investigar
operate	operar
participate	participar
regulate	regular

-ble → -ble

English	Spanish
admirable	admirable
amiable	amable
audible	audible
edible	comestible
compatible	compatible
feasible	factible
flexible	flexible
horrible	horrible
incredible	increíble
indelible	indeleble
invincible	invencible
noble	noble
plausible	plausible
possible	posible
probable	probable
responsible	responsable
susceptible	susceptible
tangible	tangible
terrible	terrible
visible	visible
vulnerable	vulnerable

-ct → -cto / -to

English	Spanish
abstract	abstracto
architect	arquitecto
aspect	aspecto
compact	compacto
conflict	conflicto
contact	contacto
correct	correcto
defect	defecto
direct	directo
distinct	distinto
effect	efecto
strict	estricto
exact	exacto
indirect	indirecto
instinct	instinto
intact	intacto
object	objeto
perfect	perfecto
prospect	prospecto
project	proyecto
respect	respeto
subject	sujeto

-ic → -ico

English	Spanish
artistic	artístico
basic	básico
classic	clásico
economic	económico
electric	eléctrico
electronic	electrónico
fantastic	fantástico
genetic	genético
historic	histórico
ironic	irónico
linguistic	lingüístico
organic	orgánico
panic	pánico
plastic	plástico
psychic	psíquico
public	público
romantic	romántico
scientific	científico
specific	específico
strategic	estratégico
tragic	trágico

-id → -ido

English	Spanish
acid	ácido
stupid	estúpido
intrepid	intrépido
liquid	líquido
rapid	rápido
solid	sólido
timid	tímido
valid	válido

-ify (verbs) → -ificar

English	Spanish
amplify	amplificar
classify	clasificar
codify	codificar
dignify	dignificar
identify	identificar
justify	justificar
notify	notificar
petrify	petrificar
simplify	simplificar
specify	especificar

-ile → -il

English	Spanish
docile	dócil
fragile	frágil
hostile	hostil
mobile	móvil
puerile	pueril
sterile	estéril

-ism → -ismo

English	Spanish
alpinism	alpinismo
capitalism	capitalismo
communism	comunismo
egoism	egoísmo
feminism	feminismo
mechanism	mecanismo
optimism	optimismo
organism	organismo
racism	racismo
realism	realismo

-ist → -ista

English	Spanish
artist	artista
dentist	dentista
egoist	egoísta
feminist	feminista
optimist	optimista
pianist	pianista
protagonist	protagonista
realist	realista
tourist	turista

-ity → -idad

English	Spanish
ability	habilidad
activity	actividad
adversity	adversidad
anxiety	ansiedad
authority	autoridad
community	comunidad
creativity	creatividad
curiosity	curiosidad
difficulty	dificultad
diversity	diversidad
equality	igualdad
generosity	generosidad
hospitality	hospitalidad
identity	identidad
possibility	posibilidad
quality	calidad
reality	realidad
security	seguridad
simplicity	simplicidad
university	universidad

-ive → -ivo

English	Spanish
affirmative	afirmativo
attractive	atractivo
competitive	competitivo
constructive	constructivo
creative	creativo
decisive	decisivo
defensive	defensivo
effective	efectivo
instinctive	instintivo
massive	masivo
negative	negativo
objective	objetivo
passive	pasivo
positive	positivo
progressive	progresivo
reflective	reflexivo

-ly → -mente

English	Spanish
absolutely	absolutamente
basically	básicamente
clearly	claramente
completely	completamente
constantly	constantemente
especially	especialmente
eventually	eventualmente
evidently	evidentemente
exactly	exactamente
generally	generalmente
immediately	inmediatamente
naturally	naturalmente
obviously	obviamente
originally	originalmente
personally	personalmente
possibly	posiblemente
practically	prácticamente
principally	principalmente
rapidly	rápidamente
really	realmente
relatively	relativamente
seriously	seriamente
simply	simplemente
sincerely	sinceramente
socially	socialmente
solely	solamente
typically	típicamente
totally	totalmente

-ment → -mento

English	Spanish
argument	argumento
complement	complemento
department	departamento
document	documento
experiment	experimento
fundament	fundamento
instrument	instrumento
moment	momento
monument	monumento
movement	movimiento
parliament	parlamento
sentiment	sentimiento
treatment	tratamiento

-nce → -ncia

English	Spanish
abundance	abundancia
adolescence	adolescencia
appearance	apariencia
conscience	conciencia
difference	diferencia
evidence	evidencia
excellence	excelencia
experience	experiencia
influence	influencia
independence	independencia
obedience	obediencia
patience	paciencia
reference	referencia
resistance	resistencia
subsistence	subsistencia
transparency	transparencia
urgency	urgencia

-nt → -nte

English	Spanish
abundant	abundante
brilliant	brillante
constant	constante
elegant	elegante
excellent	excelente
important	importante
intelligent	inteligente
interesting	interesante
patient	paciente
sufficient	suficiente
valiant	valiente
vibrant	vibrante

-or → -or

English	Spanish
actor	actor
author	autor
competitor	competidor
director	director
distributor	distribuidor
doctor	doctor
editor	editor
favor	favor
inventor	inventor
investor	inversor
moderator	moderador
motor	motor
precursor	precursor
professor	profesor
rumor	rumor
spectator	espectador
traitor	traidor

-ous → -oso

English	Spanish
curious	curioso
delicious	delicioso
dubious	dudoso
famous	famoso
generous	generoso
glamorous	glamoroso
glorious	glorioso
luminous	luminoso
mysterious	misterioso
precious	precioso
spacious	espacioso
timorous	temeroso
valorous	valeroso
virtuous	virtuoso

-sion → -sión

English	Spanish
abrasion	abrasión
adhesion	adhesión
aggression	agresión
ascension	ascensión
aversion	aversión
cohesion	cohesión
comprehension	comprensión
concession	concesión
conclusion	conclusión
confusion	confusión
conversion	conversión
correlation	correlación
decision	decisión
dimension	dimensión
demission	dimisión
discussion	discusión
distortion	distorsión
division	división
emission	emisión
expansion	expansión
expression	expresión
extension	extensión
illusion	ilusión
impression	impresión
inclusion	inclusión
immersion	inmersión
inversion	inversión
mission	misión
passion	pasión
persuasion	persuasión
precision	precisión
profession	profesión
suspension	suspensión
tension	tensión
transmission	transmisión
version	versión
vision	visión

-tion → -ción

English	Spanish
action	acción
addiction	adicción
celebration	celebración
collaboration	colaboración
collection	colección
combination	combinación
communication	comunicación
condition	condición
construction	construcción
contribution	contribución
conversation	conversación
correction	corrección
definition	definición
direction	dirección
education	educación
election	elección
elevation	elevación
exception	excepción
expectation	expectación
explanation	explicación
generation	generación
imagination	imaginación
infection	infección
information	información
interpretation	interpretación
invitation	invitación
nation	nación
observation	observación
occasion	ocasión
operation	operación
organization	organización
population	población
position	posición
preparation	preparación
presentation	presentación
prevention	prevención
promotion	promoción
protection	protección
recommendation	recomendación
relaxation	relajación
respiration	respiración
selection	selección
situation	situación
solution	solución
variation	variación
vibration	vibración

 

Learning cognates can be a cool way of improving your Spanish vocabulary with little effort.

And now you’re more than 500 words closer to becoming a proficient speaker of Spanish!

You can also see these words in use and discover even more Spanish cognates with programs like FluentU. The interactive subtitles let you double-check the meaning of each word in every video you watch, so you don’t have to worry about “false friends.”

As always, happy studying!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)