English is considered a Germanic language, whereas Portuguese is a Romance language. Yet, they share a substantial amount of vocabulary. The main reason is attributed to the Norman Conquest of England in the eleventh century. As a result of which, the English language borrowed a lot of French words. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929) famously claimed that “English is just badly pronounced French.” French, like Portuguese, is a Romance language and shares Latin roots, and thus a lot of vocabulary, with Portuguese. You can see the connection here between Portuguese and English via the French language. This is why the US Foreign Service Institute (FSI), which provides language training to diplomats and government employees, ranks Portuguese in the easiest language learning category for English speakers.
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English Cognates and False Cognates in Portuguese
History aside, we can definitely capitalize on this connection. There are a lot of English cognates in the Portuguese language. English cognates are words that are directly descended from a common ancestor language, in this case, mostly the French language. Moreover, since English has become a universal language, some English words have obviously found their way directly into many languages, including Portuguese.
Although cognates will often have the same meaning in Portuguese and English, it is important to note that this is not always the case, as languages have evolved separately. For example, the Portuguese word “parentes” may appear to mean “relatives.” Instead, the word for “parents” in Portuguese is “pais.” Similarly, the word “fábrica” in Portuguese means “factory” and not “fabric,” as you may have guessed. That being said, recognizing English cognates is a powerful tool that can enhance the Portuguese vocabulary of any English-speaking learner. We will include some English cognates in our vocabulary-building section at the end of each level to help give your Portuguese vocabulary a jump start.
As we delve into the English cognates, do not feel overwhelmed with the vocabulary. You are not expected to memorize all cognates at this basic level. It is only meant to give you an idea of the similarities with English and help provide a sense of the Portuguese language, based on prior knowledge of English.
Here, we list some parallels between English and Portuguese words that will make you realize how many Portuguese words you already know or perhaps are able to guess correctly.
It is also important to note that these are not strict rules, but rather useful guidelines to make learning Portuguese easier for English speakers.
List of English Cognates
| English | Portuguese | Examples |
| -or | -or | exterior, favor, horror, interior, inventor, superior, trator |
| -ble | -vel | flexível, horrível, inevitável, notável, possível, provável, terrível, variável |
| -al | -al | animal, canal, central, criminal, final, industrial, legal, local, social, musical |
| -ic | -ico -ica | básico, democrático, diabético, fantástico, mecânico, plástico, público, romântico, tóxico |
| -cal | -co -ca | crítico, elétrico, físico, lógico, mágico, mecânico, político |
| -ant | -ante | abundante, constante, elegante, ignorante, importante, restaurante, tolerante |
| -ent | -ente | acidente, agente, cliente, competente, continente, diferente, excelente, inteligente, prudente, urgente |
| -ment | -mento | documento, elemento, experimento, instrumento, monumento, parlamento, suplemento, testamento |
| -ist | -ista | artista, comunista, dentista, especialista, lista, pianista, turista |
| -am | -ama | caligrama, diagrama, programa, radiograma, telegrama |
| -em | -ema | emblema, poema, problema, sistema |
| -ous | -oso -osa | curioso, delicioso, fabuloso, famoso, furioso, misterioso, nervoso, religioso |
| -ry | -rio -ria | adversário, aniversário, culinária, dicionário, imaginário, itinerário, salário |
| -tion | -ção | ação, civilização, concepção, condição, descrição, edição, instituição, nação, noção |
| -tional | -cional | adicional, condicional, institucional, nacional, operacional, racional, tradicional |
| -tial | -cial | confidencial, essencial, inicial, parcial, potencial, presidencial, residencial |
| -ce | -ça | diferença, França, justiça |
| -cy | -cia | agência, democracia, urgência |
| -ty | -dade | autoridade, cavidade, dignidade, eletricidade, hospitalidade, identidade, possibilidade, unidade |
| -tor | -dor | colaborador, criador, ditador, operador, orador |
| -ly | -mente | exatamente, finalmente, naturalmente, normalmente, totalmente |
| -phy | -fía | cinematografía, filosofía, fotografía, geografía |
| -ct | -to -ta | ato, conflito, correto, direto, efeito, exato, impacto, perfeito, produto |
| -sion | -são | admissão, compaixão, conclusão, conversão, decisão, discussão, expressão, versão |
| -ism | -ismo | astigmatismo, comunismo, despotismo, eletromagnetismo, idealismo, organismo |
| -fy | -ficar | certificar, classificar, dignificar, glorificar, gratificar, justificar, modificar, notificar, verificar |
| -id | -ido -ida | ávido, esplêndido, fluido, líquido, lúcido, plácido, rápido, sólido, tímido, válido, vívido |
| -ile | -il | ágil, frágil, hostil |
| -ive | -ivo -iva | adesivo, aditivo, decisivo, definitivo, festivo, nativo, negativo |
| ph | f | elefante, filosofia, fonética, foto, telefone |
| th | t | autêntico, autor, catedral, católico |
| st- | est- | estável, estação, estudante, estúpido |
| sp- | esp- | especial, específico, espiritual, esposo |
List of False Cognates
As mentioned earlier, there are some false cognates. It can be useful to be familiar with these false friends so that you can avoid some embarrassing errors. Below is a list of some of the most common ones.
| Portuguese Word | Meaning in English | English Cognate | Meaning of cognate in Portuguese |
| êxito | success | exit | saída |
| largo | wide | large | grande |
| esperto | clever | expert | especialista |
| fábrica | factory | fabric | tecido |
| realizar | accomplish | realize | perceber |
| atual | current | actual | real |
| livraria | bookstore | library | biblioteca |
| injúria | insult | injury | ferimento |
| data | date | data | dados |
Next: Capitalization in Portuguese
Other lessons in Level I:
