Cognates Chart Lecture Notes

Spanish/English Cognate Patterns # General Rule of Thumb Examples Rule #1 Words that end in –ous change to –oso curious to curioso, delicious to delicioso, glorious to glorioso, mysterious to misterioso Rule #2 Words that end in –al are usually the same in English hospital, medical, animal, casual Rule #3 Words that end in –ct change to –cto act to acto, insect to insecto, perfect to perfecto, conflict to conflicto, product to producto Rule #4 Words that end in –ance change to –ancia ambulance to ambulancia, France to Francia, distance to distancia, elegance to elegancia, importance to importancia Rule #5 Words that end in –ic change to –ico alcoholic to alcohólico, basic to básico, fantastic to fantástico, generic to genérico, organic to orgánico, romantic to romántico Rule #6 Words that end in ar are usually the same in English familiar to familiar, lunar to lunar, muscular to muscular, regular to regular, similar to similar, popular to popular Rule #7 Words that end in –ary change to –ario canary to canario, diary to diario, glossary to glosario, primary to primario, salary to salario, vocabulary to vocabulario Rule #8 Words that end in –ant change to –ante distant to distante, elegant to elegante, important to importante, mutant to mutante, vacant to vacante, tolerant to tolerante, instant to instante Rule #9 Words that end in –ble are usually the same in English audible to audible, cable to cable, terrible to terrible, horrible to horrible, flexible to flexible, impossible to imposible, visible to visible Rule #10 Words that end in –ence change to –encia coincidence to coincidencia, competence to competencia, difference to diferencia, excellence to excelencia, intelligence to inteligencia, presence to presencia, violence to violencia Rule #11 Words that end in –id change to –ido fluid to fluido, rapid to rápido, solid to sólido, valid to válido, stupid to estúpido, liquid to líquido, vivid to vívido, Rule #12 Words that end in –ment change to –mento argument to argumento, cement to cemento, department to departamento, document to documento, element to elemento, moment to momento. Note: some words such as departamento may have other minor spelling changes.