Common False Friends and Adjective-Preposition Pairs
Common False Friends in English
False friends are words in two languages that look or sound similar but differ significantly in meaning. Here are some common examples:
- Executor (Spanish: ejecutor) // Executioner (Spanish: verdugo)
- Charlatan (Spanish: charlatán) // Talkative (Spanish: hablador / comunicativo)
- Resume (Spanish: reanudar / retomar / continuar) // Summarize (Spanish: resumir / sintetizar)
- Intoxicated (Spanish: intoxicado / ebrio) // Poisoned (Spanish: envenenado)
- Candid (Spanish: sincero / abierto) // Innocent (Spanish: ingenuo / inofensivo)
- Deception (Spanish: engaño / mentira) // Disappointment (Spanish: decepción / defraudar)
- Assist (Spanish: ayudar) // Attend (Spanish: asistir / ir)
- Compositor (Spanish: cajista / tipógrafo) // Composer (Spanish: compositor)
- Commodities (Spanish: productos / mercancías) // Facilities (Spanish: servicios)
- Unconscious (Spanish: inconsciente / desmayado) // Irresponsible (Spanish: insensato)
- Physician (Spanish: médico) // Physicist (Spanish: científico (físico))
- Folder (Spanish: carpeta) // Carpet (Spanish: moqueta / alfombra)
- Adherent (Spanish: seguidor) // Adhesive (Spanish: pegamento / adhesivo)
Common Adjective and Preposition Combinations
Certain adjectives are often followed by specific prepositions. Here are some common combinations:
- Nice / kind / good / stupid / silly / intelligent / clever / sensible / (im)polite / rude / unreasonable OF someone (to do something)
- Angry / furious ABOUT something / WITH someone / FOR something
- Pleased / disappointed / satisfied WITH something
- Bored / fed up WITH something
- Surprised / shocked / amazed / astonished AT / BY something
- Excited / worried / upset ABOUT something
- Afraid / scared / frightened / terrified OF someone / something
- Proud / ashamed OF someone / something
- Good / bad / excellent / brilliant / hopeless AT (doing) something
- Married TO someone
- Sorry ABOUT something / FOR doing something
- Be / feel sorry FOR someone
- Famous FOR something
- Responsible FOR something
- Interested IN something
- Fond OF something / someone
- Full OF something
- Short OF something
- Keen ON something
- Similar TO something
- Crowded WITH (people,…)
English Conditional Structures
- Zero Conditional: IF/WHEN + Present Simple, Present Simple
- First Conditional: IF/WHEN + Present Simple, WILL + Infinitive
- Second Conditional: IF + Past Simple, WOULD + Infinitive
- Third Conditional: IF + Past Perfect, WOULD + HAVE + Past Participle