Adapted from Colorín Colorado (2007)
USING COGNATES TO SUPPORT COMPREHENSION IN ENGLISH
FOR SPANISH-SPEAKING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Cognates are words in two languages that share a similar meaning, spelling, and pronunciation. While English
may share very few cognates with a language like Chinese, 30-40% of all words in English have a related word
in Spanish. Described in another way, some research indicates that Spanish and English share 10,000 to
15,000 cognates! Furthermore, some measures identify that 78% of the words on the Academic World List
are true cognates or partial cognates. Thus, for Spanish-speaking ELLs, cognates are an obvious bridge to
English language vocabulary growth.
Cognate recognition helps students see connections between Spanish and English through related roots and
morphological parallels. Students can use awareness of cognates as a tool toward closing the vocabulary gap.
There is evidence that cognate instruction can engage students and boost their achievement.
Not surprisingly, researchers who study first and second language acquisition have found that students
benefit from cognate awareness. Cognate awareness is the ability to use cognates in a primary language as a
tool for understanding a second language. Children can be taught to use cognates as early as preschool. As
students move up the grade levels, they can be introduced to more sophisticated cognates, and to cognates
that have multiple meanings in both languages, although some of those meanings may not overlap. One
example of a cognate with multiple meanings is asistir, which means to assist (same meaning) but also to
attend (different meaning).
Take the time to explicitly teach even young English learners what cognates are and how to notice them.
Introduce the idea with some common examples, like family-familia or camera-cámara. Then have them
match a few. For example:
English
center
radio
class
desert
magic
gorilla
color
circle
Spanish
centro
radio
clase
desierto
magia
gorila
color
círculo
Encourage students to look for cognates in anything they read, and to listen for them during read-alouds or
other classroom activities. Remind them of this periodically.
Cognates are great, but…
1. Please be aware that our students come with a wide range of vocabulary in their native language; we may
point out a cognate, but if they do not know the word in Spanish, then pointing it out to them will be of no
help. At best, excellent instruction about the transfer of linguistic information through cognates may
improve students’ abilities in both languages.
2. Take care to also explain that cognates can have different stress patterns in the two languages. If this is
not explicitly taught, it may be more difficult for students to identify and make use of cognates. For
instance, the word condition has stress on the second syllable, but it’s cognate, condición, has stress on the
final syllable.
3. Make sure you and students both are aware of false cognates. See below…
False Cognates
It is also critical that you warn students about false cognates. For example: embarrassed/embarazada and
pie/pie. These are words that look and sound similar but do not have the same meaning in English and
Spanish. Ask students if they know what pie means in Spanish (foot), and ask what the word pie means in
English (dessert). Another example of a false cognate is the word embarrassed in English (ashamed) and
embarazada in Spanish (pregnant). Give students some cognates and some false cognates and ask them to
identify each. Examples of false cognates:
English
globe
pie
rope
soap
large
exit
hay
embarrassed
cry
Spanish
globo (balloon)
pie (foot)
clase
sopa (soup or pasta)
largo (long)
éxito (success)
hay (there is)
embarazada (pregnant)
cría (breeding)
Common Greek & Latin Roots that are cognates in English and Spanish
As students move up through the grade levels and build awareness of affixes and roots, it will be appropriate
to cover common Greek and Latin roots that are cognates in English and Spanish.
Root
aud
astir
bene
bio
dict
mit, mis
ped, pod
phon
port
Meaning
hear
star
good
life
speak, tell
send
foot
sound
carry
English examples
auditorium, audition, audio
astrology, astronaut
benefit, benevolent
biography, biology, biome
dictate, predict, dictator
mission, transmit, permit
pedal, centipede, pedestrian
phoneme, microphone
transport, portable
Spanish examples
auditorio, audición
astrología, astronauta
beneficio, benévolo
biografía, biología, bioma
dictar, dictador
mission, transmitir, permiso
pedal, pedestre, pedestal
fonéma, fonética, micrófono
transportar, portátil
SEE BELOW FOR LIST OF COMMON ENGLISH/SPANISH COGNATES…
COMMON ENGLISH – SPANISH COGNATES
Don’t forget some basics: Spanish ll sounds like English y (tortillas); Spanish h is silent (hola);
Spanish j can sound like English h, or a guttural h (frijoles).
English
accident
accidental
accompany
acrobatic
active
activities
admire
admit
adult
adventure
adopt
adoption
affect (v)
African
agent
air
alarm
allergic
anaconda
animal
announce
appear
appetite
April
area
arithmetic
artist
association
astronomer
Spanish
A
accidente
accidental
acompañar
acrobático/a
activo/a
actividades
admirar
admitir
adulto
aventura
adoptar
adopción
afectar
africano
agente
aire
alarma
alérgico/a
anaconda
animal
anunciar
aparecer
apetito
abril
área
aritmética
artista
asociación
astrónomo
atmosphere
attention
August
autograph
automobile
baby
banana
banjo
bicycle
biography
blouse
brilliant
cafeteria
calendar
camera
camouflage
canyon
captain
capture
catastrophe
cause
celebrate
cement (n.)
center
centimeter
ceramic
cereal
ceremony
character
chimney
chimpanzee
atmósfera
atención
agosto
autógrafo
automóvil
B
bebé
banana
banjo
bicicleta
biografía
blusa
brillante
C
cafetería
calendario
cámera
camuflaje
cañón
capitán
capturar
catástrofe
causa
celebrar
cemento
centro
centímetro
cerámica
cereal
ceremonia
carácter
chimenea
chimpancé
cholera
circle (n.)
circular
class
coast
colony
color
colossal
committee
common
complete (adj.)/(v.)
completely
company
concert
condition
confetti
conflict
confused
confusion
constellation
construction
contagious
continent
continue
contract (n.)
contribution
coyote
crocodile
cube
curious
cycle
December
decide
decoration
delicate
cólera
círculo
circular
clase
costa
colonia
color
colosal
comité
común
completo(a) / -ar
completamente
compañía
concierto
condición
confeti
conflicto
confundido
confusión
constelación
construcción
contagioso/a
continente
continuar
contrato
contribución
coyote
cocodrilo
cubo
curioso/a
ciclo
D
diciembre
decidir
decoración, adorno
delicado/a
demonstrate
dentist
depend
deport
describe
desert
destroy
detain
determine
diamond
dictator
different
difficult
dinosaur
direction
directions
directly
director
disappear
disaster
discord
discrimination
discuss
disgrace
distance
distribute
dollar
double
dragon
dynamite
economy
effect
electric
elephant
eliminate
demonstrar
dentista
depender
deportar
describir
desierto
destruir
detener
determinar
diamante
dictador
differente
difícil
dinosaurio
dirección
direcciones
directamente
director
desaparecer
desastre
discordia
discriminación
discutir
desgracia
distancia
distribuir
dólar
doble
dragón
dinamita
E
economía
efecto
eléctrico/a
elefante
eliminar
enormous
energy
English
enter
equipment
escape
especially
evidence
exam, test
examine
exceed
exclaim
explain
explosion
exotic
extra
extraordinary
family
famous
fascinate
favorite
February
ferocious
finally
firm
flexible
flower
fortunately
fruit
function
funeral
furious
galaxy
gallon
enorme
energía
inglés
entrar
equipos (atlético)
escapar
especialmente
evidencia
examen
examinar
exceder
exclamar
explicar
explosión
exótico/a
extra
extraordinario/a
F
familia
famoso/a
fascinar
favorito/a
febrero
feroz
finalmente
firme
flexible
flor
afortunadamente
fruta
función
funeral
furioso/a
G
glaxia
galón
garden
gas
giant
gigantic
giraffe
golf
glorious
gorilla
group
guard
guide
guitar
gymnasium
gymnastics
helicopter
hippopotamus
history
honor
hospital
hotel
hour
human
idea
identification
imagine
immediately
immigrants
importance
important
impressed
impression
incredible
incurable
independence
jardín
gas
gigante
gigantesco/a
jirafa
golf
glorioso/a
gorila
grupo
guardia
guía
guitarra
gimnasio
gimnasia
H
helicóptero
hipopótamo
historia
honor
hospital
hotel
hora
humano/a
I
idea
identificatión
imaginar
inmediatamente
inmigrantes
importancia
importante
impresionando/a
impresión
increíble
incurable
independencia
influence (n)
influence (v)
information
insects
inseparable
insist
inspection
intelligence
interesting
interrupt
introduce
introduction
invent
investigate
invitation
invite
island
June
July
kangaroo
kilogram
leader
lemon
lens
leopard
lessons
line
lion
list
locate
machine
magic
influencia
influenciar, influir
información
insectos
inseparable
insistir
inspección
inteligencia
interesante
interrumpir
introducir
introducción
inventar
invesigar
invitación
invitar
isla
J
junio
julio
K
canguro/kanguro
kilogramo
L
líder
limón
lente
leopardo
lecciónes
línea
león
lista
localizar
M
máquina
magia
magician
magnificent
manner
map
March
march
May
medal
memory
metal
microscope
million
miniature
minute (n.)
minute (adj.)
modern
moment
monument
mountain
much
multiplication
multiply
music
nation
natural
necessity
nectar
nervous
north
notice
November
obedience
obey
object (n.)
mago
magnifico/a
manera
mapa
marzo
marchar, caminar
mayo
medalla
memoria
metal
microscopio
millón
miniatura
minuto
minúsculo
moderno
momento
monumento
montaña
mucho
multiplicación
multiplicar
música
N
nación
natural
necesidad
néctar
nervioso/a
norte
noticia
noviembre
O
obediencia
obedecer (cumplir)
objeto
observe
occasion
ocean
October
office
operation
orbit
orchestra
ordinary
palace
panic
paper
park
part
patience
penguin
perfect
perfume
permanent
personality
photo
photograph
photographer
physical
piano
pilot
pioneer
pirate
planet
planetarium
plan (n.)
plants (n.)
plates (n.)
poem
poet
observar
ocasión
océano
octubre
oficina
operación
órbita
orquesta
ordinario
P
palacio
pánico
papel
parque
parte
paciencia
pingüino
perfecto/a
perfume
permanente
personalidad
foto
fotografía
fotógrafo/a
fisico
piano
piloto
pionero
pirata
planeta
planetario
plan
plantas
platos
poema
poeta
poetry
police
possible
practice (n)
practice (v)
prepare
present (v)
problem
professional
qualification
qualify
quality
quantify
quart
radio
ranch
rectangle
really
reflect (mirror)
reflect (ponder)
restaurant
retire
reunion
rich
rock
rose
route
sandals
secret
section
select (v.)
September
series
poesia
policía
posible
práctica
practicar
preparar
presentar
problema
profesional
Q
calificación
calificar
calidad
cuantificar
cuarto
R
radio
rancho
rectángulo
realmente
reflejar
reflexionar
restaurante
retirar
reunión
rico/a
roca
rosa
ruta
S
sandalias
secreto
sección
seleccionar
septiembre
serie
service
shampoo
similar
sofa
solve
sound
special
specific
splendid
statistics
stomach
study
subject
submarine
subtitle
sum
superior
surprise (n.) / (v.)
taxi
telephone
telescope
television
temperature
terrible
theatre
servicio
champú
similar
sofá
resolver
sonido
especial
específico
espléndido/a
estadística
estómago
estudiar
sujeto
submarino
subtítulos
suma
superior
sorpresa / -ar
T
taxi
teléfono
telescopio
televisión
temperatura
terrible
teatro
tiger
title
tomato
totally
tourist
traffic
trap (v.)
tremendous
triangle
triple
trumpet
tube
type
typical
uniform
union
unique
unite
united
vegetables
version
visit (n.) / (v.)
volleyball
vote (v.)
tigre
título
tomate
totalmente
turista
tráfico
atrapar
tremendo
triángulo
triple
trompeta
tubo
tipo
típica
U
uniforme
unión
único/a, sólo
unir, unirse
unido/a
V
vegetales
versión
visita / -ar
voleibol
votar
Also note cognates and close relations among affixes and terms of weights and
measures:
Weights & Measures Prefixes
English
Spanish
Prefix meaning
decadeca10 times
hectohecto100 times
kilokilo1000 times
deciceci1/10
centicenti1/100
milli-, milimilli-, mili1/1000
Volume/Area Terms
English
Spanish
liquid
líquido
quart
cuarto
gallon
galón
ounce
onza
liter
litro
cubic
cúbico
Distance Terms
English
area
yard
mile
meter
kilometer
centimeter
millimeter
Weight Terms
English
gram
kilogram
Spanish
área
yarda
milla
metro
kilómetro
centímetro
milímetro
Spanish
gramo
kilogramo
Adapted/Sourced from:
Colorín Colorado (2011). Using Cognates to Develop Comprehension in English. Retrieved September 20,
2014, from http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/background/cognates/
Flinspach, S., Scott, J., and Miller, T. (2010). Looking at Cognates: What’s Importante y Necesario in
Instruction? University of California, Santa Cruz. Vocabulary Innovations In Education (VINE).
Third Grade Teacher Reading Academy. (2002). Austin, TX: UT System; Texas Education Agency;
Education Service Center Region 13; Education Service Center Region 4.
http://spanish.about.com/od/spanishvocabulary/a/intro_to_suffixes.htm