INGLÉS EMPRESARIAL
TEMA 7 LOS ERRORES FRECUENTES O FALSE FRIENDS
7. LOS ERRORES FRECUENTES O FALSE FRIENDS
INTRODUCCIÓN
En ocasiones, las traducciones realizadas del inglés al castellano pueden
ocasionar problemas porque no corresponde con el significado que se cree. Los
errores frecuentes o false friends están presentes en el idioma inglés en todos
los ámbitos, incluido el lenguaje empresarial.
De esta forma, la forma escrita del término puede asociarse a una palabra en
español con similar forma, pero cuyos significados son completamente
diferentes. Por tanto, es importante conocer cómo actúan los false friends y
atender a su posible relación con el ámbito empresarial.
Para ello, a lo largo de esta Unidad Didáctica se lleva a cabo un repaso de
aquellas palabras que pueden ocasionar malos entendidos, confusiones y
ofensas.
OBJETIVOS
Conocer los principales errores habituales que se pueden cometer en la
traducción de las palabras del inglés al castellano.
Analizar las posibles confusiones en los términos e incluso aquellos que
pueden resultar ofensivos.
7.1. Un repaso de palabras y estructuras que se prestan a malos entendidos,
confusiones e incluso pueden resultar ofensivas
The term ‘false friends’ makes reference to those English words that can cause
some confusion to Spanish learners of English. These words resemble to some
Spanish words but they are totally different in meaning. You are given a list of
false friend together with some exercises in order for you to practice with them.
Vocabulary
Look at the following definitions… I bet many of them don't mean what you initially
thought:
Embarrassed: ashamed of something and worried about what other
people will think of you.
Subject: an idea, problem, situation etc. that you discuss or write about.
Sympathetic: kind to someone who has a problem and willing to
understand how they feel.
Remove: to take something or someone away from a place.
Sensible: reasonable and practical.
Sensitive: reacting quickly or strongly to something.
Exit: a way out of a public building or vehicle.
Idioms: a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings
of the individual words.
Actually: used in speaking to emphasize a fact or a comment, or that
something is really true.
Suburb: an area where people live that is outside the centre of a city.
Assistance: help or support.
Constipation: the condition of being unable to get rid of waste of materials
from the bowels easily (being constipated).
Eventually: at the end of a period of time or a series of events.
As the examples showed before, we can find other words that can be quite
confused to Spanish speakers that are learning English. Let's have a look at
the following table:
Ejercicio 1. Fill the gaps by choosing the most appropriate answer.
1. The ___________ I hate the most is maths.
a) Signature
b) Subject
2. Linda is a very __________ person.
a) Kind
b) Sympathetic
3. John’s brother keeps _________________ the hotpot.
a) Removing
b) Stirring
4. I couldn’t agree more, Rosa is a very _____________ person. She gets angry
easily.
a) Sensible
b) Sensitive
5. The film Titanic was a box office ______________ .
a) Exit
b) Success
6. How many ______________ can your colleague speaks?
a) Idioms
b) Languages
7. ____________ houses are more expensive than years ago.
a) Nowadays
b) Actually
8. Poor people live in the ____________ (slums/suburbs).
a) Slums
b) Suburbs
Exjercicio 2. Fill the gaps by choosing the most appropriate answer in brackets.
1. I’ve been sick for a week. I had a ___________ , so I’ve been in bed with fever and
a lot of tissues.
a) Cold
b) Constipation
2. Jerry has been living with his parents ______________, until he found a new
house.
a) Eventually
b) Temporarily
3. The French government have ____________ a lot of money in new projects, as
the Central Park reorganization.
a) Inverted
b) Invested
4. The Englishman wearing socks and sandals is quite a ____________.
a) Stereotype
b) Topic
5. My little brother never stops moving. He fins impossible to ____________.
a) Keep still
b) Keep quiet
6. The terrorism experts are ___________ very closely the north situation after the
attempt of bomb.
a) Controlling
b) Monitoring
7. Languages are very ___________ for my job.
a) Important
b) Interesting
8. Don't _____________ this package, it’s very fragile.
a) Invert
b) Invest
Vocabulary
In English, we can find some verbs that can be difficult to use as they can be
confounded with other verbs. Let's have a look at some of them.
Come vs. Go
We use come to talk about moving towards the person who is speaking or the
place they are talking about. However, we use go to talk about moving from one
place to another. We often say come/go back to mean return and we always say.
For example:
I am having a lovely time here in Madrid, so I hope to come back some day.
I can't find my purse, so I'm going to go back to the cinema.
Ejercicio 3. Choose the correct option.
1. Please ____ in and sit down.
a) come
b) go
2. Look! That's the restaurant Peter talked us about. Let's ____ in.
a) come
b) go
3. John and Susan ____ from Guatemala.
a) come
b) go
4. Tonight, I'm throwing a party. You can ____ over to my apartment.
a) come
b) go
5. Sally wants to ____ out with Sam.
a) come
b) go
Bring vs. Take
We use bring when we come to a place with something (or someone)
and take when we go to a place with something (or someone).
For example:
When I come to your party, I’ll bring a cake. But if I go to Anna’s party, I won’t take
one.
Ejercicio 4. Choose the right option.
1. Please, ___ this book to the library.
a) take
b) bring
2. Could you ___ John some wine, please?
a) take
b) bring
3. I have the best husband. He often ___ flowers when he comes home.
a) take
b) bring
4. Can you ____ the car to the garage on Thursday?
a) take
b) bring
5. Is your sister ___ her boyfriend to the Christmas party this year?
a) take
b) bring
Live vs. Stay
We use live when we talk about our home. We use stay when we talk about being
somewhere as visitor or a guest, often for a short time. We also use stay to talk
about continuing to be at a place without going away.
For example:
I live with my wife. We are going to stay in a hotel while our flat is being decorated.
The restaurant was great, so we decided to stay there for a couple hours more.
Ejercicio 5. Choose the right option.
1. Jeremy ___ in a huge mansion.
a) lives
b) stays
2. We ____ in a five-star hotel during our honeymoon in Thailand.
a) lived
b) stayed
3. Sarah, were are you ____ at the moment?
a) living
b) staying
4. As long as John is here, I'll ___.
a) live
b) stay
5. How many weeks are you going to ___ in your parent's house?
a) live
b) stay
