Spanish for Portuguese speakers

share a source

75%

inherited on both sides

27%

to learn fresh

25%

2,264 words compared

Words you already know

Everyday words whose Portuguese and Spanish forms come from the same source.

• eu→yo
• ele→él
• se→si
• em→en
• não→no
• ou→o
• nós→nosotros
• e→y
• braço→brazo
• mau→malo
• gato→gato
• vaca→vaca
• orelha→oreja
• ovo→huevo
• olho→ojo
• como→cómo
• chave→llave
• homem→hombre
• novo→nuevo
• velho→viejo
• triste→triste
• mar→mar
• ela→ella
• céu→cielo

The sound laws between them

Regular changes that turn a Portuguese word into its Spanish cognate — learn one and it pays out across hundreds of words.

• Stressed short E breaks into iee [ɛ] (no diphthong)→ie (open and closed syllables)PETRAMpedra→piedra
• Stressed short O breaks into ue / uo / euo [ɔ] (no diphthong)→ue (open and closed syllables)NOVUMnovo→nuevo
• French stressed free A becomes ea (kept)→a (kept)MAREmar→mar
• French fronts long U to [y]u [u] (kept)→u [u] (kept)LŪNAMlua→luna
• AU becomes oou (said [o] in Brazil)→oAURUMouro→oro
• French vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowelnasal vowel or diphthong too (pão, bom, fim)→vowel + n keptPĀNEMpão→pan
• Spanish initial F- becomes h- (silent)f- kept→h- (silent); f- kept before ue and rFĪLIUM (fr. from nom. FĪLIUS)filho→hijo
• Voiceless stops between vowels softenb (v) d g→b d gVĪTAMvida→vida
• C before E and Is (c, ç); z [z] between vowels→θ (c, z); s where there is seseoCAELUMcéu→cielo
• French CA becomes chaca kept→ca keptCABALLUMcavalo→caballo
• Initial I- (J-) and G before E, Ij, g [ʒ]→j [x] before a back vowel; y-, h- or nothing before eIOCUMjogo→juego
• B and V merge in Spanishv kept; B between vowels → v→one sound: b, v = [b] (soft [β] between vowels)VĪNUMvinho→vino
• Germanic W- becomes gu- / g-gu- ([gw] before a, o; [g] before e, i)→gu- ([gw] before a, o; [g] before e, i)Germanic *WERRAguerra→guerra
• L before a consonant becomes ual → ou, oi in some words (outro, foice); written l elsewhere, said [w] in Brazil→al → o (otro); ult → uch (mucho); often keptALTERUMoutro→otro
• CTit (i + t)→ch [tʃ]NOCTEMnoite→noche
• L + yodlh [ʎ]→j [x]FOLIAMfolha→hoja
• C'L inside a wordlh [ʎ]→j [x]OCULUMolho→ojo
• CL-, PL-, FL- at the start of a wordch- [ʃ]→ll- (often)CLĀVEMchave→llave
• NN, GN and N + yodnh [ɲ]; NN → n→ñ [ɲ]ANNUMano→año
• S + consonant at the start of a wordes-→es-STELLAMestrela→estrella
• French loses S before a consonant (^)s kept→s keptFESTAMfesta→fiesta
• Italian assimilates clusterssimplified: pt → t, mn → n; x → ss or ix [jʃ]→simplified: pt → t; mn → ñ; x → j [x] or sSEPTEMsete→siete
• Final vowels-o, -a, -e kept (said [u], [ɐ], [i]); -e dropped after a single r, l, s, z, n→-o, -a, -e kept; -e dropped after a single r, l, n, s, d, zLUPUMlobo→lobo
• Plurals: -s or -i-s, -es (from the accusative)→-s, -es (from the accusative)LUPŌS (acc.) / LUPĪ (nom.)lobos→lobos
• -TĀTEM: -dad, -té, -tà-dade (-tade after a consonant)→-dad (-tad in some words after a consonant)CĪVITĀTEMcidade→ciudad
• -TIŌNEM: learned -ción, inherited -zón-ção (learned and inherited alike: nação, razão)→-ción (learned); inherited -zónRATIŌNEMrazão→razón
• -ĀRIUM: -ero, -ier, -aio-eiro, -eira→-ero, -eraCABALLĀRIUMcavaleiro→caballero
• Adverbs in -mente / -ment-mente→-menteCLĀRĀ MENTEclaramente→claramente
• Single L between vowels: lost in Portuguese, r in Romanianlost (céu, fio, cor)→l keptFĪLUMfio→hilo
• Portuguese loses single N between vowelslost, nasalizing the vowel (lã, mão); later often oral (lua, boa) or nh (vinho)→n keptLĀNAMlã→lana
• Romanian turns velars into labialsit, x [ʃ], nh; qu, gu→ch, j, ñ; cu, gu (velar kept or palatalized)OCTŌoito→ocho
• Romanian T, D, S before i become ț, z, șkept; t, d said [tʃ], [dʒ] before i in Brazil (dia)→t, d, s keptDĪCEREdizer→decir
• Catalan drops -n at the end of a wordnasal vowel or diphthong (pão, vinho, bom)→n kept (pan, vino)PĀNEMpão→pan

False friends to watch

• esquisito (Portuguese) means “strange, weird” · exquisito (Spanish) means “exquisite; delicious”

  Both from Latin EXQUĪSĪTUM 'sought out'. Spanish (and English exquisite) went 'carefully chosen, refined'; Portuguese went 'out of the ordinary', then 'odd'. Uma comida esquisita is not a compliment.

• polvo (Portuguese) means “octopus” · polvo (Spanish) means “dust, powder”

  Coincidence. Portuguese polvo is Latin POLYPUM (from Greek polýpous 'many-footed'), the source of Spanish pulpo too; Spanish polvo is spoken Latin *PULVUS (classical PULVIS 'dust').

• embaraçada (Portuguese) means “embarrassed, awkward; tangled” · embarazada (Spanish) means “pregnant”

  The same Ibero-Romance verb, embaraçar / embarazar 'to hinder, encumber' (further origin uncertain). Portuguese kept 'hampered, flustered', close to English embarrassed; only Spanish narrowed it to 'pregnant'.

• apelido (Portuguese) means “nickname (Brazil)” · apellido (Spanish) means “surname”

  Both from apelidar / apellidar, Latin APPELLITĀRE 'to call by name' (frequentative of APPELLĀRE). In Portugal apelido is still the surname; Brazil says sobrenome and keeps apelido for the nickname.

• oficina (Portuguese) means “workshop; car-repair garage” · oficina (Spanish) means “office”

  Both from Latin OFFICĪNA 'workshop'. Portuguese kept the original sense, as Italian officina did; Spanish moved it from the workshop to the desk.

• cena (Portuguese) means “scene” · cena (Spanish) means “dinner, supper”

  Coincidence of spelling. Portuguese cena is learned, from SCAENAM 'stage'; Spanish cena is inherited from CĒNAM 'dinner'. Portuguese's own CĒNAM is ceia 'supper' (a Santa Ceia, the Last Supper).

• borracha (Portuguese) means “rubber; eraser” · borracha (Spanish) means “drunk (of a woman)”

  Probably one word: Ibero-Romance borracha 'leather wine flask' (further origin obscure). Spanish borracho 'drunk' is usually derived from it; Portuguese gave the flask's name to the rubber later used for such bottles, and then to the eraser.

• rato (Portuguese) means “mouse; rat” · rato (Spanish) means “a while, a short time”

  Coincidence. Spanish rato is Latin RAPTUM 'a snatching', hence a sudden moment; Portuguese rato belongs with English rat and Italian ratto, a widespread word of uncertain origin.

• tirar (Portuguese) means “to take off, take out; to take (a photo)” · tirar (Spanish) means “to throw; to pull; to throw away”

  The same verb, of disputed origin, shared by Ibero-Romance. Portuguese tirar a roupa is 'take off your clothes'; Spanish tirar la ropa is 'throw the clothes (away)'. Portuguese atirar is the throwing one.

• pegar (Portuguese) means “to take, grab; to catch (a bus, a cold)” · pegar (Spanish) means “to hit; to stick, glue”

  Both from Latin PICĀRE 'to coat with pitch', hence 'to stick'. Spanish went on to 'strike' (a blow that lands); Portuguese to 'take hold of' — pegar o ônibus is 'catch the bus'.

• propina (Portuguese) means “bribe (Brazil)” · propina (Spanish) means “tip, gratuity”

  Both from Latin PROPĪNĀRE 'to drink to someone's health' (from Greek): money given 'for a drink'. Spanish kept the tip; in Brazil it slid to a bribe, and in Portugal it is a university fee. Never offer a Brazilian waiter uma propina.

• brincar (Portuguese) means “to play (of children); to joke” · brincar (Spanish) means “to jump, hop”

  The same Ibero-Romance verb, built on brinco 'leap; earring' (origin disputed). Spanish kept the leap; Portuguese went from skipping about to playing and kidding: estou brincando 'I'm joking'.

Words to learn fresh

Common words where Spanish went its own way.

• camacama
• caixacaja
• meninochico
• maspero
• carrocoche
• xícarataza
• papaipapá
• diadía
• cachorroperro
• longelejos
• gordogordo
• parapara