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"to suspend (halt, call off)" in seven languages

Meaningto suspend (halt, call off)

Spanish

suspender

/suspenˈdeɾ/

learned

In Spain it also means to fail an exam: he suspendido química.

French

suspendre

/syspɑ̃dʁ/

learned

Also 'to hang up': suspendre un lustre.

Italian

sospendere

/sosˈpɛndere/

inherited

Participle sospeso.

Portuguese

suspender

/suspẽˈdeh/

learned

Romanian

suspenda

/suspenˈda/

learned

Catalan

suspendre

/susˈpɛndɾə/

learned

English

suspend

/səˈspɛnd/

from Latin/French · Old French suspendre

English → Italianto suspend (halt, call off)sospendereCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

SUSPENDERE‘to hang up (PENDERE 'to hang')’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

To suspend is literally to leave something hanging. Italian lowered the short u to o (sospendere); Spanish and French kept the Latin look. Spanish students dread suspender: it means failing.

English relatives: suspense, suspension, pending, pendant

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In a sentence

  • esEl partido se suspendió por la lluvia.
  • frLe match a été suspendu à cause de la pluie.
  • itLa partita è stata sospesa per la pioggia.
  • ptA partida foi suspensa por causa da chuva.
  • roMeciul a fost suspendat din cauza ploii.
  • caEl partit es va suspendre per la pluja.
  • enThe match was suspended because of the rain.

More in Core verbs

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