INGLÊS INSTRUMENTAL Cognates

False Cognates
CHAPTER 6 Partially False Cognates
What do these words from different
languages have in common?
What do these words from different
languages have in common?

TEMPUS CORAZÓN

SEKRETÄRIN DIFFÉRENCE

VITA CREDIT
Yep! They are COGNATE WORDS.
Yep! They are COGNATE WORDS.
But what are cognate words?
Yep! They are COGNATE WORDS.
But what are cognate words?

Words that are related to each other by

origin and which are similar to another
word in another language
Look at this other explanation, in four
different languages!
Look at this other explanation, in four
different languages!

Cognate words are words descended from

a common ancestor; that is, words having:
Look at this other explanation, in four
different languages!

Cognate words are words descended from

a common ancestor; that is, words having:
the same linguistic family or derivation (English)
la misma familia lingüística o derivación (Spanish)
la même famille linguistique ou dérivation (French)
a mesma família lingüística ou derivação (Portuguese).
Cognates are more than 25,000 frequently
used English words that are unmistakably
understood by Spanish, French, Italian,
Portuguese, Romanian and Catalan
speakers, among others.
Cognates are more than 25,000 frequently
used English words that are unmistakably
understood by Spanish, French, Italian,
Portuguese, Romanian and Catalan
speakers, among others.

For Portuguese-speaking learners of the

English language, cognates are an obvious
bridge to English, so:
Of course, you might ask, ‘But what
about the false cognates?’
Of course, you might ask, ‘But what
about the false cognates?’

Yes, they do exist. But, on the next

slides, look at some information and
numbers according to some specialist
sites:
Word Frequency

For those of you who may not be into the world of linguistics, there
is a subfield of this science called Corpus Linguistics. For example,
Corpus Linguistics gathers every single word on a newspaper and,
with the help of software, it tells you that a particular newspaper
was written using a million words but, because many of the words
are repeated several times, the real number of words may be only
5,000 words. If you do that with newspapers, fiction and non-fiction
books, songs, and spoken language (interviews and random street
conversations), you will have a list of the most frequently used
words in the English language. Based on renowned frequency
wordlists, we offer some revealing statistics:
 GSL Oxford Brown AWL
Total number of 2,284 3,457 1st 5,000 570
words
Cognate words 32% 42% 44% 71%
False cognates 7% 6% 4% 7%
Remainder 61% 52% 52% 22%

GSL - The General Service List

The Oxford 3000 Word List, Oxford University Press.
The Brown Corpus, Francis and Kucera.
AWL, The Academic Wordlist
 GSL Oxford Brown AWL
Total number of 2,284 3,457 1st 5,000 570
words
Cognate words 32% 42% 44% 71%
False cognates 7% 6% 4% 7%
Remainder 61% 52% 52% 22%

GSL - The General Service List

The Oxford 3000 Word List, Oxford University Press.
The Brown Corpus, Francis and Kucera.
AWL, The Academic Wordlist

So only about 6% of the cognate words in a text will be

false cognates! Read an analysis of these numbers on
the next slide:
In this chart, we can see that as the number of frequently
used words or academic ones increases, real cognates also
increase. Additionally, it is crucial to keep in mind that the
effect of that average 5% of false cognate occurrence is
easily, dramatically and permanently going to be reduced
once we are informed about them. In other words, we will
hardly ever make the same mistake twice concerning the use
of a wrong cognate word.
There are thousands of lists trying to
compile false cognates related to
English and Portuguese.
There are thousands of lists trying to
compile false cognates related to
English and Portuguese.

But these lists are not exhaustive; that

is, you can always add more words to it!
And there are cases when cognates are
partial false cognates, sharing one
meaning but not another. Look at these
examples:
And there are cases when cognates are
partial false cognates, sharing one
meaning but not another. Look at these
examples:
conviction
- convicção, como crença
- condenação, por um crime
And there are cases when cognates are
partial false cognates, sharing one
meaning but not another. Look at these
examples:
conviction
- convicção, como crença
- condenação, por um crime

apply
- aplicar, como em ‘apply a technique’
- solicitar, como em ‘apply for a job’
In conclusion, cognate words will really help you to
read and understand a text in English.
In conclusion, cognate words will really help you to
read and understand a text in English.

False or partial false cognate words will come up,

but at a low frequency.
In conclusion, cognate words will really help you to
read and understand a text in English.

False or partial false cognate words will come up,

but at a low frequency.

You will never learn 100% of the false or partial false

cognate words. You’ll learn them as you come across
them. If you make mistakes, no problem, you’ll learn
with them.
In conclusion, cognate words will really help you to
read and understand a text in English.

False or partial false cognate words will come up,

but at a low frequency.

You will never learn 100% of the false or partial false

cognate words. You’ll learn them as you come across
them. If you make mistakes, no problem, you’ll learn
with them.

The more an experienced reader in English you

become, the easier it will be for you to spot false and
partial false cognate words in texts!
So off we go to some practice!
So off we go to some practice!

Look at the text on the next slide. It contains some

false and partial false cognate words, in bold.
So off we go to some practice!

Look at the text on the next slide. It contains some

false and partial false cognate words, in bold.

See if you can work out their meanings.

A DAY AT WORK
http://www.supportiveenglish.com/2012/04/text-comprehension-exercises-false_04.html

In the morning, I attended a meeting between management and union

representatives. The discussion was very comprehensive, covering topics like
working hours, days off, retirement age, etc. Both sides were interested in an
agreement and ready to compromise. The secretary recorded everything in
the notes. Eventually, they decided to set a new meeting to sign the final draft
of the agreement. Back at the office, a colleague of mine asked me if I had
realized that the proposed agreement would be partially against the company
policy not to accept workers that have already retired. I pretended to be really
busy and late for an appointment, and I left for the cafeteria. Actually, I didn't
want to discuss the matter at that particular moment because there were some
strangers in the office. After lunch I attended a lecture given by the mayor,
who is an expert in tax legislation and has a graduate degree in political
science. He said his government intends to assist welfare programs and senior
citizens, raise funds to improve college education and build a public library,
and establish tougher limits on vehicle emissions because he assumes this is
what the people expect from the government.
Now, look at these questions:
Now, look at these questions:

a. to attend does not mean ‘atender’. So, what is ‘atender’ in English?

b. comprehensive does not mean ‘compreensivo’. So what is ‘compreensivo’

in English?

c. compromise does not mean ‘compromisso’. So what is ‘compromisso’ in

English?

d. to record does not mean ‘recordar’. So what is ‘recordar’ in English?

e. eventually does not mean ‘eventualmente’. So what is ‘eventualmente’ in

English?

f. to realize does not mean ‘realizar’. So what is ‘realizar’ in English?

g. retired does not mean ‘retirado’. So what is ‘retirado’ in English?

h. to pretend does not mean ‘pretendeu’. So what is ‘pretender’ in English?

i. appointment does not mean ‘apontamento’. So what is ‘apontamento,

anotação’ in English?

j. cafeteria does not mean ‘cafeteria’. So what is ‘cafeteria’ in English?

k. actually does not mean ‘atualmente’. So what is ‘atualmente’ in English?

l. particular does not mean ‘particular, privado’. So what is ‘particular, privado’

in English?

m. lecture does not mean ‘leitura’. So what is ‘leitura’ in English?

n. mayor does not mean ‘maior’. So what is ‘maior’ in English?

o. expert does not mean ‘esperto’. So what is ‘esperto’ in English?

p. tax does not mean ‘taxa’. So what is ‘taxa’ in English?

q. college does not mean ‘colégio’. So what is ‘colégio’ in English?

r. library does not mean ‘livraria’. So what is ‘livraria’ in English?

s. to assume does not mean ‘assumir’. So what is ‘assumir’ in English?