Esperanto false friends for English speakers

An Esperanto false friend is a word that looks like an English word but means something else. The best-known example is eventuale, which means "possibly" or "perhaps", not "eventually". The tables below list 44 such words, grouped by kind and checked against the dictionary Reta Vortaro (ReVo). Looks like is the English word the Esperanto one brings to mind, Actually means is its Esperanto sense, and Say instead gives the Esperanto word for the English meaning.

#Adjectives and adverbs

Esperanto has no helper verb "do": a yes-or-no question starts with ĉu, as in Ĉu vi ŝatas kafon? – "Do you like coffee?"

#Nouns

ReVo lists a second romano for "inhabitant of Rome", so the adjective roma is the safer word for "Roman". A citizen of ancient Rome is a romiano. More traps with clothes are on the clothes page.

#Verbs

The noun resto does mean "the rest, the remainder": only the verb is a false friend. Atendi takes its object directly, with no word for "for": Mi atendas la buson – "I am waiting for the bus."

#Words that overlap only in part

These words share something with the English look-alike, but the match is partial.

A few notes on the table:

• Aktuala: ReVo's fourth sense, marked as a scientific term, is "real, actual", as in aktuala malfinio "actual infinity" in mathematics. In everyday Esperanto aktuala means "topical, of current interest". ReVo advises against it in the plain sense "current, present": say nuna (la nuna jaro "the current year").
• Frazo: a frazo is a full sentence. PMEG defines it as a row of words that together express a thought. ReVo's remark says the English "noun phrase" should be substantiva grupo, not "substantiva frazo".
• Oferi: ReVo's English glosses include "offer", but a remark on one sense, close to French offrir, advises oferti or proponi instead.
• Kontesti: "contest" meaning "dispute" (contest a result) fits. "A contest" does not.
• Studento: for a child at school, say lernanto. More on school words.

#Look-alikes that are safe

Not every look-alike is a trap. The ReVo definitions agree with English for ekzameno "exam", preciza "precise", sensacia "sensational", konkurso "competition", prudenta "prudent, sensible" and tablo "table".

#The false friends in sentences

#Why do these false friends exist?

Esperanto took most roots from Latin and the Romance languages, with German and others, and a root usually keeps the meaning it has there. English borrowed related words from the same families long ago, and their meanings drifted. In our analysis of word origins, Latin is named as a source for 45% and French for 42% of the 843 frequent roots that have etymology data.

Wiktionary traces demandi to French demander "to ask", larĝa to French large "wide", ĉasi to French chasser "to hunt", fiera to French fier "proud" and gimnazio to German Gymnasium. ReVo translates eventuale as French éventuellement and German eventuell, which also mean "possibly". If you know French or German, some of these will feel less strange.

#How to avoid false friends

• Look up any word that looks English in the dictionary, which shows the meaning, the word structure and an example.
• Learn everyday words first with the 100 most common words, then check each new look-alike here.
• Use suffixes to get the English meaning. Ofico + -ej- "place" gives oficejo "office", pasto + -aĵ- gives pastaĵo "pasta dish" and tendo "tent" + -ar- "group" gives tendaro "camp". See suffixes.
• Compare your own slips with the common mistakes.

#Common questions

#What is a false friend in Esperanto?

It is an Esperanto word that resembles a word in your own language but has a different meaning. For English speakers, examples include eventuale "possibly", romano "novel" and demandi "to ask".

#Does eventuale mean "eventually"?

No. ReVo translates eventuale as "possibly, perhaps". For "eventually" use fine ("in the end") or finfine ("at last").

#How do you say "actually" in Esperanto?

Use fakte "in fact, actually" or vere "really". Do not use aktuala, which means "topical".

#How can I check whether an Esperanto word means what I think?

Look it up in the dictionary before you use it, and read the definition, not only the English gloss. ReVo gives definitions in Esperanto and often adds a remark when an English speaker is likely to be misled.

#Sources

• ReVo, adjectives and adverbs: eventuala, efektiva, efika, ĝentila, milda, fiera, feroca, larĝa, granda, vera, tre, do, fino, fakto
• ReVo, nouns: fabriko, ŝtofo, teksi, gimnazio, gimnastiko, magazeno, magazino, romano, Romo, roma, romano, Romio, romiano, korto, tribunalo, tabulo, tablo, kampo, tendo, hazardo, danĝero, risko, infano, bebo, bileto, kalkulo, fakturo, benzino, benzeno, pasto, nudelo, sorto, speco, atenco, atento, vesto, veŝto
• ReVo, verbs: atendi, esti (ĉeesti), resti, ripozi, demandi, postuli, kontroli, regi, stiri, konkuri, konsenti, ĉasi, kuri (postkuri)
• ReVo, partial overlaps: aktuala, simpatio, kompati, komuna, ordinara, ofico, kolegio, lerni (altlernejo, lernanto), universitato, studento, glaso, vitro, argumento, kverelo, disputo, frazo, vortgrupo, ĵurnalo, taglibro, revuo, recenzo, kontesti, konkurso, oferi, oferti, proponi, pretendi, ŝajni (ŝajnigi), ekspedi, rapida (rapidigi), rezigni, eksiĝi, demisii
• ReVo, safe look-alikes: ekzameno, preciza, sensacio, prudenta
• PMEG, Frazoj kaj frazpartoj (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• English Wiktionary, Esperanto etymologies of demandi, larĝa, ĉasi, fiera and gimnazio (CC BY-SA)