In a previous article I offered some valuable tips to help English speaking travelers to Costa Rica (or elsewhere) and expat residents improve the pronunciation of Spanish words.
Believe it or not, you already know thousands of words in Spanish. It could be due to the shows you watch on television or Netflix or through the books we read. But did you know that alot of the words in Spanish can be learned through English? This is through what are called cognates and that just means that a word is related in origin to another word.
Therefore, in the next couple of articles I am going show you how to build your vocabulary since you already know English words that become Spanish words if you change them slightly.
Words that end in OR
The first and easiest category is made up of words that end in “or.” These words are often identical in Spanish and English.
El actor (the actor)
El doctor (the doctor)
El tractor (the tractor)
Interior (interior)
El color (the color)
El conductor (the conductor)
El error (the error)
Notice that Spanish words that end in “or” are stressed on the last : Example: doc-TOR
Words that end in AL
This category of words end in “al.” These also are often identical in Spanish and English words.
El animal
El criminal
El canal
Central
Local
Musical
Natural
Personal
Rural
Notice Spanish words that end in “al” are stressed on the last syllable: lo-CAL
Words that end in BLE
Words that end in “ble.”These also are often identical in Spanish and English.
El cable (cable)
Terrible
Possible
Flexible
Visible
Probable
Horrible
Notice Spanish words that end in “ble” are stressed on the next to the last syllable: no-TA-ble
Tiquismo or Costa Rica expression of the week:
Estar ahuevado/a is to be sad. Estar triste is the correct way to express this idea.
About Chris Howard
Christopher Howard Costa Rica’s foremost relocation expert and has been conducting monthly relocation/retirement tours to Costa Rica for over 30 years. See www.liveincostarica.com. He is also the author of the one of a kind bestselling, New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica — the official guide to relocation and “Guide to Costa Rican Spanish,” that may be purchased through
www.costaricabooks.com
