English words that look like they should mean something else — but actually mean something different.
⏱ Average time
2 to 4 minutes per round.
🎯 Difficulty
Single level — 8 questions per round.
🧠 Skills exercised
English vocabulary · Language awareness · Cross-language reasoning
How to play
Find the real meaning of each tricky English word that closely resembles a foreign-language word.
Example
"EMBARRASSED" looks like the Portuguese "embaraçado" (tangled), but it actually means ashamed or humiliated. "PUSH" looks like "puxar" (pull) but means the opposite.
Tips & strategies
- 1.Trust context over appearance: if a word looks familiar from another language, double-check what it actually means in English.
- 2.Learn the most common pairs: embarrassed/ashamed, actual/real, eventually/in the end.
- 3.When in doubt, think of a sentence where you have heard or read the word — that often reveals its true meaning.
💡 Did you know?
The term "false friends" was coined by French linguists Koessler and Derocquigny in their 1928 book Les Faux Amis — originally about traps for people learning French from English.
Frequently asked questions
Is this game only useful for Portuguese learners?
The concepts apply broadly — false friends exist between many language pairs, and knowing them makes you a more careful reader.
Is there a Portuguese version?
Yes — the PT version helps Brazilian learners of English spot these same traps from the other side.