If you speak Spanish, Portuguese, or French, you already know thousands of English words — or at least you think you do. Words like hospital, temperature, and university look nearly identical across all four languages. They share Latin roots, similar spellings, and related meanings.
But here is the trap: the pronunciation is completely different.
Romance language speakers consistently make the same mistakes with these cognates because they transfer their native language's stress patterns, vowel sounds, and syllable structure into English. The result? Words that are technically correct but sound unrecognizable to native English speakers.
Why Cognates Are Deceptive
Romance languages (Spanish, Portuguese, French) inherited vocabulary from Latin with relatively predictable pronunciation rules. Every vowel is pronounced clearly, stress follows consistent patterns, and syllables are evenly spaced.
English also inherited these Latin words — but then subjected them to centuries of vowel reduction, stress shifts, and syllable compression. The spelling stayed similar, but the pronunciation evolved dramatically.
The core problems are:
- Stress shift: Romance languages often stress the penultimate or final syllable; English frequently front-loads the stress
- Vowel reduction: Unstressed syllables in English collapse to /ə/ (schwa) or disappear entirely
- Syllable deletion: English speakers routinely drop entire syllables that Romance speakers carefully pronounce
- Consonant changes: The "t" in English words often becomes a flap /ɾ/ or disappears, and letter combinations shift sound
The 15 Most Dangerous Cognate Traps
Below is a comparison of how these words are commonly mispronounced by Romance language speakers versus their correct English pronunciation.
| Word | Romance Transfer (Wrong) | Correct English IPA | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| comfortable | com-for-TA-ble (4 syllables) | /ˈkʌmftəbəl/ (3 syllables) | Drops a syllable, stress on first |
| chocolate | cho-co-LA-te (4 syllables) | /ˈtʃɔːklət/ (2 syllables) | Compressed to 2 syllables |
| interesting | in-te-RES-ting (4 syllables) | /ˈɪntrəstɪŋ/ (3 syllables) | Stress on first, middle collapses |
| hospital | os-pi-TAL (3 syllables) | /ˈhɑːspɪtl̩/ (3 syllables) | Stress on first, not last |
| temperature | tem-pe-ra-TU-ra (5 syllables) | /ˈtemprətʃər/ (3 syllables) | Drops 2 syllables |
| telephone | te-LE-fo-no (4 syllables) | /ˈtelɪfoʊn/ (3 syllables) | Stress on first |
| animal | a-ni-MAL (3 syllables) | /ˈænɪməl/ (3 syllables) | Stress on first, not last |
| natural | na-tu-RAL (3 syllables) | /ˈnætʃrəl/ (2 syllables) | Compressed, stress on first |
| different | di-fe-REN-te (4 syllables) | /ˈdɪfrənt/ (2 syllables) | Compressed to 2 syllables |
| important | im-por-TAN-te (4 syllables) | /ɪmˈpɔːrtənt/ (3 syllables) | Stress on second, not third |
| university | u-ni-ver-si-DAD (5 syllables) | /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːrsəti/ (5 syllables) | Stress on third, not last |
| category | ca-te-go-RI-a (5 syllables) | /ˈkætəɡɔːri/ (4 syllables) | Stress on first, not fourth |
| vocabulary | vo-ca-bu-LA-rio (5 syllables) | /voʊˈkæbjəleri/ (5 syllables) | Stress on second, heavy reduction |
| calendar | ca-len-DA-rio (4 syllables) | /ˈkæləndər/ (3 syllables) | Stress on first, schwa ending |
| general | ge-ne-RAL (3 syllables) | /ˈdʒenrəl/ (2 syllables) | Compressed, /dʒ/ not /x/ or /ʒ/ |
Group 1: Syllable Crushers
These words lose entire syllables in English. Romance speakers carefully pronounce every vowel, but English brutally compresses them.
comfortable /ˈkʌmftəbəl/
This is perhaps the most notorious cognate trap. In Spanish it is confortable, in Portuguese confortavel, in French confortable — all pronounced with four clear syllables and stress near the end. In English, it is crushed to essentially three syllables: KUMF-tuh-bul. The "or" vanishes completely.
chocolate /ˈtʃɔːklət/
Romance speakers say four syllables: cho-co-LA-te. English reduces it to just two: CHAWK-lut. The middle vowels disappear entirely.
interesting /ˈɪntrəstɪŋ/
Romance speakers say in-te-re-SAN-te with five syllables. English compresses it to three: IN-truh-sting. The second vowel is swallowed, and stress moves to the front.
temperature /ˈtemprətʃər/
Five syllables in Romance languages (tem-pe-ra-tu-ra) become just three in English: TEM-pruh-chur. Two entire syllables vanish, and the "ture" becomes /tʃər/.
different /ˈdɪfrənt/
Romance speakers give this four syllables: di-fe-ren-te. English crushes it to two: DIF-runt. The middle virtually disappears.
Group 2: Stress Shifters
These words keep a similar number of syllables, but the stress moves to a completely different position — usually forward.
hospital /ˈhɑːspɪtl̩/
In Spanish hospital, Portuguese hospital, and French hopital, the stress falls on the last syllable. In English, it lands on the first: HOS-pi-tl. Also note: English pronounces the initial "h".
animal /ˈænɪməl/
Romance speakers stress the final syllable: a-ni-MAL. English stresses the first: AN-ih-muhl. The final syllable reduces to a weak /məl/.
natural /ˈnætʃrəl/
Stressed on the last syllable in Romance languages (na-tu-RAL), English shifts stress to the first and compresses: NATCH-ruhl. The "t" becomes /tʃ/ before the reduced vowel.
general /ˈdʒenrəl/
Romance speakers say ge-ne-RAL with three even syllables. English compresses to two: JEN-ruhl. The "g" becomes /dʒ/, and the middle syllable collapses.
important /ɪmˈpɔːrtənt/
Romance speakers place stress on the penultimate: im-por-TAN-te. English stresses the second syllable: im-POR-tnt. The final vowel disappears.
Group 3: Vowel Quality Traps
Even when stress and syllable count are close, the vowel sounds themselves differ dramatically.
telephone /ˈtelɪfoʊn/
The English vowels are completely different from the Romance equivalents. The final syllable has the diphthong /oʊ/ (not a pure /o/), and the stress is on the first syllable, not the second.
university /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːrsəti/
The English pronunciation starts with /juː/ (not /u/), stresses the third syllable (not the last), and uses the /ɜːr/ vowel that does not exist in Romance languages.
category /ˈkætəɡɔːri/
English stresses the first syllable with /æ/, while Romance speakers stress the penultimate. The word sounds like KAT-uh-gor-ee, not ca-te-go-RI-a.
vocabulary /voʊˈkæbjəleri/
This five-syllable word stresses the second syllable in English and heavily reduces the remaining vowels. It sounds like voh-KAB-yuh-ler-ee.
calendar /ˈkæləndər/
English stresses the first syllable and ends with a weak schwa: KAL-un-dur. Romance speakers often stress the middle or end: ca-len-DA-rio.
Practice Tips for Romance Language Speakers
1. Train Your Ear for Stress Position
English word stress is less predictable than in Romance languages. As a general pattern for Latin cognates, English tends to stress earlier syllables than your native language does. When in doubt, try stressing the first syllable.
2. Embrace the Schwa /ə/
The schwa is the most common vowel sound in English and does not exist as a deliberate sound in most Romance languages. Every unstressed vowel in English tends toward /ə/. Practice saying "uh" for any vowel that is not stressed.
3. Let Syllables Disappear
If a word has four or five syllables in your language, it likely has fewer in English. Practice saying cognates quickly and naturally — do not try to pronounce every letter.
4. Record and Compare
Record yourself saying these words, then listen to a native speaker. The difference will be immediately obvious. Focus on matching the rhythm, not individual sounds.
5. Learn the Reduced Forms
These are the actual number of syllables English speakers use:
- comfortable = 3 syllables (not 4)
- chocolate = 2 syllables (not 4)
- interesting = 3 syllables (not 5)
- temperature = 3 syllables (not 5)
- different = 2 syllables (not 4)
- natural = 2 syllables (not 3)
- general = 2 syllables (not 3)
The Golden Rule
When you encounter a cognate — a word that looks like it came from your language — assume the pronunciation is completely different. Check the IPA, listen to a native speaker, and practice the English version as if it were a brand new word. The familiar spelling is not your friend; it is a trap.
The words you think you already know are often the hardest to pronounce correctly, precisely because you never bother to check them. Start with the 15 words in this article, master their English pronunciations, and you will immediately sound more natural.