What is EMBARRASSED in Spanish?

"I'm pregnant, not EMBARRASSED."
    

This is one of those situations when you must be careful if you are translating.

The word EMBARRASSED is quite similar to another one in Spanish: Embarazada. 

If one word in a language is spelled similarly to another one in Spanish and the meaning of both is the same, we call that a Cognate. 

If the meaning is different, we call that a False Cognate.

Embarazada is a False Cognate because it translates as Pregnant, not EMBARRASSED.

The correct translation of EMBARRASSED in Spanish is AVERGONZADA or AVERGONZADO.

Comments

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Exactly, I had that conflict when I was a little girl. Another example is the word ALFOMBRA as it is to a False Cognate because it translates as CARPET, not FOLDER.
Nicole Chamba said…
I was confused about this term a few years ago but now I have all clear. I used to say that word in another context.

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