A Comparative Vocabulary Study Guide: Spanish to English. Robert D. O'Brian
A Comparative
Vocabulary Study Guide
Spanish to English
Una Guía de Estudios Comparativa del
Vocabulario Español e Inglés
Highlighting over 7,500 selected Spanish words
that have either the same spelling and meaning as their
English language counterparts or contain
easily recognizable English meanings.
Destacando más de 7,500 palabras seleccionadas en
Español que tienen, ya sea la misma ortografía y
significado que su contraparte en Inglés, o contienen
significados en Inglés fácilmente reconocibles.
Robert D. O’Brian
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Winter-Spring 2010
Copyright 2014 Robert D. O'Brian,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by NewBookPublishing.com
Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-939748-49-2
Library of Congress Control Number: APPLIED FOR
Published by
NewBookPublishing.com, a division of Reliance Media, Inc.
515 Cooper Commerce Dr., #140
Apopka, FL 32703
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
The contents of this work including, but not limited to, the accuracy of events, people, and places depicted; opinions expressed; permission to use previously published materials included; and any advice given or actions advocated are solely the responsibility of the author, who assumes all liability for said work and indemnifies the publisher against any claims stemming from publication of the work.
For Joseph, Rosie, Grace, Carlos and Mark
with special thanks to Mechel and Maria Cristina
Introduction
This guide is alphabetical, A through Z, with each letter comprising a separate listing, further divided into three sections: words that are interchangeable between Spanish and English (same spelling and meaning); Spanish nouns, adjectives and adverbs containing easily recognizable English language meanings; and, Spanish verbs with easily recognizable English language meanings.
All Spanish words appearing in this guide are given the general meanings used in Argentina. Word pronunciations vary between spoken Spanish and English, including almost all of the interchangeable words. All listings in this guide are the compiler’s personal selections and are not intended to be all-inclusive and, English definitions often include all relevant meanings.
The guide also is useful in expanding Spanish verb infinitives into the present progressive tense – what is happening now. There are over 1,100 easily recognizable verbs appearing in the guide that can be expanded into the present progressive. As in English, there are two parts to this tense: the auxiliary “to be” and the present participle (the “ing” verbal ending). The Spanish auxiliary is “estar”. The present participles of regular verbs are formed by dropping the “ar” from the “ar” ending verbs and adding “ando” to the stem; for “ir” and “er” ending verbs add “iendo” to the stem.
Not all possible or conceivable words that could fit the guide’s objective have been listed. Only the most obvious and useful words are shown and the user is given space to augment the listings according to his or her preferences.
The signs and symbols appearing in this guide are identified as follows:
(A)= the feminine ending
(f) = feminine
(m) = masculine
(n) = noun
(adj) = adjective
(adv) = adverb
ó = or
ú = or
sthg = something
sb = somebody
s = plural
(AERO) = aeronautics
(AGRIC) = agriculture
(ANAT) = anatomical
(ARCHIT) = architecture
(ARTE) = art, artistic
(ASTROL) = astrology
(ASTRON) = astronomy
(AUTO) = automotive
(BIOL) = biology
(BOT) = botany
(CINE) = cinema
(COM) = commercial
(DEP) = sports
(DER) = legal
(ECON) = economics
(ELECTR) = electrical
(FIN) = financial
(FIS) = physics
(FOTO) = photography
(GEN) = general meaning
(GEOG) = geography
(GEOL) = geology
(GRAM) = grammar
(INFORM) = inf. technology
(LITER) = literature
(MAT) = mathematics
(MECAN) = mechanical
(MED) = medical
(METEO) = meteorological
(MIL) = military
(MUS) = music
(NAUT) = nautical
(POL) = politics
(QUIM) = chemistry
(RELIG) = religion
(TECNOL) = technology
(ZOOL) = zoology
Spanish Pronunciation Guide for English speakers
Below is a guide to the pronunciation of the letters of the Spanish alphabet:
A: as the a in father
B, v: when found at the beginning of a word or following a consonant, these are pronounced as a b. Otherwise, they have a sound which falls somewhere between the English b and v sounds.
C: before a consonant or a, o, or u, as the c in cat; before e or i as an s
CH: as the ch in church
D: as the English d except between vowels and following l or n where it is pronounced as the th in this
E: for a syllable ending in a vowel, as the e in they; for a syllable ending in a consonant, as the e in get
F: as the f in for