Esperanto Vocabulary - False Friends

False Friends

Because Esperanto vocabulary is largely international, it shares many cognates with English. However, because they were often taken from languages other than English, these do not always have their English meanings. Some of the mismatches are:

domaĝi (to spare), vs. difekti (to damage)

embaraso (jam, obstruction), vs. hontigi (to embarrass)

aktuala (current, up-to-date), vs. efektiva (actual), vs. efika (effective)

eventuala (contingent), vs. rezulta (eventual)

akurata (punctual, on-time), vs. preciza (accurate)

kontroli (to check, keep track of), vs. regi (to control)

konvena (suitable), vs. oportuna (convenient)

rento (dividend income), vs. lupago (rent)

paragrafo (section), vs. alineo (paragraph)