Table of Contents

1.  Translate: Cognates Ending in “-cto” page 1

2.  Translate: “-ist” Endings page 2

3.  Translate: From “-ty” to “-dad” page 3

4.  “-tion” Cognates page 4

5.  “-ce” Endings to “-cia” page 5

6.  Adjective to Adjective page 6

7.  More Cognates: English for Spanish page 7

8.  Spanish for English page 8

9.  Spanish “-oso/a” to English “-ous” page 9

10.  “-in” to “-ina” or “-ino” page 10

11.  Just add “-e” page 11

12.  English “-ate” Verbs to Spanish “-ar” verbs page 12

1.  TRANSLATE: Cognates ending in “-CT”

There are many easy ways to pair English/Spanish cognates. For example, words that end in “-ct” can be translated into Spanish by simply adding “-o” to the “-ct” ending.

ENGLISH
“CT” / SPANISH
“CTO”
Perfect / Perfecto

2.  Translate: “-ist” Endings

For nouns that end in “-ist” add an “-a” to the English “-ist” ending to form its Spanish cognate.

Note: Although these words end in “-a” they can be either masculine or feminine.

ENGLISH
-ist- / SPANISH
-ista-
dentist / dentista

3.  Translate: From “-ty” to “-dad”

English words that end in “-ty” become Spanish cognates by substituting “-dad” for the “-ty” ending. These words are generally feminine.

ENGLISH
-ty- / SPANISH
-dad-
university / universidad

4.  “-tion” Cognates

Words that end in “-tion” in English have Spanish cognates that end in “-ción”;

these are feminine in gender.

ENGLISH
-tion- / SPANISH
-ción-
Education / Educación

5“-ce” Endings to “-cia”

Recognize easy cognates. Many words that end in “-ce” in English have Spanish cognates ending in “-cia”; these are feminine.

Watch for exceptions: Example-Silence= silencio (masc.)

ENGLISH
-ce- / SPANISH
-cia-
independence / independencia

6.  Adjective to Adjective

Many words that end in “-ive” in English have Spanish equivalents ending in “-ivo”. Since most of these words are adjectives, they have their feminine

forms ending in “-iva”.

ENGLISH
-ive- / SPANISH
-ivo/a-
Native / Nativo/a

7.  More Cognates: English for Spanish

Many words that end in “-em” or “-am” in English have their

Spanish mates ending in “-ema” or “-ama”.

Note: Although these words end in “-a” they are masculine.

ENGLISH / SPANISH

8.  Spanish for English

Many words that end in “-ent” in English have their Spanish counterparts ending in “-ento” or “-iento”. [looks like Rule #11, but different]

ENGLISH / SPANISH

9.  Spanish “-oso/a” to English “-ous”

English words that end in “-ous” have their Spanish mates ending in “-oso” or “-osa,” if it is an adjective modifying a feminine noun.

ENGLISH
-ous- / SPANISH
-oso-
Victorious / Victorioso

10.  “-in” to “-ina” or “-ino”

English words that end in “-in” or “-ine” form their Spanish cognates

by replacing those endings with “-ina” or “-ino”.

ENGLISH
-in- / -ine- / SPANISH
-ina- / -ino
aspirine / aspirina

11.  Just add “-e”

English words that end in “-ent” or “-ant” become Spanish cognates by adding “-e” to the last “-t”. [looks like Rule #8, but different]

ENGLISH
-ent- / SPANISH
-enti- / -iento-
movement / movemiento

12.  English “-ate” Verbs to Spanish “-ar” verbs

Here’s another easy transition with many verbs that end in “-ate” in English and slide into an “-ar” ending in Spanish. Try this out with the following English verbs.

ENGLISH
-ate- / SPANISH
-ar-
calculate / calcular