False Cognate

Has it ever happened to you that, you tend to take a word in one language and "translate" it into the second language, it may sound "right" but the word might not even exist in the second language?
That is false cognate!

A short anecdote: I say in English "I realized it was Saturday" and it is okay, but sometimes I found myself talking and saying in Spanish "yo realicé que es sábado".
Realizar in Spanish is to do or make something, but in English realize is to become aware of. The correct way is to say "me di cuenta" instead of "realicé", because it does not make any sense in Spanish.

False cognates are pairs of words in the same or different languages that are similar in form and meaning but have different roots. That is, they appear to be, or are sometimes considered, cognates, when in fact they are unrelated.

Interpreters must be aware of this condition, even though is something common for ESL students and people who study more than one language, in order to not do these mistakes.

Videos and links:

False Cognates

40 Falsos Cognados (page in Spanish)

Top 20 False Cognates for ESL students