Today’s false friend is one that really messes with my mind sometimes. It is hard for English speakers learning Portuguese as well as Portuguese speakers learning English. The worst part is that it is something very common, yet that doesn’t make it any easier.
The false cognate we are talking about is “push” in English and it’s false cognate is “puxe.” These words not only mean different things, they actually mean the exact opposite of one another!
Push = Empurrar
I pushed the girl out of the way of the car.
Puxe = Pull
I tried to pull open the door, but it was locked.
This is especially confusing for people who speak both languages when they are trying to open a door. It can be difficult to remember which language you are thinking in when you see push or “puxe!” I know that I have had problems with this in the past and have talked about this English problem with many students before.
