How to Help ESL students Learn 1,000 English Words in 5 Minutes, Part 2

Cognates are a great resource for both English Learners and educators. Here are another 5 simple rules to help native Spanish speakers learn English. Please note that as is the case with every rule, there are exceptions. As such, teachers should be careful to remind students that the endings are meant to be guidelines to help them as they learn English.

1. ify→ificar

Most English infinitive verbs ending in –ify can be converted into Spanish by replaying the –ify ending with –ificar.

For example: simplifiy and simplificar; classify and clasificar; modify and modificar

2. ic → ico

Many English adjectives ending in -ic can be converted to Spanish by replacing the -ic ending with -ico ending.

For example: traffic and tráfico; atmospheric - atmosférico; athletic - atlético

3. ile → il

Many English adjectives ending in -ile can be converted to Spanish by replacing the -ile ending with the -il ending.

For example, hostile and hostil; juvenile and juvenile, automobile, and automóvil

4. ly → mente

Many English adverbs ending in -ly can be converted to Spanish by replacing the -ly ending with the -mente ending.

For example, normally and normalmente; finally and finalmente; exactly and exactamente.

5. ive → ivo

Many English adjectives ending in -ive can be converted to Spanish by replacing the -ive ending with the -ivo ending.

For example, active and activo; decisive and decisivo; native and nativo.

We hope you have found these blog posts on cognates to be informative. For a full list of different cognate endings and more examples, please click here.  Happy learning!