Being already familiar with Spanish while learning Portuguese is a huge advantage – these languages are closely related and share thousands of cognate words.

Wondering about what a cognate is?

Cognates are words that share a common origin, look alike, and often mean pretty much the same. Since both Portuguese and Spanish stem from Vulgar Latin, cognates between them are abundant.

You can think of cognates as true friends, as opposed to false friends.

So, what does this mean for you? Well, when it comes to vocabulary, there’s a lot to benefit from if you already know Spanish.

Here’s the thing: Portuguese and Spanish share approximately 90% of their lexicon!

Now, because not all cognates are used with the same frequency in either language, that 90% figure is a bit overrated in practice. Still, your existing Spanish knowledge is a goldmine*.

This article goes well beyond a random list of commonly used Portuguese-Spanish cognates. Instead, based on your previous knowledge of Spanish, it’ll help you recall thousands of Portuguese words at will – even if you never studied them before.

To do that, you’ll need to get familiar with a few groups of Spanish-Portuguese cognates.

Once you do, converting Spanish words to their Portuguese counterparts becomes easy. It just takes a few small tweaks in pronunciation and spelling. Read on.

Portuguese-Spanish Cognates

1. Nouns

-ção → -ción

Nearly all cognates in this group are feminine. Note how the Portuguese ending creates a nasal diphthong (indicated by the tilde).

resolução	resolución
ação	acción
condição	condición
relação	relación
atenção	atención
. . .

-são/-ssão → -sión

These endings are similar to the previous ones, but use “s” instead of “ç”. Still mostly feminine.

The sound differs depending on whether the “s” is single or double. A single “s” makes a voiced sound (like in zebra), while a double “s” is unvoiced (like in simple).

precisão	precisión
decisão	decisión
conclusão	conclusión
confusão	confusión
missão	misión
. . .

🔎 Learn more about European Portuguese pronunciation and spelling patterns.

-grama → -grama

These are masculine nouns.

telegrama	telegrama
pictograma	pictograma
diagrama	diagrama
programa	programa
sismograma	sismograma
. . .

-dade → -dad

Most of these are feminine. Also, the final “e” in Portuguese is barely pronounced.

caridade	caridad
espiritualidade	espiritualidad
curiosidade	curiosidad
flexibilidade	flexibilidad
cidade	ciudad
. . .

-gem → -gen/-aje

Also mostly feminine. Notice the nasal sound at the end in Portuguese.

aprendizagem	aprendizaje
imagem	imagen
virgem	virgen
paisagem	paisaje
mensagem	mensaje
. . .

-ismo → -ismo

The words in this group are also masculine. Notice the voiced fricative (as in measure) rendered by the s that precedes the m (Portuguese cognates only).

ativismo	activismo
sadismo	sadismo
moralismo	moralismo
elitismo	elitismo
pessimismo	pesimismo
. . .

2. Adjectives

-ista → -ista

These often refer to people and work as nouns too. They’re unisex and don’t change with gender.

Note that the s in -ista (Portuguese cognates) renders an unvoiced fricative sound, much like sh does in sheep.

pessimista	pesimista
violinista	violinista
modernista	modernista
dentista	dentista
altruísta	altruista
. . .

🔎Learn more about gender in Portuguese: Disentangling Gender with Portuguese Masculine-to-Feminine Spelling Patterns.

-ente → -ente

Also unisex. Again, the final “e” is barely audible in Portuguese.

pertinente	pertinente
impaciente	impaciente
suficiente	suficiente
convincente	convincente
prudente	prudente
. . .

-vel → -ble

These adjectives also don’t change with gender. The final “l” has a dark, thick sound in Portuguese.

miserável	miserable
sensível	sensible
flexível	flexible
provável	probable
favorável	favorable
. . .

-ar → -ar

Invariable across genders.

popular	popular
familiar	familiar
similar	similar
circular	circular
nuclear	nuclear
. . .

-ico/a→ -ico/a

Masculine forms end in -o, feminine in -a. Stress falls on the third-to-last syllable and is marked.

magnético/a	magnético/a
icónico/a	icónico/a
problemático/a	problemático/a
automático/a	automático/a
lógico/a	lógico/a
. . .

🔎Learn more about Portuguese word stress and accent marks.

-ivo/a→ -ivo/a

Gender changes the ending as above.

agressivo/a	agresivo/a
competitivo/a	competitivo/a
repetitivo/a	repetitivo/a
expressivo/a	expresivo/a
creativo/a	creativo/a
. . .

-oso/a→ -oso/a

Same gender rules as above.

pretensioso/a	pretencioso/a
misterioso/a	misterioso/a
vigoroso/a	vigoroso/a
curioso/a	curioso/a
contagioso/a	contagioso/a
. . .

3. Verbs

Portuguese verbs, like Spanish, fall into three main groups: -ar, -er, and -ir.

-ar → -ar

amar	amar
pensar	pensar
nadar	nadar
encontrar	encontrar
respirar	respirar
. . .

-er → -er

comer	comer
beber	beber
fazer	hacer
ler	leer
saber	saber
. . .

-ir → -ir

abrir	abrir
decidir	decidir
dormir	dormir
repetir	repetir
sair	salir
. . .

4. Adverbs

-mente → -mente

These are adverbs of manner. Again, final “e” in Portuguese is barely heard.

intuitivamente	intuitivamente
rapidamente	rápidamente
lentamente	lentamente
formalmente	formalmente
facilmente	facilmente
. . .

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