“Translator’s false friends” (ложные друзья переводчика in Russian) are words that sound the same in Russian and English or any other foreign language but have different meanings. These words are confusing both for Russians who study foreign languages and for foreigners who are learning Russian.
Why does this happen?
When the word transfers from one language to another, its meaning can narrow. It is a common process for many languages. Also sometimes, we have homonyms – the words that look similar in different languages, but they have different origins and their similarity is just a coincidence. If you study Russian, you’ve probably already met such words.
Let’s check some examples in Russian and English today!
Пакет and pocket – the words look really similar, but while pocket in English is a part of clothing, where we can store some small ittems, Russian пакет is a plastic bag.
Аккуратный and accurate – аккуратный in Russian is a more about a tidy and scrupulous person, while in English it means “exact”.
Артист and artist – artist in English means a person of art, a painter, a musician. In Russian артист is narrowed down to an actor.
Партия and party – in Russian партия is rather a political party or a set in some game, for example, in chess, but no night event in Russian is called so.
Фрукт and fruit – the words don’t look exactly the same, but still look quite similar. While in Russia фрукт means only a sweet product of a tree or any other plant, in English the meaning is wider, and fruit also means a result of some action. In Russian to express this, you will use a word плод.
Лифт and lift – лифт in Russian is an elevator. The word can also be used in in a figurative sense, for example, социальный лифт (social mobility). However, it cannot be used as a verb to lift (to pick up something).
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