False Friend Verbs (English-Portuguese) | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

A false friend (falso cognato) is a word that looks like one in your language but means something else. Portuguese verbs are full of them, and they cause a disproportionate share of English-speaker errors — because the word looks so familiar that you never think to check it. Pretender doesn't mean "pretend." Realizar doesn't mean "realize." Assistir doesn't mean "assist." These are not exotic verbs; they are everyday, high-frequency ones, which is exactly why drilling this short list early pays off so much. (For the verbs that are reliable cognates, see the cognate verbs page.)

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The danger isn't that you won't recognize these words — it's that you'll recognize them wrongly and never doubt yourself. Memorize the real meaning of each one consciously, the way you'd memorize a tricky exception.

The reference list

Looks like (English)	BR verb	What it actually means	How to say the English word
pretend	pretender	to intend / plan to	fingir
realize	realizar	to carry out / accomplish	perceber, dar-se conta de
assist	assistir	to watch / attend	ajudar
discuss	discutir	to argue (often heated)	conversar sobre, debater
apply	aplicar	to apply (a substance/rule); to invest	candidatar-se (for a job)
introduce	introduzir	to insert / introduce (a topic)	apresentar (a person)
attend	atender	to answer (phone) / serve a customer	assistir a, comparecer a
push	puxar	to pull	empurrar

pretender — to intend, not to pretend

This is the classic. Pretender means "to intend" or "to plan." To say "pretend," use fingir.

Eu pretendo viajar para o Japão no ano que vem.

I intend to travel to Japan next year.

A criança fingiu que estava dormindo.

The child pretended to be sleeping.

❌ Ele pretendeu não me ver. (meaning 'he pretended not to see me')

Wrong meaning — this says 'he intended not to see me.'

✅ Ele fingiu não me ver.

He pretended not to see me.

realizar — to carry out, not to realize

Realizar means "to carry out, accomplish, bring about" (a dream, an event, a project). For the mental "realize" (to suddenly understand), use perceber or dar-se conta de.

A empresa vai realizar um evento enorme em São Paulo.

The company is going to hold a huge event in São Paulo.

Ela realizou o sonho de abrir o próprio restaurante.

She fulfilled her dream of opening her own restaurant.

Só percebi que tinha esquecido a carteira na saída.

I only realized I'd forgotten my wallet on the way out.

❌ Eu realizei que estava errado.

Wrong meaning — this implies 'I brought about that I was wrong.'

✅ Eu percebi que estava errado. / Me dei conta de que estava errado.

I realized I was wrong.

assistir — to watch/attend, not to assist

Assistir (with the preposition a in standard usage) means "to watch" or "to attend." For "assist" in the sense of "help," use ajudar.

Nós assistimos ao jogo na casa de um amigo.

We watched the game at a friend's place.

Você pode me ajudar a carregar essas caixas?

Can you help me carry these boxes?

❌ A enfermeira assistiu o médico na cirurgia. (intending 'assisted')

Ambiguous/wrong — reads as 'watched the doctor.'

✅ A enfermeira auxiliou/ajudou o médico na cirurgia.

The nurse assisted the doctor in the surgery.

(There is a specialized medical/legal use of assistir meaning "to give assistance to" — o médico que assiste o paciente — but in everyday language assistir means "watch," so a learner should default to ajudar for "help.")

discutir — to argue, often, not just to discuss

Discutir can mean "to discuss," but in everyday Brazilian Portuguese it very frequently carries the heated sense of "to argue / quarrel." For a calm discussion, conversar sobre or debater is safer.

O casal discutiu a noite inteira por causa de dinheiro.

The couple argued all night over money.

Vamos conversar sobre o projeto com calma amanhã.

Let's calmly discuss the project tomorrow.

aplicar / candidatar-se — applying for things

Aplicar means "to apply" a substance, a rule, or money (to invest). To apply for a job or program, Portuguese uses candidatar-se a or se inscrever em — never aplicar.

O médico aplicou a vacina no braço.

The doctor administered the vaccine in the arm.

Ela se candidatou à vaga de gerente.

She applied for the manager position.

❌ Eu apliquei para o emprego.

Incorrect — this is a direct calque of English 'apply for.'

✅ Eu me candidatei ao emprego.

I applied for the job.

introduzir / apresentar — introducing

Introduzir means "to insert" or "to introduce" an abstract thing (a topic, a law, a concept). To introduce a person, you must use apresentar.

A nova lei introduziu várias mudanças no sistema.

The new law introduced several changes to the system.

Deixa eu te apresentar a minha irmã.

Let me introduce you to my sister.

❌ Quero te introduzir ao meu chefe.

Wrong/awkward — sounds like inserting you somewhere.

✅ Quero te apresentar ao meu chefe.

I want to introduce you to my boss.

A quick bonus: atender and puxar

Atender looks like "attend" but means "to answer (a phone/door)" or "to serve/see (a customer or patient)." And on doors everywhere in Brazil you'll see puxe ("pull") and empurre ("push") — puxar is "to pull," the opposite of what it looks like.

Ninguém atendeu o telefone.

Nobody answered the phone.

Puxe a porta, não empurre.

Pull the door, don't push.

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A reliable safety habit: whenever you're about to use a Portuguese verb that's "obviously" the same as the English one, pause on the six on this list — pretender, realizar, assistir, aplicar, introduzir, atender. They are common enough that you'll reach for them constantly, and wrong often enough to embarrass you.

Common Mistakes

❌ Eu pretendo estar doente para não ir à festa.

Wrong — this says 'I intend to be sick.'

✅ Eu finjo estar doente para não ir à festa.

I pretend to be sick to avoid the party.

❌ Agora eu realizo o meu erro.

Wrong meaning — realizar is not the mental 'realize.'

✅ Agora eu percebo o meu erro.

Now I realize my mistake.

❌ Por favor, me assista com a mala.

Wrong — this asks someone to 'watch' you with the suitcase.

✅ Por favor, me ajude com a mala.

Please help me with the suitcase.

❌ Vou aplicar para a bolsa de estudos.

Calque of 'apply for' — incorrect.

✅ Vou me candidatar à bolsa de estudos. / Vou me inscrever na bolsa.

I'm going to apply for the scholarship.

❌ Posso te introduzir aos meus pais?

Wrong — use apresentar for introducing people.

✅ Posso te apresentar aos meus pais?

Can I introduce you to my parents?

Key Takeaways

pretender = intend (not pretend → fingir).
realizar = carry out (not realize → perceber, dar-se conta de).
assistir = watch/attend (not assist → ajudar).
aplicar ≠ apply for a job → candidatar-se a.
introduzir ≠ introduce a person → apresentar.
These are high-frequency verbs, so the errors are high-frequency too — drill this list early.

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