The Hidden Dangers of False Cognates: When “Benefits” Aren’t “Beneficios”

In the world of translation and interpretation, false cognates—also known as faux amis or “false friends”—are among the most deceptively dangerous pitfalls. They are words that look familiar across two languages but carry different meanings. They tempt even experienced linguists into believing a translation is correct when, in reality, the sense has quietly drifted away from what was intended.

One of the most frequent offenders between English and Spanish is the English word “benefits.”

When a Familiar Word Creates Confusion

A while ago, I was interpreting at a district budget meeting, a public session where administrators presented next year’s financial plan to staff and community members. The presentation slides—visibly translated using an automatic tool—used the Spanish term “beneficios” for benefits.

At first glance, it seemed harmless enough. But as the meeting progressed, something interesting happened: several Spanish-speaking community members began whispering and later openly asking,

“¿Por qué los empleados reciben tantos beneficios si ya tienen seguro médico y sueldos?”

(“Why are these employees getting so many benefits if they already have health insurance and salaries?”)

What the slides had meant to convey were employee benefits—in the institutional sense of health coverage, retirement plans, paid leave, and other compensation components. But the term “beneficios” in Spanish triggered an entirely different mental image: perquisites, special advantages, or even extra favors.

The audience perceived “benefits” not as part of a structured employment package, but as discretionary bonuses or privileges. A single word, mistranslated by AI, had shifted the emotional tone of the conversation from informative to suspicious.

The Cost of Mistranslation: More Than Words

That incident illustrates a fundamental truth: translation is not merely about linguistic accuracy; it’s about communicative impact.

Even a single false cognate can distort a public message, especially in sensitive contexts like education, government, or healthcare—fields where trust is the currency of communication.

When institutions rely on machine translation or literal bilingual staff without specialized training, these subtle traps go unnoticed. The result can be costly:

• Misinformation, as audiences interpret messages through their own cultural lenses;
• Distrust, as the community feels excluded or misled;
• Embarrassment, as presenters must clarify during live meetings what they actually meant to say.

“Benefits” vs. “Beneficios”: A Subtle but Crucial Distinction

In English, the term benefits extends far beyond the idea of profit or gain. It can mean:

• Employee benefits (prestaciones laborales),
• Social benefits (prestaciones sociales),
• Unemployment benefits (subsidios de desempleo),
• or simply advantages (ventajas).

In Spanish, meanwhile, beneficios most naturally evokes:

• Financial profits (e.g., beneficios netos),
• Moral or spiritual gains (beneficios espirituales),
• or charitable results (actos benéficos).

Thus, “benefits” ≠ “beneficios.”

In the employment or policy context, the correct term is usually “prestaciones”, a word grounded in the labor and legal frameworks of Spanish-speaking countries.

Had the AI translated the slides as “prestaciones laborales” instead of “beneficios de los empleados”, the confusion—and the uncomfortable conversation that followed—could have been avoided.

The Linguistic Lesson: Meaning Lives in Context

False cognates are not inherently malicious; they are simply misleadingly familiar. They remind us that language carries culture, law, and perception within every word. Translators and interpreters, therefore, do more than convey words—they safeguard meaning across conceptual worlds.

As I explained during that same meeting, translation is a bridge that must be built consciously. The closer two languages seem, the more carefully that bridge must be engineered. After all, similarity breeds complacency—and complacency breeds misunderstanding.

So next time you see “benefits” translated as “beneficios,” remember the curious expressions of those parents and community members.

A single word almost turned a factual financial update into a philosophical debate about fairness.