English to Spanish Conversion Patterns

Spanish is essentially spoken street Latin, and since English also borrowed heavily from Latin, many English words can be converted to Spanish using simple patterns.

1. Words ending in -al These are identical in both languages — just pronounce them as they’re spelled in Spanish.

Example: normal → normal

2. Words ending in a consonant (add -e) Many English words become Spanish by adding an -e to the end. 

Example: important → importante

3. Words ending in -ly → -mente The English adverb suffix -ly becomes -mente in Spanish.

Example: importantly → importantemente

4. Words ending in -tion → -ción In Latin American Spanish, -tion becomes -ción. In Spain, it’s pronounced more like -thión.

Example: generation → generación

5. Words ending in -ence or -ance → -cia

Example: difference → diferencia

6. Words ending in -ary → -ario

Example: dictionary → diccionario

7. Words ending in -ive → -ivo

Example: addictive → adictivo

8. Words ending in -ous → -oso 

famous → famoso, nervous → nervioso

9. Words ending in -ist → -ista

artist → artista, tourist → turista

10. Words ending in -ty → -dad

university → universidad, city → ciudad

Linguists estimate that English and Spanish share roughly 3,000+ cognates (words with Latin/Greek roots that look and sound similar). I’ve compiled 1,275 of the most commonly used ones into a word generator below, so you can practice applying the patterns above: