Cognate Catcher: Multi-Language False Friends

Highlights Spanish, French & Portuguese false friends on webpages, with a Spanish-Portuguese mode, quiz mode, and spaced repetition.

Learn a language faster by catching the words that trick you most. Cognate Catcher scans any webpage you visit and highlights "false friends" — words that look like English (or, in Portuguese's case, look like Spanish) but actually mean something completely different. Hover over a highlighted word to instantly see what it really means, so you stop guessing wrong and actually remember it. WHY FALSE FRIENDS MATTER Every language learner eventually says something embarrassing because a word looked familiar. Spanish "embarazada" doesn't mean embarrassed — it means pregnant. French "librairie" isn't a library — it's a bookstore. Portuguese "puxar" looks like "push" but means pull. These mix-ups are one of the most common (and most avoidable) mistakes learners make, and most people only find out the hard way. Cognate Catcher catches these before you make the mistake, right where you're already reading — news sites, blogs, forums, whatever you have open. WHAT IT DOES - Automatically highlights false-friend words on any page you visit, in a subtle yellow underline - Hover over a highlighted word for an instant explanation: what it looks like, what it actually means, and the correct translation - Works passively in the background — no need to look anything up, it just shows up as you read - Toggle on/off anytime from the toolbar icon FREE VERSION - 33 of the most common Spanish false friends, fully highlighted and explained - Simple on/off toggle - No account, no sign-up, no data collection PREMIUM VERSION Unlocks the full experience: - 100 Spanish false-friend pairs - 100 French false-friend pairs - 91 Portuguese false-friend pairs - A unique Spanish↔Portuguese confusion mode — 25 pairs of words that look nearly identical between Spanish and Portuguese but mean something totally different (like Portuguese "cadeira" = chair vs. Spanish "cadera" = hip, or Portuguese "polvo" = octopus vs. Spanish "polvo" = dust). If you speak one and are learning the other, this is the single most useful feature in the extension. - Add your own custom word pairs for any language, dialect, or textbook you're studying from - Quiz mode with real spaced repetition: every word you encounter while browsing gets scheduled for review using a proven Leitner-box system (1/2/4/7/14-day intervals). Answer correctly and a word moves further out; miss it and it comes back tomorrow. Quiz yourself only on what's actually due, or drill everything you've ever seen. WHO THIS IS FOR - Anyone learning Spanish, French, or Portuguese who reads content in that language online - Spanish speakers learning Portuguese (or vice versa) who keep tripping over lookalike words - Teachers and tutors who want a quick reference tool to share with students - Anyone who's ever confidently used the wrong word and wants to stop PRIVACY Cognate Catcher only reads the text on pages you visit to look for false-friend words — it doesn't collect, store, or transmit your browsing data anywhere. Your quiz progress and review schedule are stored locally in your own browser. Have a false friend you think should be in the dictionary? Add it yourself with the custom word list, right from the extension's settings page.