Try interpreting new words literally first

There are many words in Spanish, French, and Italian that look like or indeed are cognate with their English counterparts. After all, a great deal of Latin and then French words entered English in its history. As a result, we have a tendency to try understanding these words as in English, but occasionally they turn out to have different nuances of meaning or be outright false friends because they have semantically evolved too far apart. One curious fact is that in these cases, it is often the English word that has drifted away from its literal sense more than the Romance language word. Here let's look at some example headword entries in my vocabulary books of Spanish, French, and Italian.

Spanish eventual possible, contingent. In spite of cognation, this word is not the same as English eventual (“final”, “at the end of events”); consider them false friends. If you see it used that way, it is Anglicized Spanish. Spanish eventual is more closely related to event in the sense of “in case a certain event happens”; it’s helpful to try interpreting this word literally focusing on the root, event. Examples, eventuales / posibles cambios (“possible changes”); personal eventual (“temporary personnel”).

Similarly, French éventuel possible, prospective, likely or expected to happen. éventuellement possibly, maybe. Cognate with eventual. In spite of cognation, éventuel does not mean “eventual” (“final”, “at the end of events”), and éventuellement could mean “eventually” only in Quebec French presumably influenced by English; consider them false friends. French éventuel is more literal, more closely related to event in the sense of “in case a certain event happens”. Example, les conséquences éventuelles (“the possible consequences”).

Italian eventuale possible, contingent, potential, possibile. This word is not the same as English eventual (“final”, “at the end of events”); we may consider them false friends. Italian eventuale is more literal and more closely related to event in the sense of “in case a certain event happens”. This is also true to Spanish eventual and French éventuel. Example, le eventuali / possibili conseguenze (“possible consequences”).

Spanish procurar to try to, to attempt, intentar; to procure. From Latin procurare (“to manage”). The root is cognate with curate, cure. Note the first meaning. Try to understand the word literally: a museum curator curates or manages the museum, and pro- means “forward” (think of forward thinking or intending).

Spanish conformar to shape, to form, to make up; to be content with, to settle for, to conform. The first meaning is literal; think of formar or English form. The second meaning is not quite the same as English conform. Examples, conformar un equipo (“to form a team / group”); los países que conforman OTAN son ... (“the countries that make up NATO are ...”).

Spanish disgusto displeasure, annoyance. In spite of cognation or definitions in some dictionaries, this word does not really mean “disgust” or “disgusting”. Consider them false friends, and use Spanish asco to translate English disgust. The meaning of disgusto is easy to remember as you can simply negate (dis-) the meaning of the root, gusto (“pleasure”).

French sensible sensitive (cognate). insensible insensitive (cognate). Also cognate with sensible, insensible. In spite of cognation, these French (as well as Spanish by the way) words do not mean the same as English sensible and insensible, which would be raisonnable (“reasonable”) and déraisonnable (“unreasonable”), respectively. To help remember the difference, note that French sensible, meaning “able to sense or feel (something minute or fine)”, is more literal while the English word is more figurative or indirect. Examples, une personne / un sujet très sensible (“a very sensitive person / topic”); le matériau est sensible à la température (“the material is temperature sensitive”).

French émaner to come from, to emanate (cognate). While English emanate also means “to come from”, it’s often used literarily on something abstract. This French word is less literary and more literal.

Italian profondo deep, profound, fondo. While English profound is used figuratively, this Italian word most of the time means literally “deep”, and is more common than the adjective fond, which more often is a noun. Example, acque profonde (“deep water / waters”; the Italian phrase in plural is more common than the singular).

I don't have a good explanation why the English words are less literal in most of these cases. It is just my observation after working on lexicography of thousands of words in these languages in the past seven or so years.

In addition, trying to literally interpret the words you are not familiar with is a necessary step in learning. When you see French il s’agit de, read it like “it acts upon itself regarding”, and then you can remember the good translation “it’s about / all about” much more easily, e.g. il s’agit de votre santé (“it’s about / all about your health”).