FALSE FRIEND: COMPROMISE

Good morning.

Today's Daily Vitamin is dedicated to my student Jordi B., who used the word 'compromise' incorrectly in class yesterday. Thanks for the idea Jordi. ;-)

Today's word is: Compromise (noun)

It means: an agreement made between two or more people in which each side gives up some things they want so that both sides are happy at the end.

It DOES NOT mean the same as the Spanish word "compromiso" (Catalan: "compromís"). "Compromiso" would usually be translated as obligation (noun) or obliged (adj.).

Example 1:
After a lot of negotiation, the two sides finally reached a compromise.

Example 2:
In order for a marriage to last, both husband and wife must be prepared to make compromises.  

Example 3:
I didn't want to buy a gift for my boss, because I didn't want him to feel obliged to buy me one.

Tomorrow we will look two uses of the verb to compromise.

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Have a great day.