This is a classic false friend.

So if you want to say fábrica in English, the usual word is factory, not fabric. And if you want to say fabric in Spanish, the natural choices are usually tela or tejido, depending on context. Cambridge’s Spanish translation panel for fabric includes tejido and tela.

✅ This dress is made of silk fabric.
Here, fabric means cloth or material used to make clothing. Cambridge defines it that way directly.

✅ La fábrica produce muebles de madera.
Here, fábrica means a place where things are manufactured. That matches the main RAE definition.

❌ My father works in a fabric.
✅ My father works in a factory.
If you mean a manufacturing plant, factory is the correct English word. Cambridge defines factory as a building or set of buildings where large amounts of goods are made using machines.

✅ Spanish: Compré una tela muy bonita.
✅ English: I bought a beautiful fabric.
This is the cloth/material meaning, not the factory meaning.

The most common mistake is assuming that fabric must mean fábrica because the words look so similar.

It doesn’t.

That is exactly why this pair is a false friend: the spelling feels familiar, but the meanings split in two completely different directions. In real use:

Another common mistake is forgetting that fábrica in Spanish can also have broader meanings related to construction or structure in some formal contexts, while fabric in English can also mean the structure of something, as in the fabric of society. But for learners, the main contrast you need first is still: fabric ≠ fábrica.

Use this memory rule:

A simple shortcut:

fabric = cloth
fábrica = factory

If you are talking about:

use fabric.

If you are talking about:

use factory / fábrica.