The research reported in this paper was undertaken to provide insights into the differences between the lexical systems of English and Hungarian by carrying out a contrastive analysis of vocabulary and supplementing the results of that analysis with those of an error analysis of learners’ translations. As with all contrastive studies, the ultimate goal was pedagogical: the data obtained on lexical contrasts were to be made use of in the teaching and learning of English vocabulary by Hungarian learners. As a spin-off, it was also expected to shed more light on typological differences between English and Hungarian, and, since the study included an error analysis of translations, it was also hoped to be instrumental in teaching translation and in exploring the role of lexical contrasts in translation. This paper presents a summary of the results of that research and considers its implications from the point of view of translation.