Italian is one of the most romantic languages, but as an speaker of the English language you have to be careful. There are a lot of false friends which could be confusing in your daily life.
But don’t be frightened. Attend a language school, start (or continue) learning Italian and get in touch with the culture.
False friends in Italian
A
- Abusare: means to take advantage of; to abuse is translated as insultare
- Affrontare: means to face; to affront is translated as offendere
- Attendere: means to wait for; to attend is translated as partecipare
B
- Box: means garage or parking space; box is translated as scatola
C
- Cantina: means cellar; canteen is translated as mensa
- Coda: means queue; code is translated as codice
- Conveniente: means good value; convenient is translated as comodo
D
- Divertire: means to amuse; to divert is translated as deviare
- Duomo: means cathedral; dome is translated as cupola
E
- Effettivo: means real; effective is translated as efficace
- Estate: means summer; estate is translated as proprietà
- Eventualmente: means if necessary; eventually is translated as finalmente
F
- Fine: means end; fine is translated as multa
- Frequentare: means to attend; frequent is translated as spesso
G
- Gioco: means game; joke is translated as scherzo
- Gratuito: means free; gratuitous is translated as ingiustificato
- Guardare: means to watch; to guard is translated as sorvegliare
I
- Inabile: means unift; unable is translated as non in grado
- Inabitato: means uninhabited; inhabited is translated as abitato
L
- Libreria: means bookshop; library is translated as biblioteca
M
- Marrone: means brown; maroon is translated as color rosso fegato
N
- Nominare: means to name; to nominate is translated as proporre per una candidatura
- Novella: means short story; novel is translated as romanzo
P
- Partire: means to leave; to part is translated as separare
- Preoccupato: means worried; preoccupied is translated as assorto
- Processare: means to try; to process is translated as elaborare
Q
- Questionare: means to argue; to question is translated as interrogare
R
- Ricordo: means memory; record is translated as disco
- Rilevante: means remarkable; relevant is translated as relativo a
- Ritenere: means to think; to retain is translated as conservare
S
- Sensibile: means sensitive; sensible is translated as ragionevole
- Stampa: means press; stamp is translated as francobollo
- Straniero: means foreigner; stranger is translated as estraneo
T
- Tasto: means button; taste is translated as gusto
- Testo: means text; test is translated as prova or esame
V
- Vino: means wine; vine is translated as vite
- Vizioso: means bad; vicious is translated as brutale
Check also this article for more information: 6 reasons to study in Italy!
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