Luckily, the “false friends” we are going to discuss here are not those who tell you to dress up for a costume party where everybody else will be staring at you while wearing their normal clothes. No, the false friends I'm talking about are those English words that really sound similar to Italian words but that mean something totally different.
The reason behind this curious phenomenon is a change in the original meaning happening around the seventeenth Century. These words are originally from Latin, where they meant something similar to their current meaning in Italian. They slowly acquired a different meaning, since there already existed words that carried that same meaning in the English language. In a nutshell, the coexistence of them as synonyms didn't really work out.
It sounds more complicated than it actually is. The history and the evolution of languages is a story of migration of meanings, of blends, fusions, contaminations, and of challenges where it's the most effective that wins.
Let's have a look at this list, now. The following are only a few of all the false friends that you might encounter during your study. I tried to select the most common ones. Watch out for the words with an asterisk (*) preceding them: I'm sure some of them will make you smile!
Annoiare/Annoiarsi
It sounds like (to) “annoy”, but it means to “bore” or to “tire”. The translation of to “annoy” is disturbare/dare fastidio.
Example:
La lezione era così noiosa che mi sono annoiato tantissimo.
Argomento
It looks like “argument”, but it means “matter” or “topic”. The translation of “argument” is discussione/litigio.
Box
It means “garage”, while the translation of “box” is scatola/contenitore.
Example:
Ho messo la bicicletta nel box, di fianco all'auto.
Bullo
It sounds like “bull”, but it means “vandal” or “bully”. The translation of “bull” is toro.
Example:
Lui disse da vero bullo: “Ma a te che te ne frega?”
*Caldo
Be careful with this word! Even though it looks like “cold”, it means exactly the opposite: hot! If you want to say “cold”, you have to use freddo.
Example:
Quest'inverno voglio andare in vacanza in un posto caldo, caldissimo, come le isole Canarie!
Coda
It doesn't mean “code”, but “tail” or “queue/line”. Code in Italian is codice.
Examples:
Le scimmie hanno una coda molto lunga.
Ho aspettato in coda il mio turno.
Comodità
It sounds like “commodity”, but it means “comfort” or “convenience”. The Italian translation of commodity is merce/prodotto.
Example:
I giovani non apprezzano le comodità della vita moderna.
*Dare
This word means to “give” or “donate”. To dare, instead, is translated as osare in Italian.
Example:
Dare è più soddisfacente che ricevere.
*Delusione
Una delusione is a disappointment, a let-down. If you want to say “delusion” in Italian, you have to use the word illusione.
Disporre
It looks like (to) “dispose”, but it means “to organize” or “to have”. To dispose in Italian is eliminare/buttare via.
Examples:
Ho disposto le bottiglie in vetrina.
Disponiamo di vari modelli di automobili.
Educazione
Although it looks like “education”, it actually means “politeness” or “upbringing”. The Italian translation of education is istruzione.
Example:
É buona educazione salutare per primi.
*Eventualmente
It sounds very similar to “eventually”, but it actually means possibly. If you want to say eventually, the correct Italian word is infine.
Example:
Giovedì alle 5 sono occupato. Possiamo vederci alle sei, eventualmente?
*Fabbrica
This word means “factory”, while the word we use for “fabric” is tessuto.
Example:
Gli operai che lavorano in fabbrica alla sera sono molto stanchi.
*Fattoria
This one, instead, sounds like “factory”, but it means “farm”. The confusion is over!
Example:
In quella fattoria ci sono mucche, asini, oche e maiali.
Fine
It is spelled like “fine”, but its meaning is “end”. As you probably know, fine in Italian is bene.
*Grosso
Watch out for this word! It doesn't mean “gross”, but big! You can translate gross either with lordo or totale.
Example:
Questo è davvero un grosso guaio!
*Inabitato
This word means exactly the opposite of “inhabited”. It means uninhabited! Abitato is the right word to use when a place has somebody living in.
Example:
Questo palazzo è inabitato da decenni.
Libreria
It is not a “library”, which is a biblioteca, but it's either a bookshelf or a bookshop.
Examples:
Ho comprato una libreria nuova.
Sono andato in libreria a cercare il libro che mi hai consigliato.
Lurido
This word means “very dirty”, while lurid is sgargiante or impressionante.
Example:
L'acquazzone ha reso le mie scarpe luride.
Magazzino
It looks like “magazine”, but it's a warehouse. Magazine is rivista/giornale in Italian.
Example:
Abbiamo molte scorte in magazzino.
*Morbido
Watch out! This word means “very soft!” Morbid is morboso/macabro.
Example:
Questa poltrona è veramente morbida, quasi ci dormirei!
Ostrica
It's not “ostrich”, which is struzzo, but it's “oyster”!
Example:
Mi piacciono le ostriche fresche con il limone.
Parente
Parente means “relative”, while “parent” is genitore in Italian.
Example:
La mia famiglia è numerosa: ho molti parenti.
Pavimento
It's always on the ground but it's indoors: Pavimento means “floor”, while the translation of “pavement” is marciapiede.
Questo pavimento è di legno.
Preservativo
This word means “condom”, while “preservative” in Italian is conservante.
Example:
Il preservativo protegge da molte malattie.
*Questione
It really looks like “question”, but it means “issue” or “matter”. The Italian word for question is domanda.
Example:
Abbiamo risolto la questione velocemente.
Romanzo
Un romanzo is “a novel”, while “romance” is romanticismo.
Example:
Questo romanzo è un classico della letteratura.
Rumore
This means “noise”, while rumour is chiacchiera/pettegolezzo.
Example:
Ho sentito uno strano rumore provenire dalla cantina.
*Scolaro
Uno scolaro is a “very young student”, a schoolchild! The translation for the English word “scholar” is studioso/accademico.
Example:
Da bambino era un bravissimo scolaro.
*Sensibile
It sounds like “sensible”, which is translated with ragionevole, but it means “sensitive”!
Example:
Maria ha un animo molto sensibile.
*Sensitivo
This one, instead, means somebody with a sixth sense: a medium!
Example:
Si è rivolta a un sensitivo per entrare in contatto col marito defunto.
Severo
This means “strict”, while the Italian translation of several is tanti/parecchi.
Example:
L'insegnante dei miei figli è molto severo.
Stretto
This is not a “street”. It means “narrow” or “stretch” instead. Street is strada in Italian.
Examples:
Prendi quella via stretta sulla sinistra.
Questa gonna mi sta stretta.
Tasto
It doesn't mean “taste”, but “button”. “Taste” is gusto/sapore.
Example:
Premere il tasto verde per aprire la porta automatica.
*Terrificante
It looks like “terrific”, which in Italian is magnifico/fantastico, while terrificante means “scary” or “frightening”.
Example:
Questo film dell'orrore è davvero terrificante!
Testo
This word means “text”, while “test” in Italian is esame/verifica.
Example:
Le domande riguardano il testo che abbiamo letto.
*Uomo
It really sounds like “woman”, but it's actually a man! “Woman” in Italian is donna.
Example:
Questo cappotto è da uomo, mentre quello è da donna.
You will probably feel quite confused now, but it's just a matter of habit! Be careful not to tell your friends you are una persona sensitiva if you tend to cry watching romantic movies. They will understand you are kind of a fortune teller. And remember not to call an old professor uno scolaro, or not to say your friend’s new house is terrificante when it is newly refurbished.
Contact me if you have any questions....e grazie per aver letto l'articolo!
Image Sources
Hero Image by Bark (CC BY 2.0)
