The English Language has borrowed many words and expressions from other languages over the centuries. If you’d like to see a funny video depicting the History of the English Language, take a look at this.
Those same words have themselves evolved over time and ended up with totally different meanings. These have in turn created what we call ‘false friends‘, words that are similar in two languages but actually have a totally different meaning that can be misunderstood
In this blog post, I’d like to highlight the false friends that exist between English and Italian. I will be covering false friends between English and French and English and Spanish in future posts. I’m not a German speaker and don’t, therefore, feel qualified to write about their differences. Perhaps some of you readers out there could help me with German?
|
ENGLISH |
ITALIAN |
FALSE FRIEND* |
|
Actually |
In Realtà |
Attualmente |
|
Camera |
Macchina Fotografica |
Camera |
|
Comprehensive |
Completo |
Comprensivo |
|
To Confront |
Affrontare |
Confrontare |
|
Educated |
Istruito/Colto |
Educato |
|
Library |
Biblioteca |
Libreria |
|
Magazine |
Rivista |
Magazzino |
|
To Pretend |
Fare Finta |
Pretendere |
|
Parent |
Genitore |
Parente |
|
Sensible |
Ragionevole |
Sensibile |
|
Sympathetic |
Comprensivo |
Simpatico |
|
Fastidious |
Pignolo |
Fastidioso |
The actual meanings in English of those False Friends are highlighted here:
|
ITALIAN*
|
ENGLISH |
|
Attualmente |
Currently |
|
Comprensivo |
Understanding (Adj) |
|
Confrontare |
To Compare |
|
Educato |
Polite |
|
Libreria |
Bookshop |
|
Magazzino |
Warehouse |
|
Parente |
Relative |
|
Pretendere |
To Expect |
|
Simpatico |
Likeable |
|
Fastidioso |
Annoying |
Can you think of other false friends between English and Italian? Please share them here with me.
I hope you found this post useful and if you did, please share it.
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Ciao for now.
Shanthi
Source: Cork English Teacher
