ITALIAN
False friends in Italian
68 words that look like an English word and mean
something else. Every one of them can turn up in the daily game, sitting next to the right
answer and hoping you are in a hurry.
The list
Read a row as: what you want to say, the word that says it, and the trap. Most traps are a
word that looks like the English one and means something else. A few are the word another
region would use, which is worse, because it is not wrong anywhere except here.
-
accident
incidente
accidenti = damn it
-
actually
in realtà
attualmente = currently
-
argument
discussione
argomento = a topic
-
bookshop
libreria
biblioteca = a library
-
box
scatola
box = a garage
-
camera
fotocamera
camera = a room
-
canteen
mensa
cantina = a cellar
-
cart
carro
caro = dear or expensive
-
cellar
cantina
mensa = a canteen
-
cold
freddo
caldo = hot
-
copy
copia
coppia = a couple
-
couple
coppia
copia = a copy
-
cruel
crudele
crudo = raw
-
currently
attualmente
in realtà = actually
-
driving licence
patente
brevetto = a patent
-
educated
istruito
educato = polite
-
estate
tenuta
estate = summer
-
eventually
alla fine
eventualmente = possibly
-
expensive
caro
carro = a cart
-
factory
fabbrica
fattoria = a farm
-
farm
fattoria
fabbrica = a factory
-
firm
ditta
firma = a signature
-
gentle
delicato
gentile = kind, not gentle
-
grandfather
nonno
nono = ninth
-
hair
capello
cappello = a hat
-
hat
cappello
capello = a hair
-
hot
caldo
freddo = cold
-
house
casa
cassa = a till or a crate
-
lecture
conferenza
lettura = reading
-
library
biblioteca
libreria = a bookshop
-
luxury
lusso
lussuria = lust
-
magazine
rivista
magazzino = a warehouse
-
month
mese
messe = the harvest
-
nice
simpatico
comprensivo = understanding
-
night
notte
nota = a note
-
noise
rumore
voce = a voice or a rumour
-
noisy
rumoroso
noioso = boring
-
note
nota
notte = night
-
parents
genitori
parenti = relatives
-
patent
brevetto
patente = a driving licence
-
pen
penna
pena = a punishment or a pity
-
polite
educato
istruito = educated
-
possibly
eventualmente
alla fine = eventually
-
press
stampa
francobollo = a postage stamp
-
raw
crudo
crudele = cruel
-
reading
lettura
conferenza = a lecture
-
receipt
scontrino
ricetta = a recipe or a prescription
-
relatives
parenti
genitori = parents
-
rumour
voce
rumore = noise
-
sensible
sensato
sensibile = sensitive
-
sensitive
sensibile
sensato = sensible
-
seven
sette
sete = thirst
-
signature
firma
ditta = a firm
-
sleep
sonno
sono = I am
-
stamp
francobollo
stampa = the press or printing
-
summer
estate
tenuta = an estate
-
telephone
telefono
phon = a hairdryer
-
thirst
sete
sette = seven
-
till
cassa
casa = a house
-
to assist
aiutare
assistere = to attend or witness
-
to compare
confrontare
affrontare = to confront
-
to confront
affrontare
confrontare = to compare
-
to demand
pretendere
fingere = to pretend
-
to pretend
fingere
pretendere = to demand
-
to recover
riprendersi
ricoverare = to admit to hospital
-
to smoke
fumare
smoking = a dinner jacket
-
topic
argomento
discussione = an argument
-
warehouse
magazzino
rivista = a magazine
How this list was built
These are not scraped. Each pair starts from a dictionary export, gets screened against a
corpus frequency table so that nothing obscure survives, and is then read by a person, one
row at a time, before it ships. A false friend is only listed once someone has written down
what the look-alike actually means, and the app refuses to start if any of them is missing
that line.
Everything here targets Italian
(it-IT) specifically. That matters more than it sounds: a word can be
perfectly correct in one region and still be the wrong answer here.
The other languages
French false friends, European Portuguese false friends, Latin American Spanish false friends.
Want to be tested on them instead of reading them? There is a new
Italian game every day, the same one for everyone, and one wrong tap ends
it.