False Friends in the English and Italian Languages

To the English-speaking learner of Italian, false friends (falsi amici) are Italian words that look (almost) the same as English words, but do not mean the same as their English look-alikes.

English and Italian are both Indo-European languages. English, however, is a Germanic language, while Italian is a Romanic language, i.e. a descendant of Latin. If English and Italian belong to different language sub-families, then how come they share so many cognates and false friends?

The answer lies in the dual (Germanic and Latin) tradition of English. English may be a Germanic language, but its vocabulary is overwhelmingly non-Germanic. English and Italian share a lot of Latin roots and words of Latin origin: dictionary is dizionario, intelligent is intelligente, necessary is necessario, honest is onesto, expression is espressione, habit is abitudine, resistance is resistenza, space is spazio, exciting is eccitante, apartment is appartamento, etc., etc. Aside from these (and many more) true cognates, there are also a whole lot of false friends.

For your amusement, here is a sampler of false friends between English and Italian:

The Italian adverb attualmente (= currently, at present) is not synonymous with the English adverb actually.

In Italian, if you feel annoiato, chances are you are not annoyed, but bored and weary. If you are baldo, you are bold and daring, but not necessarily bald (which would be calvo). If they call you bravo (or brava), you have every reason to be flattered, but not because you are perceived as brave (coraggioso, -a), but as clever and capable. If someone compliments you on your educazione (= upbringing), it is your good manners that are being lauded, and not your academic achievements.

An Italian camera is a room (not a photographic apparatus), a coda is a tail (not a code), and a fattoria is a farm (not a factory); firma means "signature" and ditta means "business firm"; libreria means "bookstore" and biblioteca means "library".

Watch out for those sneaky homographs: fame means "hunger", dove means "when", pane means "bread", sale means "salt", mare means "sea".

If your coffee is caldo, it is hot, not cold (freddo). If you want a cucumber, do not ask for a cocomero (= watermelon).

In Italian, it is generally a good thing to be morbido (= soft, smooth), as in pelle morbida (= smooth skin). The Italian equivalent of "morbid" is morboso.

An Italian parente is a relative, not a parent. Italian genitori are parents (and not necessarily janitors by profession).

In Italian, confrontare does not imply confrontation: it simply means "to compare". In a similar fashion, domandare means "to ask a question".

An Italian delusione is an unhappy state of mind, but hardly pathological, as it means "disappointment", and not "delusion". An English delusion would be illusione in Italian, while delusions of grandeur would be rendered as manie di grandezza.

Someone simpatico is likable; someone sympathetic is comprensivo; someone comprensivo is understanding; something comprehensive is completo.

Food without conservanti (= preservatives) is healthful; food without preservativi (= condoms) is an absolutely indispensable condition.

Sources:
http://dict.leo.org/
http://www.wordreference.com/