Language/Italian/Vocabulary/English-Italian-False-Cognates

90+ English/Italian False Cognates (False Friends)

The term "false friend" or "false cognates" refers to a word that looks like Italian but in reality has a very different meaning. Considered a real trap when learning Italian, false friends can very easily mislead an English speaker during conversations with Italian speakers.

We have listed the main meaning of these false friends; each definition of course depends on the context in which it is used.

Here is a list of more than 90 false friends that you need to know!

False friend in Italian	Translation	English	Real meaning
accidenti!, accidente	damn!, shock	accident	incidente
addizione	sum	addiction	dipendenza, assuefazione
assistere	attend, witness	to assist	aiutare
astemio	teetotal	abstemious	frugale
attaccare	stick, fasten	to attack	assalire
attendere	to wait	to attend	assistere, seguire, frequentare
attico	top floor flat, penthouse	attic	soffitta
attitudine	aptitude, propensity	attitude	atteggiamento
attuale	present, current	actual	effettivo
attualmente	currently, now, at this moment	actually	in realtà, effettivamente
avvertire	to warn	to advertise	pubblicizzare
avvertire	to warn	to avert	allontanare, evitare, distogliere
avviso	warning	advice	consiglio
bello	beautiful	bell	campanello
box	garage	box	scatola
bravo	good, clever	brave	coraggioso
brina	frost	brine	acqua salata, salamonia
camera	room	camera	macchina fotografica
camping	camp-site	camping	il campeggiare
candido	snow white	candid	schietto, sincero
cantina	cellar, wine shop	canteen	mensa, borraccia
caramella	candy in general	caramel	tipo di caramella
carro	carriage	car	automobile
cartone	cardboard	cartoon	cartone animato
case	houses	case	scatoletta, valigetta
casino	confusion	casino	luogo di giuoco d’azzardo
casuale	chance, coincidental	casual	informale
cauzione	garantee, deposit	caution	cautela
cava	quarry	cave	caverna, grotta
comprensivo	understanding	comprehensive	esauriente
con	with	to con	imbrogliare
concorrenza	competition	concurrence	coincidenza, concorso di eventi
confidenza	intimacy	confidence	fiducia
conservatorio(di musica)	school of music	conservatory	serra
consistente	substantial, large	consistent	coerente
controllare	to check	to control	dominare
convenienza	profit, cheapness	convenience	comodità
disgrazia	misfortune	disgrace	vergogna, disonore
disponible	available	disposable	usa e getta
editore	publisher	editor	redattore, curatore
educato	polite	educated	colto
educazione	upbringing	education	istruzione
estate	summer	estate	proprietà
eventualmente	possibly, if necessary	eventually	alla fine
familiare	related to family	familiar	ben conosciuto, intimo
fare senso	to disgust	to make sense	avere senso
fattoria	farm	factory	fabbrica
finalmente!	about time!	finally	alla fine
flipper	pinball machine	flipper	pinna
fornitura	supply	furniture	mobili
grazioso	pretty	gracious	clemente, misericordioso
intitolato	titled	entitled	avente diritto a
la fronte	forehead	front	facciata, parte anteriore
lunatico	moody	lunatic	pazzo
lussuria	lust	luxury	lusso
magazzino	warehouse	magazine	rivista
magnificare	to praise	to magnify	ingrandire
mansione	duty	mansion	villa
messa	mass	mess	confusione, disordine
miseria	poverty	misery	sofferenza
morbido	soft, tender	morbid	morboso
nominare	to name, to call	to nominate	proporre per una candidatura
notizia	news	notice	avviso, annuncio, cartello
novella	short story	novel	romanzo
occorrere	to need	to occur	accadere
preservativo	condom, contracceptive	preservative	conservante
presunzione	conceit	presumption	supposizione, congettura
pretendere	to claim, assume	to pretend	fingere, simulare
processare	to put on trial	to process	elaborare
proprio	one’s own	proper	appropriato, caratteristico
puzzle	jigsaw puzzle	puzzle	problema, enigma
rapa	turnip	rape	stupro
rate	instalments	rate	velocità, tasso
realizzare	fulfil, carry out	to realize	rendersi conto
ricordo	memory	record	disco
riguardare	to be about, to look at again	to regard	considerare, stimare
rilevante	remarkable	relevant	pertinente
sano	healthy	sane	equilibrato, ragionevole
scolaro	pupil	scholar	studioso
sensibile	sensitive	sensible	sensato, percepibile, ragionevole
simpatico	likeable	sympathetic	compassionevole
slip	briefs, knickers	slip	sottoveste
spot	advert, commercial	spot	foruncolo, puntino
stampa	press	stamp	francobollo
suggestivo	evocative	suggestive	allusivo
tasto	key, button	taste	sapore,
toast	toasted sandwich	toast	pane tostato, brindisi
triviale	vulgar	trivial	banale
udienza	hearing	audience	pubblico
ultimo	last	ultimate	fondamentale
vacanza	holiday, vacation	vacancy	vuoto, posto vacante
verso	line	verse	strofa

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