{"id":10506,"date":"2015-11-30T17:06:35","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T16:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=10506"},"modified":"2015-11-30T17:06:35","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T16:06:35","slug":"italian-false-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/italian-false-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian False Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Falsi amici<\/strong>, false friends \u2026 we\u2019ve all had them! You think you\u2019re a \u2018good judge of character\u2019, or perhaps you just want to believe that life is simpler than it really is. And then \u2026 dammit, screwed again!<\/p>\n

Well dear readers, your guardian angel has arrived. I\u2019m here to forewarn you that the Italian language is peppered with some very insidious falsi amici<\/strong>, or to use their correct name \u2018false cognates\u2019. False cognates are words that sound the same, or similar in two different languages but actually have different meanings. There, I\u2019ve just used one of them \u2026 did you spot it?<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A joke which has absolutely nothing to do with this blog … just because …<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Let\u2019s begin to weed them out shall we?<\/p>\n

Attualmente<\/strong><\/span>, that must mean actually <\/span>right? Wrong!
\nDefinition of attualmente<\/strong>: at present, at the moment, now, or nowadays. e.g. \u2018attualmente non fa molto freddo\u2019<\/strong> (It\u2019s not very cold at the moment), \u2018mia sorella attualmente abita in Francia\u2019 <\/strong>\u00a0(my sister lives in France at present). Find out more about attualmente<\/strong> and actually here<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Pretendere<\/strong> <\/span>obviously means to pretend<\/span>, doesn\u2019t it? No!
\nDefinition of pretendere<\/strong>: To want or expect something unreasonably or unjustly, e.g. \u2018pretende quaranta euro per mezz\u2019ora di lavoro!\u2019<\/strong> (he\u00a0wants forty Euro for half an hour\u2019s work!)\u00a0or \u2018non puoi pretendere di parlare italiano dopo un mese\u2019<\/strong> (you can\u2019t expect to speak Italian after one month). Find out more about pretendere<\/strong> and pretend here<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Attendere<\/strong> <\/span>means to attend<\/span>? Sorry, wrong again!
\nDefinition of attendere<\/strong>: \u2018to wait for\u2019, \u2018to await\u2019, e.g. \u2018ho atteso l\u2019autobus per oltre mezz\u2019ora\u2019<\/strong> (I waited for the bus for more than half an hour), or \u2018attendiamo che arrivi Anna per mangiare\u2019<\/strong> (let\u2019s wait for Anna to arrive before we eat).\u00a0Find out more about attendere<\/strong> and attend here<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Preservativo<\/strong><\/span>, now don\u2019t tell me that it doesn\u2019t mean preservative<\/span>. Correct, it doesn’t!
\nDefinition of preservativo<\/strong>: condom! Find out more about preservativi<\/strong> and preserves here<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Sensibile<\/strong><\/span>, well this one\u2019s obvious: sensible<\/span>. Fooled again!
\nDefinition of sensibile<\/strong>: sensitive, e.g. \u2018non posso lavare i piatti senza i guanti perch\u00e9 ho la pelle molto sensibile\u2019<\/strong> (I can\u2019t wash the dishes without gloves because I\u2019ve got very sensitive skin), or \u2018le mie figlie sono tutte e due ragazze molto sensibili\u2019 <\/strong>(both of my children\u00a0are very sensitive girls). Find out more here<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

But sensitivo<\/strong> <\/span>sounds like sensitive<\/span>, so what does it really mean then?
\nDefinition of sensitivo<\/strong>: spiritual medium \u2026 huh, didn\u2019t expect that did you?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now let me just reassure you that although this list is far from complete, false cognates are limited in number. In fact there are only 4,362 of them to learn off by heart.
\nOnly joking! There really aren\u2019t that many of them that you need to worry about. If I were you, I\u2019d be more concerned about the plethora of euphemistic words that refer to genitalia and sex \u2026 now those can be really embarrassing! Hmm, I suppose I\u2019d better write a blog on the topic, non vedo l’ora<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Do you have any favourite false cognates that you’d like to share with us? Leave a comment.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Falsi amici, false friends \u2026 we\u2019ve all had them! You think you\u2019re a \u2018good judge of character\u2019, or perhaps you just want to believe that life is simpler than it really is. And then \u2026 dammit, screwed again! Well dear readers, your guardian angel has arrived. I\u2019m here to forewarn you that the Italian language…<\/p>\n

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