{"id":15745,"date":"2018-02-16T12:13:23","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T11:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=15745"},"modified":"2018-07-24T11:01:10","modified_gmt":"2018-07-24T09:01:10","slug":"italian-false-cognates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/italian-false-cognates\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian False Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

The English language contains many Latin words, and once you learn to recognise them it will be a great help in terms of building up your Italian vocabulary …<\/span><\/p>\n

… but not always … and that’s where false friends come in.
\nFalse friends, often referred to as false cognates, are words that sound very similar in two different language but don’t actually have the same meaning.<\/p>\n

Think of words such as stazione<\/strong> = station, inibizione<\/strong> = inhibition, or parziale<\/strong> = partial, for example. It’s easy to hear the etymological links, isn’t it? But some words which share a common etymology have taken different paths in the distant past, and are now used in quite diverse ways in English and Italian.<\/p>\n

An amusing example of this happened earlier this week: Serena runs several local yoga classes, and has recently started a new one exclusively for English speakers. On Wednesday, Simona, who manages the holistic centre where the classes are held, contacted Serena to say that she’d had an e-mail from an English lady who attends the class saying that she wouldn’t be able to make it. However, Simona was a bit mystified by the reason given:<\/p>\n

‘Unfortunately, we have a puncture! Clive and Jean’<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Ma quanto tempo ci vuole per fare una puntura!?!<\/strong> said Simona, amazed.<\/p>\n

False friend alert!
\nIn Italian, una puntura<\/strong> is an injection, as in ‘il dottore mi ha fatto una puntura’<\/strong> = ‘the doctor gave me an injection’. What Clive and Jean intended to say was ‘abbiamo una ruota bucata’<\/strong> or ‘abbiamo una ruota a terra’<\/strong>, both of which mean ‘we’ve got a flat tyre’.
\nSimona found this hilarious, and we decided that it was time to write another article on false cognates. Here are a few of the most common ones:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

\u2018attualmente fa molto freddo\u2019<\/strong> = It\u2019s very cold at the moment. Photo by Geoff
<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Attualmente<\/strong> does NOT mean actually.
\nDefinition of attualmente<\/strong> = at present, at the moment, now, or nowadays.
\nExamples:
\n\u2018attualmente fa molto freddo\u2019<\/strong> = It\u2019s very cold at the moment
\n\u2018mia sorella attualmente abita in Francia\u2019\u00a0 <\/strong>= my sister lives in France at present.
\nFind out more about attualmente<\/strong> and actually here<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Pretendere<\/strong> does NOT mean pretend.
\nDefinition of pretendere<\/strong> = to want or expect something unreasonably or unjustly.
\nExamples:
\n\u2018pretende quaranta euro per mezz\u2019ora di lavoro!\u2019<\/strong> = he\u00a0wants forty Euros for half an hour\u2019s work!
\n\u2018non puoi pretendere di parlare italiano dopo un mese\u2019<\/strong> = you can\u2019t expect to speak Italian after one month.
\nFind out more about pretendere<\/strong> and pretend here<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Attendere<\/strong> does NOT mean attend.
\nDefinition of attendere<\/strong> = \u2018to wait for\u2019, \u2018to await\u2019.
\nExamples:
\n\u2018ho atteso l\u2019autobus per oltre mezz\u2019ora\u2019<\/strong> = I waited for the bus for more than half an hour
\n\u2018attendiamo che arrivi Anna per mangiare\u2019<\/strong> = let\u2019s wait for Anna to arrive before we eat.
\nFind out more about attendere<\/strong> and attend here<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Sensibile <\/strong>does NOT mean sensible.
\nDefinition of sensibile\u00a0<\/strong>= sensitive.
\nExamples:
\n\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
\n\u2018i miei occhi sono molto sensibili alla luce del sole\u2019 <\/strong>= my eyes are very sensitive to the sunlight. Find out more here<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Grazie a Clive e Jean per l’ispirazione!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

The English language contains many Latin words, and once you learn to recognise them it will be a great help in terms of building up your Italian vocabulary … … but not always … and that’s where false friends come in. False friends, often referred to as false cognates, are words that sound very similar…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":15758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[385950,11484],"class_list":["post-15745","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-italian-false-cognates","tag-italian-false-friends"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t