{"id":520,"date":"2010-09-21T16:29:06","date_gmt":"2010-09-21T16:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=520"},"modified":"2018-02-16T11:04:26","modified_gmt":"2018-02-16T10:04:26","slug":"misleading-word-of-the-day-part-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/misleading-word-of-the-day-part-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Misleading Word of the Day – part 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every now and then, when I’m interpreting or translating between Italian and English, examples of ‘falsi amici’<\/strong> (false friend) pop up and cause ‘un po’ di casino’<\/strong> (a bit of confusion).<\/p>\n

Falsi amici<\/strong> or ‘false cognates’ are words which sound the same in both English and Italian but which in reality have different meanings, often leading to embarrassing situations!<\/p>\n

Here is a little group of words that can easily trip up the unsuspecting foreigner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Italian word<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nsounds like English<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nactual meaning<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sensibile<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nsensible<\/span><\/td>\nsensitive<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Some examples of usage<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
non posso lavare i piatti senza i guanti perch\u00e9 ho la pelle molto sensibile<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nI can’t wash the dishes without gloves because I’ve got very sensitive skin<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le mie figlie sono tutte e due ragazze molto sensibili<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nboth of my girls are very sensitive children<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

N.B. sensibile <\/strong>= singular, sensibili <\/strong>= plural<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Italian word<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nsounds like English<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nactual meaning<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sensitivo<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nsensitive<\/span><\/td>\nclairvoyant<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

e.g.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
un sensitivo mi ha detto che presto incontrer\u00f2 l’uomo della mia vita!<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\na clairvoyant told me that I’d soon meet the man of my dreams!
\n<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

If you want to say ‘sensible’ you should use the word sensato, e.g.:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
questa s\u00ec che \u00e8 un’idea molto sensata!<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nthis is a really sensible idea!<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
i miei ragazzi sono tutti e due molto sensati<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nboth my boys are really sensible<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every now and then, when I’m interpreting or translating between Italian and English, examples of ‘falsi amici’ (false friend) pop up and cause ‘un po’ di casino’ (a bit of confusion). Falsi amici or ‘false cognates’ are words which sound the same in both English and Italian but which in reality have different meanings, often…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[619],"tags":[263,11485,11484],"class_list":["post-520","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-italian-language","tag-false-cognates","tag-falsi-amici","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