False Friends- the Most Common ITA -> ENG Mistakes

When learning a second language, it’s always convenient to find that the word you need to translate is almost the same as it is in your first language. However, we have to be careful with the so-called “False Friends”- words that look the same but have two completely different meanings in their respective languages.

As the majority of Fluentify’s current students are Italian, today we wanted to share some of the most common False Friends between Italian and English so that the next time your student tells you that they saw a “terrific” car accident on their way to work, you know that they’re not crazy, just using the wrong word!

English Word	Similar Italian Translation	Correct English Word
actually	attualmente	currently
to adjust	aggiustare	to fix
annoying	noioso/a	boring
argument	argomento	topic/subject/matter
to attend	attendere	To wait (for something)
consistent	consistente	substantial/solid/significant
decided	deciso/a	determined/ driven
to frequent	frequentare	To attend (a course, workshop, etc.)
incident	incidente	accident/ car crash
lecture	lettura	To read over/ to look over/ to take a look at
machine	macchina	car
notice	notizia/e	news
parents	parenti	relatives
to realize	realizzare	to design/create/build
record	ricordo	A memory
sensible	sensibile	sensitive
sympathetic	simpatico/a	nice/friendly/welcoming
terrific	terrificante	terrible
ultimate	ultimo	last/ most recent
vacancy	vacanza	holiday/ vacation

For Italian-speaking tutors, are there any other common false friends that often cause confusion? Add them to the comments below!