Italian 1.2. Similarities & Differences – English & Italian

English is a Germanic language, whereas Italian is a Romance language. Yet, they share a substantial amount of vocabulary. The main reason is due to the Norman Conquest of England in the eleventh century. As a result, the English language borrowed a lot of French words. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929) famously claimed that “English is just badly pronounced French.” French, like Italian, is a Romance language and shares Latin roots, and thus a lot of vocabulary, with Italian. You can see the connection here between Italian and English via the French language. This is why the US Foreign Service Institute (FSI), which provides language training to diplomats and government employees, ranks Italian in the easiest language learning category for English speakers.

English Cognates in Italian

History aside, we can definitely capitalize on this connection. There are a lot of English cognates in the Italian language. English cognates are words that are directly descended from a common ancestor language, in this case, mostly French. Moreover, English has become a universal language. Hence, some English words have obviously found their way directly into many languages, including Italian.

Although cognates will often have the same meaning in Italian and English, it is important to note that this is not always the case, as languages have evolved separately. For example, the Italian word “camera” means room, not the device you use to take photos. That would be “macchina fotografica.” Similarly, the word “fabbrica” in Italian means “factory” and not “fabric,” as you may have guessed. That being said, recognizing English cognates is a powerful tool that can enhance the Italian vocabulary of any English-speaking learner.

As we delve into the English cognates, do not feel overwhelmed with the vocabulary. Do not expected to memorize all of the cognates at this basic level. It is only meant to give you an idea about the similarities with English. This should help provide a sense of the Italian language based on prior knowledge of English.

Take, for example, the Latin verb “claudere,” meaning “to close.” In the development of the Italian language, the “l” preceded by a consonant, e.g., “cl,” “pl,” “fl,” etc., has often changed to “i.” Knowing that, you would be more likely to recognize the similarity between the adjectives “chiuso” (pronounced “kyoo-so”) in Italian and “closed” in English, both derived from the Latin “claudere.” Similar is the case with words such as “fiamma” (flame), “fiore” (flower), and “piazza” (square or place).

List of English Cognates in Italian

Here, we list some parallels between English and Italian words that will make you realize how many Italian words you already know or perhaps are able to guess correctly.

It is also important to note that these are not strict rules. They are simply useful guidelines to make learning Italian easier for English speakers.

False Cognates

As mentioned earlier, there are some false cognates. It can be useful to be familiar with these false friends to avoid some embarrassing errors. Below is a list of some of the most common ones:

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