FALSE FRIENDS

The phrase “false friends” is used to mean two words in two languages that sound
similar, but have different meanings. Examples:

ACTUAL does not mean ATTUALE

GENIAL does not mean GENIALE

EVENTUAL, EVENTUALE,
do not mean
EVENTUALLY EVENTUALMENTE
TRIVIAL does not mean TRIVIALE

EDUCATION does not always mean EDUCAZIONE

ARGUMENT does not always mean ARGOMENTO

In the following chart you have the current meaning of the English words above, and
how to express the similar Italian words in English.

English in Italian Italian in English

reale, effettivo, present,
ACTUAL ATTUALE
vero e proprio current,
gioviale, ingenious,
GENIAL GENIALE
cordiale brilliant, gifted
EVENTUAL, finale, EVENTUALE, possible,
EVENTUALLY alla fine EVENTUALMENTE probable
insignificante
TRIVIAL TRIVIALE coarse, vulgar
banale
mainly: good manners,
EDUCATION EDUCAZIONE
istruzione, studi upbringing
mostly:
ARGUMENT ARGOMENTO topic, subject
discussione
alla fine,
ULTIMATELY ULTIMAMENTE recently, lately
essenzialmente

Examples: The actual costs: Le spese effettive.

A genial old man:
I found Victoria Avenue eventually:
Who will the eventual winner be?
To talk about trivial matters:
A very good education:
Ultimately he’ll have to decide
A bitter argument:
And, from Italian into English:
Le tendenze attuali
L’attuale governo
Non provai un vero e proprio dolore
Linguaggio triviale
Un vecchietto gioviale.
Alla fine riuscii a trovare Victoria Ave.
Chi sarà il vincitore finale?
Parlare di cose futili.
Un’ottima formazione scolastica.
Alla fine una decisione dovrà prenderla
Una lite furibonda
Current trends
The present government
I felt no actual pain
Vulgar language
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 Un uomo triviale A coarse man
Eventuali complicazioni Possible complications
Un’idea geniale A brilliant idea
Un musicista geniale A gifted musician
Ultimamente non sono stato bene I haven’t been so well lately

Recognizing “false friends” is important in order to avoid pitfalls in translating from

English into Italian (and from Italian into English), as well as in reading comprehension.

There are special dictionaries of false friends in English and Italian.

The most extensive one is by Virginia Browne-Elena Mendes-Gabriele Natali, More and
More False Friends. Bugs & Bugbears. Dizionario di ambigue affinità e tranelli nella
taduzione fra inglese e italiano. Bologna: Zanichelli, 1995.

Below is an example from this dictionary – the entry for the false friends actual/attuale.
Study the entry carefully, including the examples in bold character.

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Well-made bilingual dictionaries give advice on the most common false friends and their
use. One of them, the Ragazzini, a bilingual dictionary that is updated every year,
includes specific sections where false friends are explained. See, for example, the entry
for ‘actual.’ Read all of it carefully; read also the examples in italics.