This month I want to approach a topic we always hear about and even learn about, but when it comes to actually putting it into practice, we all fall for it – false friends! Let’s first review what these false friends are.

False friends are those words that in Italian sound or look close to an English word, make us think that they mean the same thing, but they are completely different and often times they mislead us. They are hard to recognize if we are not familiar with them or if we have little context because the only way to know is to learn them.

The hardest part is when we are speaking or writing, so we are the ones in charge of our word choices, and, maybe due to the fact we are a little nervous or insecure, we end up going for what sounds closer to our native language and fall for it. Let’s see some of the most common false friends in Italian.

Let’s start with some places. As you know, in English, you can go borrow books from a library; however, if your goal is to get a book for free, read it, and then bring it back, you cannot go to a libreria in Italy, otherwise you’ll be accused of stealing. Libreria sounds and looks very close to “library,” but in actuality it means “bookstore.” They both have a lot of books, and in both places you can choose what to read, however in a libreria you must pay before leaving.

Another common misleading place is the factory. If you are in Italy for work and you have to visit the factory of your company, remember not to call it fattoria, otherwise people will probably start looking at you in a weird way, thinking you have a very odd vision of Italy or, even worse, that you are insulting the workplace. Fattoria in fact means “farm” and not “factory,” so you see the misunderstanding could be quite offensive. “Factory” is fabbrica, which you should not confuse with the word “fabric,” another false friend.

If you hear that there is a lot of rumore, it doesn’t mean that people are gossiping since it does not mean “rumor” but “noise.” You can still get upset and complain, but the reason will be completely different. While if you are trying to warn something that there’s a rumor going around, you should say a pettegolezzo instead, if it’s pure gossip, or voce, if it’s more neutral. It the rumor is about to people who had an argument, don’t say they had an argomento since argomento means “topic,” it’s usually the subject of a speech, a lesson, or a text. What you want to use is discussion or the verb litigare.

There are some false friends that are really tricky: camera is not a “camera,” but a room, usually a bedroom. If you ask someone to see their camera, they might invite you home instead of taking their phone out and talking about megapixel. Well, they might even get the wrong idea…And if you ask someone for their agenda they’ll show you their “journal” or their “planner”, they won’t tell you what they are up to, their end goals, or their plan for the day. And if you ask someone if they have a patente while talking about work, they might think you are asking them if they drive as part of their job, since you’re asking for their “driver’s license” and not if they hold a brevetto – “patent” – for a product, a device, or an idea.

Some false friends that seem to be created just to confuse people are straniero and parenti, close enough, but not quite the right word. Straniero is not a “stranger”, or better said, it is a stranger but more precisely it is a “foreigner.” They could often coincide, but as you know you can know a foreigner well, which does not make them a stranger. And parenti is not “parents,” but “relatives.” Of course, your parents are also your relatives, but that’s not how we usually refer to moms and dads. Not a big deal, but it still could cause some misunderstandings!

So now you know some of the words you need to think twice before saying when speaking Italian and to make sure you pay attention to the context in order to avoid some awkward situations. Good luck!