False friends are words in different languages that sound or look the same but have completely different meanings. Although the vast majority of words that resemble each other in English and Italian do share a similar meaning due to their shared origin, there are a number of false friends that will certainly catch you out …
There are literally hundreds of words in the English language that sound or look similar to their Italian equivalents. This is because English has been heavily influenced by Latinate and Romance sources, such as French and Anglo-Norman, ever since the Early Middle Ages. In this article, I’m not going to be investigating Italian-sounding words that …
As languages go, I would classify Italian as one of the easiest to learn for English speakers, at least in terms of pronunciation. A big advantage is that it is a highly phonetic language – unlike English and French, for example – so what you see written on paper is very close to how it …
Italian, like many other romance languages, has formal and informal registers. The purpose of formal speech is to show respect. It may be used when addressing a stranger (especially someone older than you) or superiors such as your boss. It is also the default register for those who provide a service such as shopkeepers or …
Question words (or open question words) are an extremely important part of any language because they allow us to expand our knowledge about the things happening around us. Open questions differ from yes-no questions in that the possible ways of responding to them are limitless – or in other words, they must be answered with …
When I first moved to Italy back in 2008, one of the biggest culture shocks I experienced was the general apathy towards Halloween. I originally come from Canada, a country that like the USA enjoys celebrating Halloween as much as Christmas and Easter, so it was a surprise to see October 31st come and go …