False friends are English words that look like Italian words but mean something completely different. The problem is that the more Italian they look, the more confidently you use them — and the more you risk saying something completely different from what you mean.
What I see my Italian students get wrong most often is not complex grammar: it is precisely false friends, used every day with absolute ease. In this article I have gathered the 15 that cause the biggest problems, with the real meaning and a correct example for each. If you are not Italian, the list is still useful: it shows the traps that Romance-language speakers fall into, and how each word really behaves in English.
1. Actually / Attualmente
What Italians think it means: attualmente → at the moment, at this time. What it really means: in realtà, a dire il vero, anzi — in fact, as a matter of fact.
❌ “Actually I work at Fiat.” (meaning to say “attualmente lavoro alla Fiat”, “I currently work at Fiat”) ✅ “I currently work at Fiat.” — use currently or at the moment for attualmente.
✅ “I thought the film would be boring, but actually it was great.” — in fact it was fantastic.
2. Eventually / Eventualmente
What Italians think it means: eventualmente → if necessary, in case. What it really means: alla fine, prima o poi, infine — in the end, finally.
❌ “Eventually we can add more features.” (meaning to say “eventualmente possiamo aggiungere altre funzionalità”, “if necessary we can add more features”) ✅ “If needed, we can add more features.” — use if needed, if necessary, possibly for eventualmente.
✅ “He eventually admitted he was wrong.” — in the end he admitted he was wrong.
3. Library / Libreria
What Italians think it means: libreria → a shop that sells books. What it really means: biblioteca (the place where you borrow books, free of charge).
❌ “I bought this book at the library.” ✅ “I bought this book at the bookshop.” (UK) / “bookstore” (US) — for the shop where you buy books.
✅ “I borrowed this book from the library.” — I took it out on loan from the biblioteca.
4. Annoyed / Annoiato
What Italians think it means: annoyed → annoiato, bored, with nothing interesting to do. What it really means: irritato, seccato, infastidito — irritated, bothered.
❌ “I was so annoyed during the lecture.” (meaning to say “mi sono annoiato”, “I was bored”) ✅ “I was so bored during the lecture.” — use bored for annoiato.
✅ “She was annoyed because he was late again.” — she was irritated because he was late again.
5. Sensible / Sensibile
What Italians think it means: sensible → sensibile, someone who gets emotional easily. What it really means: ragionevole, sensato, prudente — reasonable, practical, cautious.
❌ “She’s a very sensible person — she cries easily.” ✅ “She’s a very sensitive person — she cries easily.” — use sensitive for sensibile in the emotional sense.
✅ “That’s a very sensible decision.” — it is a very reasonable decision.
6. Attend / Attendere
What Italians think it means: attend → aspettare, to wait. What it really means: partecipare a, essere presente a (a meeting, a course, an event) — to go to, to be present at.
❌ “Please attend outside.” (meaning to say “aspetti fuori”, “please wait outside”) ✅ “Please wait outside.” — use wait for aspettare.
✅ “I attended the conference last week.” — I took part in the conference.
7. Argument / Argomento
What Italians think it means: argument → argomento, topic, theme, subject. What it really means: litigio, discussione accesa (a quarrel, a heated discussion), or (in an academic context) tesi, linea argomentativa (a thesis, a line of reasoning).
❌ “The main argument of the presentation is innovation.” (fairly correct in the academic sense, but it risks confusion) ✅ For “topic” in the sense of theme: “The main topic of the presentation is innovation.”
✅ “They had a big argument about money.” — they had a big quarrel about money.
8. Factory / Fattoria
What Italians think it means: factory → fattoria, a farm. What it really means: fabbrica, stabilimento industriale — a manufacturing plant.
❌ “My uncle has a factory with cows and chickens.” ✅ “My uncle has a farm with cows and chickens.” — use farm for fattoria.
✅ “The car factory employs 2,000 people.” — the car plant.
9. Education / Educazione
What Italians think it means: education → educazione in the sense of good manners, respectful behaviour. What it really means: istruzione, formazione scolastica e accademica — schooling and academic training.
❌ “He has no education — he never says please.” ✅ “He has no manners.” — use manners for good manners.
✅ “She has a strong background in education.” — she has a solid grounding in education (the school sector).
10. Confront / Confrontare
What Italians think it means: confront → confrontare, to compare two things. What it really means: affrontare qualcuno direttamente, andare a fare i conti con — to face someone directly, to challenge them, often in a tense way.
❌ “Let me confront these two proposals.” (meaning to compare them) ✅ “Let me compare these two proposals.” — use compare for confrontare.
✅ “She confronted her manager about the unfair treatment.” — she challenged her manager directly about the unfair treatment.
11. Pretend / Pretendere
What Italians think it means: pretend → pretendere, to demand something forcefully. What it really means: fingere, fare finta di — to make believe.
❌ “I pretend a full refund.” (meaning to say “pretendo un rimborso completo”, “I demand a full refund”) ✅ “I expect / I demand a full refund.” — use expect or demand for pretendere in the sense of requiring.
✅ “The child pretended to be asleep.” — the child made believe he was asleep.
12. Estate / Estate
What Italians think it means: estate (English) → l’estate, the warm season. What it really means: proprietà, patrimonio, tenuta (land/property), or housing estate (a residential development).
❌ “I love the English estate.” (meaning to say “amo l’estate inglese”, “I love the English summer”) ✅ “I love the English summer.” — use summer for the season.
✅ “She inherited a large estate in the countryside.” — she inherited a large country estate.
13. Parents / Parenti
What Italians think it means: parents → parenti, the extended family. What it really means: genitori (father and mother).
❌ “I’m visiting my parents this weekend.” (correct only if you mean mother and father) ❌ “All my parents came to the wedding.” (if you mean the whole extended family) ✅ “All my relatives came to the wedding.” — use relatives or family for parenti.
✅ “My parents are coming to visit.” — my mother and father are coming to visit me.
14. Comprehensive / Comprensivo
What Italians think it means: comprehensive → comprensivo, understanding, tolerant, someone who grasps other people’s situations. What it really means: completo, esaustivo, che comprende tutto — complete, thorough, covering everything.
❌ “He was very comprehensive when I explained the problem.” (meaning to say “comprensivo, capiva la situazione”, “understanding, he got the situation”) ✅ “He was very understanding.” — use understanding for comprensivo in the sense of empathetic.
✅ “The report is very comprehensive.” — the report is very complete and thorough.
15. Delusion / Delusione
What Italians think it means: delusion → delusione, the feeling of having been let down by someone or something. What it really means: illusione patologica, credenza falsa e irrazionale — a pathological illusion, a false and irrational belief — it has a strong psychological connotation.
❌ “The match result was a big delusion.” (meaning to say “a big disappointment”) ✅ “The match result was a big disappointment.” — use disappointment for delusione in the ordinary sense.
✅ “He suffers from delusions — he thinks he’s Napoleon.” — he suffers from deliri / pathological illusions.
How to avoid falling into the trap
The list of false friends is long — these fifteen are among the most common, but there are dozens of others. The most effective way to stop getting them wrong is to expose yourself to authentic English (podcasts, articles, TV series) and receive feedback when you use them in real contexts — something we do systematically in the English lessons.
Reading the list once is not enough: you have to meet them several times in different contexts for the correct meaning to become automatic.
The other mistakes Italians fall into most often I have gathered separately: past simple and present perfect, phrasal verbs, the prepositions in, on, at and pronunciation. To train reading and writing against the clock, try the English second paper.
If you want to work on your vocabulary with examples drawn from real situations — emails, conversations, texts — take a look at the English lessons or write to me to talk about how to set up a tailor-made course.
