12
Cognates (related words)
In this Italian reading course, you will be doing a great deal of guessing. Your accuracy will depend in part upon your ability to see similarities between English and Italian words. The Italian language has a very large number of words which, in their written form, closely resemble their English equivalents and have similar or identical meanings. Such words are called cognates, and the ability to recognize Italian cognates of English words will be extremely helpful in reading Italian. The resemblance between an Italian words and its English equivalent may be more or less close. The words will rarely be identical in spelling, but the differences frequently fall into recognizable patterns involving word endings, such as the following:
| Italian word ending | English cognate ending | Examples |
| -abile | -able | considerabile, consolabile, curabile, probabile |
| -ale | -al | ideale, liberale, locale, officiale, special |
| -ante | -ant | elegante, importante, litigante, protestante |
| -anza | -ance | abbondanza, arroganza, distanza, importanza |
| -ario | -ary | anniversario, dizionario, santuario, vocabolario |
| -ente | -ent | accidente, innocente, presidente, residente |
| -enza | -ence | competenza, confidenza, diligenza, residenza |
| -gia | -gy | biologia, filologia, geologia, zoologia |
| -ibile | -ible | convertibile, invincibile, possibile, visibile |
| -ico | -ic | angelico, linguistico, scientifico, statico |
| -iore | -ior | inferiore, superiore, interiore, esteriore |
| -ismo | -ism | fascismo, idealismo, pessimismo, protestantismo |
| -ista | -ist | artista, dentista, pessimista, violinista |
| -ivo | -ive | offensivo, passivo, attivo, progressivo |
| -ore | -or | aviatore, direttore, motore, professore |
| -sione
(-ssione) |
-sion
(-ssion) |
conclusione, confessione, diversione, impressione |
| -tà | -ty | libertà, qualità, società, vanità |
| -zia | -cy | aristocrazia, democrazia, plutocrazia, teocrazia |
| -zione | -tion | ambizione, intenzione, invenzione, tradizione |
In addition to these correspondences between word endings, it may also be pointed out that when the English word contains a constant cluster (a group of two or more dissimilar consonants), its Italian cognate will frequently contain a single consonant, a double consonant (the same consonant twice in succession) or a simpler consonant cluster than that of the corresponding English word. The following examples should suffice to illustrate this point.
| English spelling | Italian spelling | Examples |
| bj | gg | object / oggetto |
| bs | ss | absolute / assoluto, observe / osservare |
| bst | st | obstacle / ostacolo |
| bstr | str | abstract / astratto |
| bt | tt | obtain / ottenere |
| bv | vv | obvious / ovvio |
| ct | tt | actor / attore, perfect / perfetto |
| dj | gg | adjective / aggettivo |
| dm | mm | administration / amministrazione |
| dv | vv | adverse / avverso, adventure / avventura |
| mn | nn | omnivorous / onnivoro |
| ph | f | philosophy / filosofia, photographer / fotografo |
| pt | tt | apt / atto, inept / inetto |
| th | t | athletic / atletico, theater / teatro |
| x (in prefix ex-) | s (in prefix es-) | exclusive / esclusivo, executive / esecutivo |
Some English words containing a consonant +l have Italian cognates in which the same consonant occurs with i:
| English | Italian | Examples |
| bl | bi | blame / biasimo, blond / biondo |
| cl | chi | clarify / chiarificare, cloister / chiostro |
| gl | ghi | glutton / ghiottone |
| pl | pi | planet / pianeta, plate / piatto |
Many Italian verbs of the first conjugation (those with infinitives ending in –are) have English cognates ending in –ate:
coltivare (to cultivate)
contemplare (to contemplate)
imitare (to imitate)
inaugurare (to inaugurate)
incarcerare (to incarcerate)
intimare (to intimate)
irritare (to irritate)
meditare (to meditate)
moderare (to moderate)
partecipare (to partecipate)
regolare (to regulate)
separare (to separate)
etc.
Other first-conjugation verbs are easily recognized because their English equivalents have basically the same stem:
abbandonare (to abandon)
affermare (to affirm)
arrivare (to arrive)
comandare (to command)
continuare (to continue)
domandare (to demand; also: to ask, to inquire)
immaginare (to imagine)
invitare (to invite)
etc.
Most Italian adverbs ending in –mente have English equivalents ending in –ly:
apparentemente (apparently)
correttamente (correctly)
direttamente (directly)
distintamente (distinctly)
generalmente (generally)
immediatamente (immediately)
naturalmente (naturally)
separatamente (separately)
etc.
Finally, there are many other Italian words—hundreds of them—which cannot be classified but are equally easy to recognize, even out of context. The following are only a relatively small sampling of such words:
persona, tragedia, commedia, appetito, medicina, sigaretta, musica, famoso, lingua, stupido, americano, genuino, breve, atlantico, oceano, dramma, momento, scena, causa, articolo, artificio, atmosfera, lista, incredulo, latino, lettera, idiota, rosa, sciatica, immaturo, livido, immoderato, tomba, galleria, anatomia, giustizia, profondo, sentimento, talento, forma, pacifico, ombrello, idea, dilemma, telegramma, arte, singolare, modestia, caffè, sistema, epoca, virtù, poeta, coraggio, cattedrale, problema, suicida, collega, profeta, pinguino, serpente, coccodrillo, etc.
In addition to these, many words have passed from Italian into English, or vice versa (or into both languages from some other language, such as French), with little or no change in form. Words such as the following are thus immediately recognizable:
algebra, autobus, cinema, film, computer, radio, robot, tram; sport, baseball, basketball (basket), golf, hockey, polo, rugby, tennis; allegro, aria, cantata, concerto, fuga, opera, operetta, scherzo, sonata, tempo, toccata, baritono, basso, contralto, mezzosoprano, soprano, tenore, maestro; lasagna, pizza, ravioli, spaghetti, etc.
There are also, unfortunately, a number of false cognates (also known as ‘false friends’). These resemble English words but have different meanings, and should not be translated by the English words they suggest. They will be indicated as they occur. One such example: confidenza ≠ confidence (confidenza = trust)