Italian–English Cognates
82 Italian words you already know from English. Your existing vocabulary is bigger than you think.
Cognates are your secret weapon when learning Italian. These words look similar to English and mean the same thing — giving you an instant vocabulary of hundreds of words before you even start studying. Learn the patterns below and you'll be able to guess Italian words you've never seen before.
82
Cognates Listed
Words you can recognise immediately
Identical Words(8)
hotelhotel
taxitaxi
radioradio
bananabanana
problemaproblem
differentedifferent
perfettoperfect
importanteimportant
Italian Words in English(21)
Italian origin
pianopiano
pizzapizza
pastapasta
cappuccinocappuccino
espressoespresso
bravobravo
gustogusto
villavilla
vistavista
studiostudio
operaopera
solosolo
finalefinale
fiascofiasco
graffitigraffiti
mottomotto
al frescoal fresco (outdoors)
piazzapiazza (square)
gelatogelato (ice cream)
paninipanini
lattelatte (milk)
Music Terms(8)
Music tempo — you know Italian music terms
allegroallegro (lively)
forteforte (loud/strong)
sopranosoprano
tempotempo
divadiva
concertoconcerto
sonatasonata
crescendocrescendo
-zione Pattern(15)
-tion → -zione
nazionenation
comunicazionecommunication
informazioneinformation
educazioneeducation
situazionesituation
stazionestation
tradizionetradition
conversazioneconversation
produzioneproduction
costruzioneconstruction
direzionedirection
attenzioneattention
soluzionesolution
reazionereaction
operazioneoperation
Ita Pattern(8)
-ity → -ità
universitàuniversity
cittàcity
opportunitàopportunity
realtàreality
qualitàquality
societàsociety
identitàidentity
attivitàactivity
-oso Pattern(8)
-ous → -oso
famosofamous
deliziosodelicious
nervosonervous
curiosocurious
generosogenerous
religiosoreligious
meravigliosomarvellous
pericolosoperilous/dangerous
Bile Pattern(8)
-ble → -bile
possibilepossible
terribileterrible
responsabileresponsible
incredibileincredible
impossibileimpossible
flessibileflexible
probabileprobable
ammirevoleadmirable
-mente Pattern(6)
-ly → -mente
naturalmentenaturally
completamentecompletely
esattamenteexactly
assolutamenteabsolutely
normalmentenormally
finalmentefinally
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Italian–English cognates?▾
Cognates are words in two languages that share a common origin and look or sound similar. Italian and English share hundreds of cognates — words like "hotel" (hotel), "taxi" (taxi), "radio" (radio). These give you an instant vocabulary boost.
How many Italian–English cognates are there?▾
We've compiled 82 Italian–English cognates organized by pattern. The real number is even higher — once you learn the patterns, you can predict hundreds more.
Are cognates the same as false friends?▾
No! Cognates are words that look similar AND mean the same thing. False friends look similar but mean something different. Check our Italian false friends guide to avoid those traps.
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