False Friends Between Italian and Spanish (That Trick Learners!)

Nov 20

talian and Spanish are so closely related that learners often describe them as “cousins.” Both belong to the Romance language family, both derive from Latin, and both share thousands of words that look and sound strikingly similar. A Spanish speaker can often understand much of an Italian conversation without formal study, and vice versa. Yet it is precisely this closeness that makes the learning process treacherous. Because along with true cognates—words that share the same form and meaning—come the notorious “false friends”: words that look alike but mean something entirely different.

These false friends can trip up even advanced learners. A Spanish speaker who proudly tells an Italian friend “Estoy embarazada” might think she’s saying she’s embarrassed, when in reality she has just announced a pregnancy (essere incinta in Italian). An Italian who says “Estoy constipado” in Spanish, thinking it means “I’m constipated,” is really just telling everyone he has a cold (raffreddore in Italian). What starts as an innocent slip can lead to laughter, confusion, or in some cases, genuine misunderstanding.

The phenomenon of false friends isn’t just about vocabulary mistakes. It highlights how languages evolve in different directions, even when they share the same roots. Latin words that once carried identical meanings drifted apart over centuries, influenced by regional usage, cultural shifts, and borrowed words from other languages. Today, Italian and Spanish learners must navigate these pitfalls to achieve real fluency.

For language students, false friends present both challenges and opportunities. The challenge is obvious: it’s easy to overestimate your understanding and fall into embarrassing traps. But the opportunity is just as important: learning these false friends sharpens your awareness of how the two languages differ, making your overall grasp of both Italian and Spanish more precise.

In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the most common and surprising false friends between Italian and Spanish. We’ll explore why they exist, how they cause trouble, and which ones every learner should memorize to avoid misunderstandings. Along the way, we’ll provide cultural context, anecdotes, and examples of how these words appear in real conversation. By the end, you’ll not only have a survival guide to Italian-Spanish false friends, but you’ll also gain insight into the fascinating paths languages take as they grow apart from their common ancestor.

1. Why False Friends Exist Between Italian and Spanish

False friends—falsi amici in Italian and falsos amigos in Spanish—come from the same source but diverged in meaning. Sometimes, both languages borrowed the same Latin word but shifted its meaning differently. Other times, one language borrowed a foreign word (often French or English) and reshaped it. Over centuries, small shifts added up until the same word now means something else entirely in the two languages.

2. Classic False Friends You Must Know

1. Embarazada (Spanish) vs. Imbarazzata (Italian)

Spanish: Embarazada = pregnant
Italian: Imbarazzata = embarrassed
This is one of the most famous traps. A Spanish learner of Italian might think imbarazzata means “pregnant,” but in Italian it only means “embarrassed.”

2. Constipado (Spanish) vs. Costipato (Italian)

Spanish: Constipado = having a cold
Italian: Costipato = constipated
A medical mix-up nobody wants! In Spanish, if you say “Estoy constipado,” you mean “I have a cold.” But in Italian, “Sono costipato” refers to digestive troubles.

3. Asistir (Spanish) vs. Assistere (Italian)

Spanish: Asistir a clase = to attend class
Italian: Assistere a una lezione = to attend class, but also “to assist/help” in other contexts
While similar, asistir in Spanish never means “to help.” Italian learners often assume it does, leading to confusion.

4. Sensible (Spanish) vs. Sensibile (Italian)

Spanish: Sensible = sensitive
Italian: Sensibile = sensitive
Sounds the same, right? Yes—but here’s the trick. In English, “sensible” means reasonable, which makes learners assume that’s the meaning in both languages. In reality, both words mean “sensitive.”

5. Grosería (Spanish) vs. Grossolano (Italian)

Spanish: Grosería = rudeness
Italian: Grossolano = coarse, crude
Both describe bad manners, but they’re not exact synonyms. A Spanish speaker may say “Perdón por la grosería”to excuse rudeness, while an Italian might use “Che comportamento grossolano!”

6. Ropa (Spanish) vs. Ropa (Italian dialect)/Veste (Italian standard)

Spanish: Ropa = clothing
Italian: Ropa = archaic/dialectal form for cloth, not commonly used in modern Italian. Standard word = vestiti or abiti.

7. Largo (Spanish) vs. Largo (Italian)

Spanish: Largo = long
Italian: Largo = wide
If a Spaniard asks for “un vestido largo,” they want a long dress. But in Italian, largo describes something wide, not long.

8. Sopa (Spanish) vs. Zuppa (Italian)

Spanish: Sopa = soup
Italian: Zuppa = soup, but sopa in Italian (archaic) can mean something else, like “slice of bread soaked in broth.”

9. Actualmente (Spanish) vs. Attualmente (Italian)

Spanish: Actualmente = currently
Italian: Attualmente = currently
So far, so good. But here’s the catch: many English speakers confuse these with “actually,” which is not the same. For both Italian and Spanish, the word means “at present.”

10. Pretender (Spanish) vs. Pretendere (Italian)

Spanish: Pretender = to court, to try to achieve
Italian: Pretendere = to demand, to insist
So while a Spaniard might pretender to win someone’s heart, an Italian pretendere would come across as far more forceful—demanding, not wooing.

3. False Friends That Lead to Funny Situations

These false friends aren’t just linguistic curiosities—they can create comical or awkward moments:

A Spanish tourist in Italy once said “Estoy embarazada de la situación” (I’m embarrassed about the situation), only to shock her Italian friends who thought she was announcing an unexpected pregnancy.
An Italian student learning Spanish told his host family “Estoy muy costipado” expecting sympathy for stomach issues, but they handed him tissues instead.

Such mistakes make language learning humbling—and memorable.

4. The Deeper Lesson Behind False Friends

False friends remind us that learning a language isn’t about memorizing words in isolation. It’s about context, culture, and nuance. Italian and Spanish share roots, but each language developed its own worldview. Where Spanish preserved a medieval meaning, Italian might have modernized it—or vice versa. To master both, learners need to slow down, double-check, and embrace the differences.

5. Strategies to Avoid False Friend Traps

Learn in Context: Don’t memorize isolated words—study phrases and sentences.
Compare Dictionaries: Check both monolingual Italian and Spanish dictionaries.
Make a False Friends Notebook: Keep track of words that confuse you.
Practice with Natives: They’ll correct you quickly if you slip.
Laugh It Off: Mistakes are inevitable—humor makes them easier to remember.

FAQs: FALSE FRIENDS BETWEEN ITALIAN AND SPANISH

Q: Are Italian and Spanish really that similar?
Yes, but false friends prove that similarity can be misleading. You can understand a lot passively, but active speaking requires precision.

Q: Do native speakers ever get confused too?
Yes. Italians speaking Spanish or Spaniards speaking Italian also stumble on false friends, especially when they assume shared vocabulary always means the same.

Q: What’s the best way to master false friends?
Practice them in context—reading stories, dialogues, and conversations where they appear naturally.

Q: Are false friends always completely different in meaning?
Not always. Some overlap but have different shades of meaning or usage.

Q: Are there false friends that exist between Italian and English too?
Yes—eventualmente in Italian means “possibly,” not “eventually.” Similar traps exist across all languages.

Q: Should Spanish speakers avoid relying on their language when learning Italian?
Not at all. Their background is an advantage, but awareness of false friends helps avoid mistakes.

Q: Which false friend is the trickiest?
Probably embarazada/imbarazzata because the confusion is so easy and the meanings so different.

Q: Do false friends evolve further over time?
Yes. As languages borrow from English and adapt new meanings, even more false friends may develop.

Final Thoughts

False friends between Italian and Spanish are both a hurdle and a gift. They remind us that even “cousin” languages develop their own cultural paths. By mastering these tricky words, learners avoid misunderstandings and gain deeper insight into how language evolves.

At Polyglottist Language Academy, we don’t just teach you grammar and vocabulary—we help you navigate cultural nuance, idioms, and yes, those pesky false friends. Whether you’re studying Italian, Spanish, or both, our courses give you the tools to sound natural, confident, and precise. Sign up today for our classes—online or in-person—and turn your false friends into true allies in learning.

And if this article sparked your curiosity, explore more of our blog posts:

Olga Sylvia