False friends

“False friends”

Falsi amici - Fałszywi przyjaciele False friends in Polish and Italian Words with a similar wording but different meaning!!!

“Polish and Italian Cultural Heritage” eTwinning project

Falsi amici - Fałszywi przyjaciele - Fouls friends Let’s look at words that are likely to cause misunderstanding because of their assumed similarity to the English words.

We often called such words false friends. What are false friends?

False friends, in linguistics known as ‘false cognates’, are similar or identical in both languages but which convey a different meaning. They give us a false sense of understanding.

Here are some that you should pay attention to: Â

Similar Italian words

Similar Polish words

In Italian (English)

In Poland (English)

la colazione

kolacja

breakfast

supper

la cena

cena

suport

price

lo banco

bank

desk

bank il divano

dywan

sofa

carpet

il tapetto

tapeta

carpet

wallpaper/slap

la coperta

koperta

blanket

envelope

impresa

impreza

company

party

firma

firma

signature

company

la scarpa

skarpa

shoe

bluf la scarpata

skarpeta

ubicazione

ubikacja

bluf

lavatory

situation creatura

kreatura

sock

being

creep (Vulgarism)

canapa

kanapa

cannabis

couch garbata

garbata

polite

gibbous

camera

kamera

room

camera

bagno

Ĺ‚azienka

bathroom swamp

la tata

tata

nanny

father

la pupa

pupa

doll

bottom / rear

curva

“kurwa�

torba

torba

turn

whore/prostitute

bag

peat

droga

droga

drug

road

cara

Kara

expensive

penalty

brutto

brutto

ugly

gross/pre tax

leva

lewa

arm/lever

left

corale

korale

choral

beads

collana

kolana

beads

knees

nuda

nuda

boredom

bare

cura

kura

treatment

hen

Papa

papa

father

bye-bye

panna

panna

dessert

maiden

Made by Polish and Italian group 2018