1000 Italian words you already know

The patterns that give you free words

• English -tion →︎ Italian -zione: nation →︎ nazione, station →︎ stazione, education →︎ educazione, situation →︎ situazione. This alone gives you hundreds of words.
• English -ty →︎ Italian -tà: liberty →︎ libertà, university →︎ università, city →︎ città, quality →︎ qualità.
• English -ous →︎ Italian -oso: famous →︎ famoso, delicious →︎ delizioso, curious →︎ curioso, generous →︎ generoso.
• English -ic / -ical →︎ Italian -ico: musical →︎ musicale, historic →︎ storico, tragic →︎ tragico, tropical →︎ tropicale.
• English -ent / -ant →︎ Italian -ente / -ante: important →︎ importante, evident →︎ evidente, elegant →︎ elegante.
• English -ive →︎ Italian -ivo: active →︎ attivo, negative →︎ negativo, positive →︎ positivo.

Perfect matches (no change needed)

• Music: opera, sonata, aria, tempo, forte, piano, viola, violino
• Food: pasta, pizza, tiramisù, gelato, mozzarella, prosciutto, panino, biscotto
• Art: fresco, stucco, graffiti, chiaroscuro, studio, replica
• Everyday: bravo, casino, banca, area, radio, taxi, hotel

The false-friend traps to remember

The patterns above get you thousands of free words. But watch:

• simpatico ≠ sympathetic →︎ friendly
• attualmente ≠ actually →︎ currently
• libreria ≠ library →︎ bookshop
• fabbrica ≠ fabric →︎ factory
• caldo ≠ cold →︎ hot