Nervoso – nervous, sensibile-sensible, morbido – morbid; le trappole dei falsi amici in italiano e inglese
Nervoso – nervous, sensibile-sensible, morbido – morbid; the Traps of False Friends in Italian and English

Summary/Abstract: If one of the main goals of intercomprehension is to exploit the similarities between languages to increase understanding, false friends can contribute to the enhancement of vocabulary, and therefore of understanding, through the differences between languages. A lack of knowledge of false friends (simply defined as words in one language that look like words in another language but with a completely different meaning) could cause unpleasant communication situations. The present paper intends to emphasize the relevance of false friends in the teaching or learning process of a foreign language starting from the description of some cases of false friends in English and Italian, indicating their correct translations and the confusions they might create. At the same time, we have listed some resources for false friends such as dictionaries, glossaries, sites, and blogs.

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