Home / Blog / Italian Words You Already Know: 100+ Cognates for English Speakers Italian Italian words you already know 3 July 2026 Italian sits closest to Latin, the root of so much English vocabulary — which is why so many words feel familiar the moment you see them. These shared words are cognates: words that look and mean almost the same in both languages. And Italian comes with a bonus no other Romance language quite matches: it's written almost exactly as it sounds, so once you recognise a word, you can usually say it correctly too. Spot the patterns below and you'll read and pronounce a great deal of Italian before you've studied any grammar. Five patterns that unlock thousands of words Most cognates follow rules. Learn these and you can often predict the Italian word straight from the English one. 1. English -tion → Italian -zione The most useful pattern of all. Almost any English -tion word has an Italian twin ending in -zione (always feminine: la). EnglishItalian informationinformazione educationeducazione situationsituazione nationnazione attentionattenzione stationstazione communicationcomunicazione organizationorganizzazione 2. English -ty → Italian -tà Abstract nouns ending in -ty become -tà (with a stressed final a). EnglishItalian citycittà universityuniversità libertylibertà societysocietà qualityqualità realityrealtà identityidentità communitycomunità 3. English -ous → Italian -oso Adjectives ending in -ous map onto -oso (or -osa). EnglishItalian famousfamoso deliciousdelizioso curiouscurioso generousgeneroso nervousnervoso mysteriousmisterioso 4. English -ment → Italian -mento Concrete nouns ending in -ment usually add an -o. EnglishItalian momentmomento documentdocumento monumentmonumento movementmovimento apartmentappartamento 5. English -ble → Italian -bile Adjectives ending in -ble become -bile. EnglishItalian possiblepossibile terribleterribile incredibleincredibile probableprobabile responsibleresponsabile Words that are already almost identical Many everyday Italian words need no pattern at all. Here are some you'll use constantly, grouped by where you'll meet them. Travel and getting around EnglishItalian hotelhotel taxitaxi restaurantristorante hospitalospedale airportaeroporto mapmappa Food and drink EnglishItalian chocolatecioccolato coffeecaffè saladinsalata fruitfrutta bananabanana pastapasta Everyday life EnglishItalian doctordottore actorattore animalanimale ideaidea musicmusica familyfamiglia importantimportante naturalnaturale Watch out: a few false friends A few Italian words look English but aren't: caldo means hot, not cold; morbido means soft, not morbid; parente is a relative, not a parent; and camera is a room. We cover more on the Learn Italian page. From recognising words to speaking them Because Italian is so phonetic, the jump from recognising a word to saying it correctly is shorter than in almost any other language — which makes it a wonderful place to start speaking early. That's exactly what Navoq encourages. You begin with the words you already know, then practise them out loud in short, real sentences with instant pronunciation feedback, so you're talking from the first lessons. The cognates above are your first few hundred words for free. The next step is making them yours. Ready to start? Read more on the Learn Italian page. Start speaking Italian today. Navoq starts you with the Italian you already half-know, then gets you saying it out loud. Download on theApp Store