Learning a new language can be frustrating. Indeed, the more a language is different from our native language, the more it will usually take us time to learn it properly.
Sometimes difficulties concern pronounciation and intonation, sometimes they concern grammar, and sometimes vocabulary.
If you’re a native English speaker – or can speak English quite well – and you’re thinking about learning Italian, good news for you. Today I’m going to share with you some tips to learn Italian vocabulary faster.
Indeed, despite being rather different languages, when we talk about vocabulary, English and Italian have also many similarities.
Are you ready? Let’s learn some tips to learn Italian faster.
-TION -> -ZIONE
In English you can find many words ending in -tion. Station, attention, abolition, correction are just few of the many words you can think of.
In many cases, to get the Italian version of these words, you just need to replace the suffix -tion with -zione.
Here some examples:
Station -> stazione
Attention -> attenzione
Abolition -> abolizione
Correction -> correzione
Attention. If the English word ends in -ction or -ption, you usually replace these suffixes with -zione.
Examples:
Protection -> protezione
Contraction -> contrazione
Action -> azione
Prescription -> prescrizione
Corruption -> corruzione
Adoption -> adozione
Now, try and guess how Italians say proportion, section, transaction, frustration…
However – and here come the bad news – remember that this doesn’t apply to every Italian word.
Indeed, there are some Italian words that change some letters – ex: Exception -> eccezione; acceptation -> accettazione – and some other that don’t add the suffix -azione or -zione at all – ex: abomination -> abominio; pollution -> inquinamento.
-ITY -> -ITA’
The procedure explained just above applies also in this case. There are many English words that end in -ity – vanity, ability, calamity, positivity, etc. To find their Italian equivalents, we usually replace the English suffix -ity with -ità.
Examples:
Vanity -> vanità
Ability -> abilità
Calamity -> calamità
Positivity -> positività
However, also in this case, this procedure doesn’t apply to every Italian word. There are Italian words that add the suffix -ità but change some letters – ex: Complexity -> complessità. There are also some Italian words that are totally different from the English ones – ex: majority -> maggioranza.
-ALLY -> -ALMENTE
English words ending in -ally – like totally, marginally, finally, legally, etc – sometimes can be translated in Italian by replacing the suffix -ally with the suffix -mente.
Examples:
Totally -> totalmente
Marginally -> marginalmente
Finally -> finalmente
Legally -> legalmente
However, even in this case, this procedure doesn’t apply to every Italian word. Indeed, there are Italian words that although adding the suffix -mente and remaining similar to the English ones, change one or more letters – ex academically -> accademicamente.
There are also some Italian words that are translated differently – ex comically -> in modo comico/divertente.
-ISM -> -ISMO
When English words end in -ism – alpinism, colonialism, futurism, illusionism – sometimes their Italian translation ends in -ismo.
Examples:
Alpinism -> alpinismo
Colonialism -> colonialism
Futurism -> futurism
Illusionism -> illusionismo
I guess, you’ve already imagined what I’m about to add here, isn’t it? This procedure doesn’t apply to every Italian word. For example, heroism becomes eroismo and amateurism becomes dilettantismo, etc.
-IST -> -ISTA
Finally, in English there are some words that end in -ist – altruist, individualist, artist, dentist, etc.
In many cases, to get the Italian version of these words, you just need to replace the suffix -ist with -ista.
Examples:
Altruist -> altruista
Individualist -> individualista
Artist -> artista
Dentist -> dentista
Not every Italian word, however, follows this procedure. For example, exorcist becomes esorcista and educationalist becomes pedagogista.
Even if not every Italian word follows the procedures explained in this article, I think these tips can still be a good starting point to learn Italian faster.
What do you think? Do you find these tips to learn Italian faster useful?
Credits
Original image by 825545
Italian love stories – Paolo and Francesca
