15 Italian words that change their entire meaning with one letter
It’s no secret that the Italian language has a lot of words, but there are some pairs which sound similar when in fact they have very different meanings.
There are a few faux pas Italian learners make at the start of their language journey. One of them is not pronouncing double letters correctly and the other is getting the gender of nouns confused.
One major blunder is asking someone for a leaf (foglia) instead of a sheet of paper (foglio).
Take a look at the list below for more commonly confused words which appear similar.
1) Banco vs banca
The first duo is banco vs banca. A banco is a desk for students in a classroom. They’re small and tend to be similar to the ones you see in American films based in a high school. Banca means bank such as Intesa San Paolo, one of the most well-known banks in Italy. The main difference between these two nouns is that one ends in an a and the other in an o. Let’s take a glance at these two examples.
Oggi sono andato in banca per aprire un conto corrente.
I went to the bank today to open a current account.
Quando ero a scuola sedevo su una banca.
I used to sit at a desk when I was at school.
2) Bilancio vs bilancia
A bilancio is a financial balance that includes your outgoings and incomings. A bilancia is what you use to weigh something such as a suitcase before you go away. The ending is the difference here.
Devo guardare il mio bilancio prima di acquistare questa macchina.
I must look at my balance before I buy this car.
Ho una bilancia che puoi usare per pesare la tua valigia.
I have a scale you can use to weigh your suitcase.
3) Capello vs Cappello
Capello is a strand of hair. Cappello is a hat. They look very similar, but you must pronounce and put stress on the double p in capello to make it sound different.
Ho un capello grigio.
I have a grey hair.
Potrei indossare un cappello al matrimonio.
I might wear a hat to the wedding.
4) Casa vs cassa
You might live in a casa, but you certainly wouldn’t live in a cassa. As most people know, a casa is a house. However, a cassa is the machine where cashiers put money in a shop when you purchase something. They are two very different nouns and the s in cassa must be pronounced to make the difference.
Ho una casa piccola.
I have a small house.
Il cassiere mette i soldi nella cassa.
The cashier puts the money in the cash register.
5) Decidere vs decedere
It might be deadly to mix up these two. The verb decidere means to decide. The verb decedere means to die and more specifically to decease. The difference is the fourth letter being an i in decidere and an e in decedere.
Deciderò domani.
I will decide tomorrow.
Giulio Cesare è deceduto.
Julius Cesar is deceased.
6) Foglio vs foglia
As mentioned above, foglio means a sheet and it’s usually used for a sheet of paper. Foglia means a leaf. As with previous words on this list, the endings are different.
Mi serve un foglio per scrivere.
I need a sheet of paper to write on.
Le foglie cadono dagli alberi in autunno.
Leaves fall off the trees in Autumn.
7) Melo vs mela
A melo is an apple tree and a mela is an apple. Just for reference, the same also applies to pesco and pesca. The former is the peach tree and the latter the peach. If you say you want to eat a melo, people might look at you strangely. Remember the o and the a at the end.
Ho tante mele sul mio melo.
I have lots of apples on my apple tree.
8) Onore vs onere
Similar to English, onore means honour. Onere means duty and usually a duty you have to do, such as an obligation. The third letter changes from o for onore and e for onere.
Nella cultura dei samurai era importante avere onore.
In samurai culture, it was important to have honour.
Ho l'onere di pagare le tasse.
I have a duty to pay my taxes.
9) Pala vs Palla
You kick one and dig with the other. Pala is a shovel and palla is a ball.
Usarono una pala per scavare una buca nel terreno.
They used a shovel to dig a hole in the ground.
Hai bisogno di una palla per praticare la maggior parte degli sport.
You need a ball to play most sports.
10) Pianto vs pianta
Pianto is the act of crying. Pianta means plant. One of them brings joy and the other not so much. The endings are different here with pianta being a feminine noun.
Ha pianto mentre guardava Titanic.
He cried whilst he watched Titanic.
C'erano un sacco di piante nel suo appartamento.
There were a load of plants in her apartment.
11) Rene vs renne
Rene is a kidney and renne are reindeers. One’s an organ and the other an animal. Watch out for the double n in renne.
Ha donato un rene a sua madre.
She donated a kidney to her mother.
Le renne guidano Babbo Natale.
The reindeers guide Father Christmas.
12) Sera vs serra
Get these confused, and you’ll be mixing up the evening with a greenhouse. You don't want to be saying “good greenhouse” instead of “good evening” now, do you? Just for reference, sera means evening and serra means greenhouse.
Buona sera.
Good evening.
Ho una grande serra nel mio giardino.
I have a big greenhouse in my garden.
13) Supportare vs sopportare
Both of these verbs are daily similar. Supportare means to support and is generally positive. Sopportare on the other hand could be used negatively and means to bear someone or something. Make sure to pronounce the first o in sopportare for the difference.
Sono io qui a supportarti.
I am here to support you.
Sono io qui a sopportarti.
I am here to bear you.
14) Tavolo vs tavola
You tend to eat at a tavolo. However, you may also eat at a tavola. A tavolo is a table in the whole sense of the word. A tavola is more specifically the wooden board on the table. In Rome, you may have seen little local eateries known as ‘tavola calda’. This specifically translates to ‘hot board’ but really it means a diner.
Questo tavolo era di mia nonna.
This table was my grandmother’s.
La tavola del mio tavolo deve essere riparata.
The wooden board on my table needs fixing.
15) Tori vs torri
If you’re in Italy, you may have seen Bologna’s towers. However, you definitely would not have seen Bologna’s bulls. This is the difference between tori and torri. Tori means bulls and torri, towers. Stress the double r in the latter.
Queste torri sono bellissime.
These towers are beautiful.
I tori erano importanti nell'antica Roma.
Bulls were important in ancient Rome.
And there you have it, 15 words in Italian that change with a single letter. Just keep these words in mind next time you are having a conversation with someone or you might get kidney mixed up with reindeers.
What examples do you have of Italian words that change their meaning with one letter? Tell us the most troublesome ones.
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There are a few faux pas Italian learners make at the start of their language journey. One of them is not pronouncing double letters correctly and the other is getting the gender of nouns confused.
One major blunder is asking someone for a leaf (foglia) instead of a sheet of paper (foglio).
Take a look at the list below for more commonly confused words which appear similar.
1) Banco vs banca
The first duo is banco vs banca. A banco is a desk for students in a classroom. They’re small and tend to be similar to the ones you see in American films based in a high school. Banca means bank such as Intesa San Paolo, one of the most well-known banks in Italy. The main difference between these two nouns is that one ends in an a and the other in an o. Let’s take a glance at these two examples.
Oggi sono andato in banca per aprire un conto corrente.
I went to the bank today to open a current account.
Quando ero a scuola sedevo su una banca.
I used to sit at a desk when I was at school.
2) Bilancio vs bilancia
A bilancio is a financial balance that includes your outgoings and incomings. A bilancia is what you use to weigh something such as a suitcase before you go away. The ending is the difference here.
Devo guardare il mio bilancio prima di acquistare questa macchina.
I must look at my balance before I buy this car.
Ho una bilancia che puoi usare per pesare la tua valigia.
I have a scale you can use to weigh your suitcase.
3) Capello vs Cappello
Capello is a strand of hair. Cappello is a hat. They look very similar, but you must pronounce and put stress on the double p in capello to make it sound different.
Ho un capello grigio.
I have a grey hair.
Potrei indossare un cappello al matrimonio.
I might wear a hat to the wedding.
4) Casa vs cassa
You might live in a casa, but you certainly wouldn’t live in a cassa. As most people know, a casa is a house. However, a cassa is the machine where cashiers put money in a shop when you purchase something. They are two very different nouns and the s in cassa must be pronounced to make the difference.
Ho una casa piccola.
I have a small house.
Il cassiere mette i soldi nella cassa.
The cashier puts the money in the cash register.
5) Decidere vs decedere
It might be deadly to mix up these two. The verb decidere means to decide. The verb decedere means to die and more specifically to decease. The difference is the fourth letter being an i in decidere and an e in decedere.
Deciderò domani.
I will decide tomorrow.
Giulio Cesare è deceduto.
Julius Cesar is deceased.
6) Foglio vs foglia
As mentioned above, foglio means a sheet and it’s usually used for a sheet of paper. Foglia means a leaf. As with previous words on this list, the endings are different.
Mi serve un foglio per scrivere.
I need a sheet of paper to write on.
Le foglie cadono dagli alberi in autunno.
Leaves fall off the trees in Autumn.
7) Melo vs mela
A melo is an apple tree and a mela is an apple. Just for reference, the same also applies to pesco and pesca. The former is the peach tree and the latter the peach. If you say you want to eat a melo, people might look at you strangely. Remember the o and the a at the end.
Ho tante mele sul mio melo.
I have lots of apples on my apple tree.
8) Onore vs onere
Similar to English, onore means honour. Onere means duty and usually a duty you have to do, such as an obligation. The third letter changes from o for onore and e for onere.
Nella cultura dei samurai era importante avere onore.
In samurai culture, it was important to have honour.
Ho l'onere di pagare le tasse.
I have a duty to pay my taxes.
9) Pala vs Palla
You kick one and dig with the other. Pala is a shovel and palla is a ball.
Usarono una pala per scavare una buca nel terreno.
They used a shovel to dig a hole in the ground.
Hai bisogno di una palla per praticare la maggior parte degli sport.
You need a ball to play most sports.
10) Pianto vs pianta
Pianto is the act of crying. Pianta means plant. One of them brings joy and the other not so much. The endings are different here with pianta being a feminine noun.
Ha pianto mentre guardava Titanic.
He cried whilst he watched Titanic.
C'erano un sacco di piante nel suo appartamento.
There were a load of plants in her apartment.
11) Rene vs renne
Rene is a kidney and renne are reindeers. One’s an organ and the other an animal. Watch out for the double n in renne.
Ha donato un rene a sua madre.
She donated a kidney to her mother.
Le renne guidano Babbo Natale.
The reindeers guide Father Christmas.
12) Sera vs serra
Get these confused, and you’ll be mixing up the evening with a greenhouse. You don't want to be saying “good greenhouse” instead of “good evening” now, do you? Just for reference, sera means evening and serra means greenhouse.
Buona sera.
Good evening.
Ho una grande serra nel mio giardino.
I have a big greenhouse in my garden.
13) Supportare vs sopportare
Both of these verbs are daily similar. Supportare means to support and is generally positive. Sopportare on the other hand could be used negatively and means to bear someone or something. Make sure to pronounce the first o in sopportare for the difference.
Sono io qui a supportarti.
I am here to support you.
Sono io qui a sopportarti.
I am here to bear you.
14) Tavolo vs tavola
You tend to eat at a tavolo. However, you may also eat at a tavola. A tavolo is a table in the whole sense of the word. A tavola is more specifically the wooden board on the table. In Rome, you may have seen little local eateries known as ‘tavola calda’. This specifically translates to ‘hot board’ but really it means a diner.
Questo tavolo era di mia nonna.
This table was my grandmother’s.
La tavola del mio tavolo deve essere riparata.
The wooden board on my table needs fixing.
15) Tori vs torri
If you’re in Italy, you may have seen Bologna’s towers. However, you definitely would not have seen Bologna’s bulls. This is the difference between tori and torri. Tori means bulls and torri, towers. Stress the double r in the latter.
Queste torri sono bellissime.
These towers are beautiful.
I tori erano importanti nell'antica Roma.
Bulls were important in ancient Rome.
And there you have it, 15 words in Italian that change with a single letter. Just keep these words in mind next time you are having a conversation with someone or you might get kidney mixed up with reindeers.
What examples do you have of Italian words that change their meaning with one letter? Tell us the most troublesome ones.
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