French for Italian speakers
You already know more French than you think. Of the 2,264 everyday words in Cognata, 1,708 have a Italian cognate — the same word, reshaped by centuries of speech. Start from those, learn the regular changes that link the two languages, and keep the false friends in sight.
- share a source
- 75%
- inherited on both sides
- 30%
- to learn fresh
- 25%
2,264 words compared
Words you already know
Everyday words whose Italian and French forms come from the same source.
The sound laws between them
Regular changes that turn a Italian word into its French cognate — learn one and it pays out across hundreds of words.
- Stressed short E breaks into ieie (open syllable); e (closed)ie, i (open syllable); e (closed)PETRAMpietrapierre
- Stressed short O breaks into ue / uo / euuo (open syllable); o (closed)eu, œu (open syllable); o (closed)NOVUMnuovoneuf
- French stressed free A becomes ea (kept)e, è, é; ie after a palatal (chien)MAREmaremer
- French fronts long U to [y]u [u] (kept)u [y]LŪNAMlunalune
- AU becomes ooo (spelled o or au)AURUMoroor
- French vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowelvowel + n keptnasal vowel (ɑ̃ ɔ̃ ɛ̃); n/m silentPĀNEMpanepain
- Spanish initial F- becomes h- (silent)f- keptf- keptFĪLIUM (fr. from nom. FĪLIUS)figliofils
- Voiceless stops between vowels softenmostly kept (p t c)v; t, c lostVĪTAMvitavie
- C before E and Itʃ (c)s (c, ç)CAELUMcielociel
- French CA becomes chaca keptcha, che, chie [ʃ]CABALLUMcavallocheval
- Initial I- (J-) and G before E, Igi, g [dʒ]j, g [ʒ]IOCUMgiocojeu
- B and V merge in Spanishv kept; B between vowels → vv kept; B between vowels → vVĪNUMvinovin
- Germanic W- becomes gu- / g-gu- [gw]g(u)- [g]Germanic *WERRAguerraguerre
- L before a consonant becomes ul kept (altro, caldo)l → u, fused with the vowel: au [o], ou [u], eauALTERUMaltroautre
- CTttit (i + t)NOCTEMnottenuit
- L + yodgli [ʎʎ]il, ill [j]FOLIAMfogliafeuille
- C'L inside a wordcchi [kkj]il, ill [j]OCULUMocchioœil
- CL-, PL-, FL- at the start of a wordchi- pi- fi-cl- pl- fl- (kept)CLĀVEMchiaveclé
- NN, GN and N + yodnn kept; GN, NI → gn [ɲɲ]gn [ɲ]; NN → n (nasal vowel at the end)ANNUMannoan
- S + consonant at the start of a words- (kept; takes lo, gli)é- (from es-, s lost)STELLAMstellaétoile
- French loses S before a consonant (^)s kepts lost; often marked ^ (ê â ô î û)FESTAMfestafête
- Italian assimilates clustersassimilated: tt, ss, ss, nnsimplified or lost: pt → t; x → sSEPTEMsettesept
- Final vowels-o, -a, -e keptdropped; -A → mute -eLUPUMlupoloup
- Plurals: -s or -i-i, -e (from the nominative)-s, -x (written, mostly silent; from the accusative)LUPŌS (acc.) / LUPĪ (nom.)lupiloups
- -TĀTEM: -dad, -té, -tà-tà-téCĪVITĀTEMcittàcité
- -TIŌNEM: learned -ción, inherited -zón-zione (learned); inherited -zzone or -gione-tion (learned); inherited -sonRATIŌNEMragioneraison
- -ĀRIUM: -ero, -ier, -aio-aio, -aia (Tuscan); also -aro, -iere-ier, -ièreCABALLĀRIUMcavalierechevalier
- Adverbs in -mente / -ment-mente-mentCLĀRĀ MENTEchiaramenteclairement
- Single L between vowels: lost in Portuguese, r in Romanianl keptl keptFĪLUMfilofil
- Portuguese loses single N between vowelsn keptn kept between vowels; at the end, a nasal vowelLĀNAMlanalaine
- Romanian turns velars into labialstt, ss, gn; qu, gu (assimilated or kept)it, iss, gn; qu (velar kept, palatalized or lost)OCTŌottohuit
- Romanian T, D, S before i become ț, z, șt, d, s keptt, d, s keptDĪCEREdiredire
- Catalan drops -n at the end of a wordn kept, final vowel kept (pane, vino)n silent, vowel nasal (pain, vin)PĀNEMpanepain
False friends to watch
fermare (Italian) means “to stop” · fermer (French) means “to close, shut”
Both from Latin FIRMĀRE 'to make firm, fix'. Italian holds something still; French makes it fast. Spanish firmar went a third way: 'to sign'.
presto (Italian) means “soon, early” · prêt (French) means “ready”
Both from Latin PRAESTŌ 'at hand' (Late Latin adjective PRAESTUS). French kept 'ready'; Italian 'right away' → 'soon'. The two languages crossed with pronto.
magasin (French) means “shop” · magazzino (Italian) means “warehouse”
Both from Arabic makhāzin 'storehouses', which entered Romance through Italian; French magasin moved from 'storehouse' to 'shop'. Spanish almacén took the Arabic directly, article and all.
Words to learn fresh
Common words where French went its own way.