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"current, present-day" in seven languages

Meaningcurrent, present-day

Spanish

actual

/akˈtwal/

learned

French

actuel

/aktɥɛl/

learned

fem.: actuelle

Italian

attuale

/attuˈale/

learned

Portuguese

atual

/atuˈaw/

learned

European Portuguese spelled it actual until the 1990 spelling reform.

Romanian

actual

/aktuˈal/

learned

Catalan

actual

/əktuˈal/

learned

English

current

/ˈkɝənt/

other source · Old French corant 'running', from Latin CURRERE

English → Italiancurrent, present-dayattualeNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: actual, act, action.What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • actual (English) means “real” · actual (Spanish) means “current, present-day”

    Both from Late Latin ACTUĀLIS 'active, in action'. The Romance sisters went 'in action now' (fr actuel, it attuale too); English went 'in fact'. Hence actualmente = 'currently', not 'actually' (en realidad).

All false friends

The Latin ancestor

ĀCTUĀLEM‘active, practical (Late Latin)’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

False friend: actual / actuel / attuale mean 'current, of today', not 'real' (that is real / réel / reale). 'Actually' is en realidad / en fait / in realtà.

English relatives: actual, act, action

Sound laws at work

Italian assimilates clusters

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In a sentence

  • esLa situación actual es difícil.
  • frLa situation actuelle est difficile.
  • itLa situazione attuale è difficile.
  • ptA situação atual é difícil.
  • roSituația actuală este dificilă.
  • caLa situació actual és difícil.
  • enThe current situation is difficult.

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