"impossible" in seven languages
Meaningimpossible
Spanish
imposible
/imˈposible/
learned
French
impossible
/ɛ̃pɔsibl/
learned
Italian
impossibile
/imposˈsibile/
learned
Portuguese
impossível
/ĩpoˈsivew/
learned
Romanian
imposibil
/impoˈsibil/
learned
Catalan
impossible
/impuˈsiblə/
learned
English
impossible
/ɪmˈpɑsəbəl/
from Latin/French · Old French impossible / Latin impossibilis
English → ItalianimpossibleimpossibileCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
IMPOSSIBILEM‘that cannot be done’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Learned in all three. Spanish never writes double s, so the Latin ss is simplified (imposible); Italian keeps it and the full -ile ending.
English relatives: possible, potent, potential
Learn it
In a sentence
- esNada es imposible.
- frRien n'est impossible.
- itNiente è impossibile.
- ptNada é impossível.
- roNimic nu este imposibil.
- caRes no és impossible.
- enNothing is impossible.