Italian vs Swedish: 300 Words That Are Nearly Identical

Italian and Swedish sit on different branches of the family tree, but both have absorbed a great deal of Latin-derived and international vocabulary, so a surprising number of words in the two languages look almost the same. This page lines up those pairs side by side, from problema/problem and situazione/situation to foto/foto and lista/lista, so you can see exactly where the two overlap and where a single letter or ending is all that separates them.

Whether you already know some Swedish or are building Italian from scratch, these near-matches are a shortcut worth using deliberately rather than by accident. Vocab Voyage turns the list into flashcards: you type the Italian word for an English prompt, spaced repetition brings back the words you're shakiest on, and accents are forgiven so you can focus on the word itself. Sign-up is free and needs only an email address, with no card and no password to juggle.

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Italian vs Swedish: 300 Words That Are Nearly Identical: the list

#EnglishItalianSwedish
1problem problema problem
2moment momento moment
3person persona person
4minutes minuti minut
5fantastic fantastico fantastisk
6love amore amor
7telephone telefono telefon
8party festa fest
9agent agente agent
10photo foto foto
11business affari affär
12serious serio seriös
13idiot idiota idiot
14test prova prov
15president presidente president
16control controllo kontroll
17view vista vista
18situation situazione situation
19to present presentare presentera
20fortune fortuna fortuna
21group gruppo grupp
22mandate mandato mandat
23information informazioni information
24list lista lista
25normal normale normal
26dollar dollaro dollar
27interesting interessante intressant
28special speciale special
29program programma program
30position posizione position
31detective detective detektiv
32bomb bomba bomb
33wine vino vin
34zone zona zon
35line linea lina
36operation operazione operation
37energy energia energi
38nervous nervoso nervös
39mission missione mission
40director direttore direktör
41intelligent intelligente intelligent
42drug droga droga
43enormous enorme enorm
44band banda band
45professor professore professor
46cake torta tårta
47to arrest arrestare arrestera
48series serie serie
49perfect perfetta perfekta
50assistant assistente assistent
51nature natura natur
52period periodo period
53data dati data
54private privato privat
55style stile stil
56magic magia magi
57medicine medicina medicin
58central centrale central
59genius genio geni
60sexy sexy sexy
61guide guida guide
62theory teoria teori
63colleague collega kollega
64laboratory laboratorio laboratorium
65coffee caffè kaffe
66cell cella cell
67false falso falsk
68demon demone demon
69magnificent magnifico magnifik
70federal federale federal
71universe universo universum
72result risultato resultat
73interest interesse intresse
74sensation sensazione sensation
75access accesso access
76ambulance ambulanza ambulans
77cigarette sigaretta cigarett
78students studenti student
79mail posta post
80to spend spendere spendera
81romantic romantico romantisk
82national nazionale national
83version versione version
84copy copia kopia
85pilot pilota pilot
86therapy terapia terapi
87positive positivo positiv
88animal animale animal
89commissioner commissario kommissarie
90glory gloria gloria
91alternative alternativa alternativ
92pen penna penna
93model modello modell
94champagne champagne champagne
95uniform uniforme uniform
96material materiale material
97pension pensione pension
98document documento dokument
99negative negativo negativ
100original originale originell
101social sociale social
102to guarantee garantire garantera
103technology tecnologia teknologi
104coach coach coach
105artist artista artist
106profile profilo profil
107passion passione passion
108vision visione vision
109civil civile civil
110fashion moda mode
111discussion discussione diskussion
112brilliant brillante briljant
113poetry poesia poesi
114tradition tradizione tradition
115tone tono ton
116troops truppe trupp
117zombie zombie zombie
118alibi alibi alibi
119experiment esperimento experiment
120professional professionale professionell
121golf golf golf
122figure figura figur
123garage garage garage
124tragedy tragedia tragedi
125structure struttura struktur
126identity identità identitet
127illegal illegale illegal
128baseball baseball baseboll
129generation generazione generation
130ocean oceano ocean
131noble nobile noble
132chaos caos kaos
133metal metallo metall
134to provoke provocare provocera
135september settembre september
136television televisione television
137principle principio princip
138desperate disperato desperat
139to direct dirigere dirigera
140coma coma koma
141tiger tigre tiger
142territory territorio territorium
143mental mentale mental
144april aprile april
145banana banana banan
146drugs droghe droge
147strategy strategia strategi
148aggression aggressione aggression
149gesture gesto gest
150elegant elegante elegant
151religion religione religion
152mathematics matematica matematik
153terrorists terroristi terrorister
154candidate candidato kandidat
155email e-mail e-mail
156vodka vodka vodka
157sum somma summa
158terrorist terrorista terrorist
159generous generoso generös
160tumor tumore tumör
161mass massa masa
162vein vena ven
163theme tema tema
164irish irlandese irländsk
165lemon limone limon
166union unione union
167explosive esplosivo explosiv
168hamburger hamburger hamburgare
169stable stabile stabil
170gene gene gen
171modern moderna modern
172database database databas
173accent accento accent
174specific specifico specifik
175clown clown clown
176intimate intimo intim
177ancient antica antika
178pub pub pub
179snack snack snack
180international internazionale international
181brown bruno brun
182microphone microfono mikrofon
183satellite satellite satellit
184impulse impulso impuls
185intelligence intelligenza intelligens
186kit kit kit
187allergic allergico allergisk
188photographs fotografie fotografi
189presentation presentazione presentation
190vagina vagina vagina
191elephant elefante elefant
192zoo zoo zoo
193sperm sperma sperma
194missiles missili missil
195stadium stadio stadion
196jeans jeans jeans
197to define definire definiera
198informant informator informatör
199diagnosis diagnosi diagnos
200association associazione association
201diet dieta diet
202gangster gangster gangster
203campus campus campus
204global globale global
205norm norma norm
206cocktail cocktail cocktail
207terror terrore terror
208radar radar radar
209depression depressione depression
210photographer fotografo fotograf
211operational operativo operativ
212gem gemma gemma
213server server server
214ritual rituale ritual
215karma karma karma
216arrogant arrogante arrogant
217permanent permanente permanent
218dvd dvd dvd
219protest protesta protest
220flame fiamma flamma
221rare raro rar
222paranoid paranoico paranoid
223drama dramma drama
224hobby hobby hobby
225nerd nerd nörd
226marijuana marijuana marijuana
227baron barone baron
228element elemento element
229illusion illusione illusion
230alpha alfa alfa
231aggressive aggressivo aggressiv
232overdose overdose överdos
233scout scout scout
234invasion invasione invasion
235bacon bacon bacon
236religious religioso religiös
237formation formazione formation
238vase vaso vas
239parasite parassita parasit
240phenomenon fenomeno fenomen
241pop pop pop
242vice president vicepresidente vicepresident
243gin gin gin
244yoga yoga yoga
245priority priorità prioritet
246ranch ranch ranch
247tequila tequila tequila
248digital digitali digital
249jazz jazz jazz
250poet poeta poet
251vital vitale vital
252cd cd cd
253ninja ninja ninja
254blog blog blogg
255enthusiasm entusiasmo entusiasm
256philosophy filosofia filosofi
257ranger ranger ranger
258hockey hockey hockey
259organ organo organ
260veteran veterano veteran
261destination destinazione destination
262unstable instabile instabil
263initiative iniziativa initiativ
264dimension dimensione dimension
265lottery lotteria lotteri
266whiskey whiskey whiskey
267morphine morfina morfin
268relevant rilevante relevant
269sentimental sentimentale sentimental
270discipline disciplina disciplin
271grenade granata granat
272telegram telegramma telegram
273intensive intensivo intensiv
274gorilla gorilla gorilla
275category categoria kategori
276bowling bowling bowling
277sponsor sponsor sponsor
278palms palme palm
279epidemic epidemia epidemi
280spiritual spirituale spirituell
281audition audizione audition
282vaccine vaccino vaccin
283autograph autografo autograf
284deposition deposizione deposition
285stressed stressato stressad
286terrorism terrorismo terrorism
287limousine limousine limousine
288precision precisione precision
289abortion aborto abort
290definition definizione definition
291spaghetti spaghetti spaghetti
292dessert dessert dessert
293literature letteratura litteratur
294veterinarian veterinario veterinär
295adrenaline adrenalina adrenalin
296corn mais majs
297donor donatore donator
298centimeter centimetro centimeter
299martini martini martini
300trophy trofeo trofé

Tips

Frequently asked questions

Why do Italian and Swedish share so many similar-looking words?

Both languages have taken in a lot of Latin-derived and international vocabulary over the centuries, which produced parallel forms like problema/problem and situazione/situation, even though Italian and Swedish belong to different branches of the Indo-European family.

Will studying both languages at once make me mix them up?

Small slips are normal at first, such as adding an extra vowel or mismatching a plural, but once you notice the systematic patterns behind pairs like gruppo/grupp and fantastico/fantastisk, the similarities start working in your favour.

How do I practise this list on Vocab Voyage?

You get flashcards that show an English prompt and ask you to type the matching Italian word; spaced repetition brings back the words you are still shaky on at useful intervals, and accented letters are forgiven so you can concentrate on the vocabulary itself.

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