Mistakes Even Native Speakers Make

Mistakes even native Italians make

Even fluent native speakers fall into linguistic traps. Recognizing these errors will elevate your Italian beyond what many Italians themselves achieve.

"Piuttosto che" used as "or"

One of the most widespread errors in modern Italian is using *piuttosto che* to mean "or" (oppure). In correct Italian, it means "rather than" and implies a preference: *Preferisco il tè piuttosto che il caffè.* Saying *"Possiamo andare al cinema piuttosto che a teatro"* to mean "cinema or theatre" is grammatically wrong, though extremely common in spoken Northern Italian.

"Qual è" — never with an apostrophe

*Qual è* is NOT an elision — it is a truncation. The word *quale* naturally shortens to *qual* before a vowel. Therefore, writing *qual'è* with an apostrophe is always incorrect. This is arguably the most common spelling mistake in Italian.

"Se io fossi" not "se io sarei"

The conditional hypothesis requires the subjunctive: *Se io fossi ricco, viaggerei.* Using the conditional in both clauses (*Se io sarei ricco, viaggerei*) is a serious grammatical error, though very common in informal speech.

"A me mi" — the forbidden double

While technically emphatic, *a me mi piace* is considered incorrect in standard Italian. The correct forms are *a me piace* (emphatic) or *mi piace* (neutral). However, some linguists now accept it in spoken registers.

"Gli" replacing "le" and "loro"

In standard Italian, *gli* means "to him" and *le* means "to her." Using *gli* for both genders or for the plural (*gli ho detto* instead of *ho detto loro*) is increasingly accepted in speech but remains incorrect in formal writing.