Grafle

Script guide › Latin

Italian vs Romanian

Italian and Romanian sit in the same corner of the writing-system map — Grafle's Latin group — and players mix them up constantly. Here's the fastest way to tell them apart.

The tell

Romanian looks Italian until you spot ă, ș and ț — the comma-below letters are Romanian-only.

Side by side

Italian

Tutti gli esseri umani nascono liberi ed eguali in dignità.

Ciao, come stai oggi?

Tra il dire e il fare c'è di mezzo il mare.

Italian's own tells

  • Nearly every word ends in a vowel; double consonants (zz, tt, ss) everywhere.
  • Accents only fall on final vowels: città, è, però.

On signs in:

  • Italy
  • Switzerland
  • San Marino

Full guide to recognizing Italian →

Romanian

Toate ființele umane se nasc libere și egale în demnitate.

Bună ziua, ce mai faceți?

Apa trece, pietrele rămân.

Romanian's own tells

  • Comma-below letters ș and ț plus ă — a Romance language that looks Italian until you spot them.

On signs in:

  • Romania
  • Moldova

Full guide to recognizing Romanian →

More lookalike pairs