Please stop saying INCORRETTO!

In this Italian learning podcast I'd like to talk about a very common error. If you learned Italian as a foreign language, chances are you make this mistake.

I am Luca and this is a podcast for learning Italian.

I've added Italian and English subtitles. If you prefer, you can activate them.

The error I wanted to explain in this brief video lesson is related to the adjective "incorretto".

I noticed that non-native speakers, that is, those who studied Italian as a foreign language, absolutely love this adjective and tend to use it very often, especially as opposite to "giusto".

For example, many L2 Italian learners say: "Ho risposto in modo incorretto alle domande del quiz d'italiano".

Or: "Hai scelto la risposta incorretta".

Or: "Nel test scritto di italiano,  per ogni domanda, ci saranno una risposta giusta e tre risposte incorrette".

Another example could be: "La tua deduzione è incorretta".

Yet another example could be: "Quello che hai fatto mi sembra incorretto".

Well, we don't say that.

This is not a grammatical error, it's a lexical error, meaning an error related to vocabulary and word choice.

Italian native speakers wouldn't say that. The opposite of "giusto" is not "incorretto", is "sbagliato".

So you shouldn't say "Ho risposto in modo incorretto", you should say "Ho risposto in modo sbagliato".

Similarly, you shouldn't say "Hai scelto la risposta incorretta", you should say "Hai scelto la risposta sbagliata".

Similarly, you shouldn't say "Ci saranno una risposta giusta e tre risposte incorrette", you should say "Ci saranno una risposta giusta e tre risposte sbagliate".

In a similar fashion, we don't say "La tua deduzione è incorretta", we say "La tua deduzione è sbagliata".

Similarly, you shouldn't say "Quello che hai fatto è incorretto", you should say "Quello che hai fatto è sbagliato".

So, well, in standard Italian the opposition is between "giusto" and "sbagliato".

In theory, the adjective "incorretto" does exist, but it is much, much, much more technical.

This adjective is much more rarer and has a very specific meaning. It is used, for example, in reference to "bozze".

What does the word "bozza" mean?

A "bozza" is a preliminary version of a document, or written content in general. Typically, one first writes down a draft of a text, then corrects it and get the definitive version.

An example with the adjective "incorretto" could be this: "Mi ha mandato la bozza incorretta". What does it mean? Unedited (not yet edited), which didn't get the required edits.

As you can see, the meaning of the adjective "incorretto" is different from the meaning of the adjective "sbagliato".

So please stop saying "incorretto", because it is... "sbagliato"!

Alright! I hope everything is clear!

Up here I'm gonna add a card to a similar error, which is related to the adjective "similare". If you want to speak Italian like a native, you might wanna check it out!