Learn Italian: L'apparenza inganna, non abbiamo ancora firmato nulla. - Looks can be deceiving, we haven't signed anything yet.

The current lesson focuses on implicit conditionals with a + infinitive. How could we use that structure to change this sentence to mean 'Judging by appearances, we haven't signed anything'?

You could say A giudicare dall'apparenza, non abbiamo ancora firmato nulla. This uses a + the infinitive giudicare to create an implicit conditional clause meaning 'If one judges by appearance...' or 'Judging by appearances...'.

The English translation says 'Looks can be deceiving', but where is the 'can be' in the Italian sentence?

The Italian phrase L'apparenza inganna is a fixed proverb that literally translates to 'Appearance deceives'. Italian frequently uses the simple present tense for general truths and proverbs where English prefers to soften the statement with 'can be'.

Why is the word order non abbiamo ancora firmato nulla rather than putting ancora at the end?

In compound tenses like the passato prossimo, short adverbs of time like ancora (yet/still), già (already), and mai (never) are usually sandwiched directly between the auxiliary verb (abbiamo) and the past participle (firmato). The negative pronoun nulla (or niente) then follows the past participle.

Is the verb firmare (to sign) a false friend?