>>>>>>>>It's my understanding that the word gullible is more appropriate, since it has the same meaning as we Europeans use the word naive.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>In English gullible has a negative conotation of being stupid or easily duped. Naive is softer more like unaware or trusting.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Maybe innocent is the closest match?
>>>>>
>>>>>we do retain the little used word "naif" meaning a person without knowledge of evil which retains more of the original French meaning. As others have said, in current English, naive has a connotation of gullible and implies being a bit dull-witted.
>>>>>
>>>>>Innocent is indeed the closest match for the original meaning.
>>>>
>>>>How about spoken language? I assume that naif sounds totally similar to naive.
>>>
>>>It is a noun rather than an adjective and frankly it is used so seldom in spoken English I'm not sure most people would have any idea how to pronounce it. I think final sound is pronounced as an f rather than a v and it is pronounce more as one syllable as opposed to naive which is distinctly two syllables.
>>
>>In French naif (or naïf) is the masculin version of naive (or naïve).
>
>I meant naif as used in English - where it is a noun. ( wonder how the masc form became the noun and the female form the verb ? Probably something lost in the 12th century )

Naif as a noun? That is rare. adjective is the more common use. Never seen it as a verb.