Italian Pronunciation Guide

Vowels


Italian vowels are always pronounced very clearly. When vowels are grouped together in a word, they are always pronounced separately.

Written as

Example

Sound clip
a   
mamma, papà
 sound clip
e (open)  
bello, ecco
 sound clip
e (closed)
sera, mela
 sound clip
i
insetto, insola
 sound clip
o (open) 
nostro, otto
 sound clip
o (closed)
note, amore, giorno
 sound clip
u   
lunedí, urgente
 sound clip


Consonants

Most consonants are pronounced as in English. Note the following:

Written as

Example

Sound clip
c + a/o/u or + consonant 
casa, come, credere
 sound clip
c + e/i  
cena, ciao
 sound clip
g + a/o/u gatto, gola sound clip
g + e/i  
gelato, gioco
 sound clip
gli    
tagliatelle, figlio
 sound clip
gn
signore, ingegnere
 sound clip
h hanno, habitat sound clip
ch  
che
 sound clip
gh  
Inghilterra
 sound clip
r
grazie, cameriere
 sound clip
sc + e/i
pesce, sciare
 sound clip
z
stazione, grazie
 sound clip
z at beginning of words
zucchero, zero
 sound clip


Where a consonant is doubled, the sound is held for twice as long, e.g. Anna, pubblico, notte sound clip

Stress

Italian words are usually stressed on the penultimate syllable:

The stress can also fall on the antepenultimate syllable:

or on the last syllable, this is indicated by an accent:

Alphabet

Note that letters, J, K, W, and Y are imported letters and not really part of the Italian alphabet. However, as they are used in foreign words, here are all 26 letters in short groups.

 
 

Sound clip

 
ABC
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DEF
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GHI
 sound clip  
JKL
 sound clip  
MNO
 sound clip  
PQR
 sound clip  
STU
 sound clip  
VW
 sound clip  
XYZ
 sound clip