alphabet & pronunciation

These free audio downloads will teach you the sounds of Italian. There aren't that many and most are pretty easy for English speakers to produce - easier than, say, Hungarian! There are really no exceptions or irregularities in Italian spelling so once you internalize these pronunciation guidelines, you can write pretty much anything by sounding it out. Likewise for reading. Buon divertimento!

(And this is probably a good place to post a repeat of the pronunciation guidelines found in the "grammatica" section.)

The Italian alphabet has all the same letters as the English one, except it has no j, k, w, x, or y.

The vowels (a, e, i, o, u) sound a bit different than they do in English.

The Italian “i” makes a sound like two English e’s, as in “see”, or “free”. Think of the word “pizza”, or my name “Pino” to remind you.

The Italian “u” never makes a short sound like our “u” in "butt". Nor does it ever make a “yew” sound like the English “university”. Instead it makes a long sound like the two o’s in “food” or the “u” in “dude”. Also “coupon”. Think “lupo” (wolf).

“E” in Italian sounds pretty much like our “e” in “let”. It's a short sound. “Essere” (to be).

“A” and “o” are hard to describe as there are no real equivalents in English. Just download and listen to the "vowels" MP3 above.

The consonants in Italian pretty much make the same sounds as the English ones except the following:

C + i or e makes a ch sound like church, e.g. “ciao”.

C + any other letter (vowel or consonant) makes a k sound, like cat, e.g. “casa”.

G + i or e makes a soft g like George. E.g. “Gino”.

G + any other letter makes a hard g sound like Gary. Think “gamba” (leg).

Gli makes the sound “lyee,” sort of like the two l’s in “billiards”. Think “aglio” (garlic).

Gn makes the sound “nya” like “onion”. Think of “lasagne” or “gnocchi” to remind you.

R is rolled.

S flanked by two vowels makes a sound like the s in “loser”. Think “leaning tower of Pisa.”

H is silent.

Sc + e or i makes a “sh” sound like ship. Sciare (to ski). Sciopero (labour strike).

If the “sc” is followed by any other letter it makes a sound like our English “skip”. So “bruschetta” is pronounced “broosketta” not “brooshetta”.

2 vowels side-by-side are usually pronounced individually. Europa (Europe). Aereo (airplane).

The word is usually stressed on the second last syllable (though there are exceptions).

And that's it! You can now spell and pronounce most words in Italian, regardless of whether you know what they mean. Practice pronunciation by reading out loud. Ciao for now!