Italian Pronunciation

Here, we discuss the differences between Italian and English letters.
Please, read through this section carefully and try to pronounce all the examples out loud.

The Letter C

In Italian, “c” is pronounced differently depending on the following vowel.
Before “e” and “i”, it's pronounced as [tʃ], like the “ch” in “cheese”.
Before “a”, “o”, and “u”, it's pronounced as [k], like the “c” in “cat”.

💬 Examples:
ciao [ˈt͡ʃa.o] ‒ hello
casa [ˈka.za] ‒ house

The Letter G

Similar to “c”, the pronunciation of “g” in Italian depends on the vowel that follows after the “g”.
Before “e” and “i”, it's pronounced as [dʒ], like the “j” in “jump”.
Before “a”, “o”, and “u”, it's pronounced as [g], like the “g” in “go”.

💬 Examples:
gelato [d͡ʒeˈlaː.to] ‒ ice cream
gonna [ˈɡon.na] ‒ skirt

The letter combination GN

If “g” and “n” meet, they form a new sound.
This sound is pronounced like “ny” [ɲ] in “canyon”.

💬 Examples:
gnocchi: [ˈɲɔk.ki] ‒ Gnocchi, small dumplings, typical Italian dish
montagna [monˈtaɲ.ɲa] ‒ mountain

The letter combination GLI

If these three letters come together, they also form a new sound that is very typical of the Italian language.
“Gli” is pronounced like “ly” [ʎ] in “million”.
This [ʎ] sound should feel like a soft, flowing blend of “l” and “y”.

💬 Examples:
famiglia [faˈmiʎ.ʎa] ‒ family
migliore [miʎˈʎo.re] ‒ better

The Letter H

In Italian, “h” is always silent.
It's used to modify the pronunciation of certain letters or to distinguish between homophones (a word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning and/or spelling, like write and right).

💬 Examples:
ho [o] ‒ (I) have
ha [ai] ‒ (you) have

The Letter Z

In Italian, “z” is pronounced as [dz] or [ts] depending on the region within Italy.
It's similar to the “ts” sound in “hats” or “cats”.

💬 Examples:
zaino [ˈdzai.no] ‒ bagpack
zucchero [ˈt͡suk.ke.ro] ‒ sugar

The Letter S

In Italian, “s” is generally pronounced as [s] like in English, but it can also be pronounced as [z] between vowels or in certain consonant clusters.

💬 Examples:
sole [ˈso.le] ‒ sun
rosa [ˈrɔ.za] ‒ rose

The Letter R

The Italian “r” is often pronounced more strongly than in English, with a rolling or trilled sound [r].
It can be a challenging sound for English speakers to master.
But, please, don’t give up.
You will master this!

💬 Examples:
ragazza [raˈɡat.tsa] ‒ girl
Roma [ˈrɔ.ma] ‒ Rome, capital of Italy
correre [ˈkor.re.re] ‒ to run

➠ Pronouncing Italian Vowels