Italian letter sounds

Italian spelling is very regular: once you know a handful of rules, you can read almost any word aloud correctly. Most consonants sound much as they do in English. These cards cover the ones that don’t.

Spelled the Way It Sounds

In Italian, every letter is pronounced (except h, and the i in groups like cia and gio), and each letter or letter group almost always makes the same sound. There are no silent e's and no surprises like English "though" and "through".

• pane - bread: "PAH-neh", two syllables
• notte - night: "NOHT-teh"
• parola - word: "pah-ROH-lah"

Most words are stressed on the second-to-last syllable. When the stress falls on the last vowel, it gets an accent: città - city, perché - because, così - so.

Hard and Soft C

The sound of c depends on the vowel after it.

• Before a, o, u it is hard, like "k": casa - house, cosa - thing, cucina - kitchen.
• Before e, i it is soft, like "ch" in "church": cena - dinner, cinque - five.

To get a hard "k" before e or i, add an h: che - that, chiave - key.

To get a soft "ch" before a, o, u, add an i. The i is not pronounced on its own: ciao ("chow") - hi, faccia - face, cioè - that is.

Hard and Soft G

G follows the same pattern as c.

• Before a, o, u it is hard, like "g" in "go": gamba - leg, gola - throat, gusto - taste.
• Before e, i it is soft, like "j" in "jet": gelato - ice cream, giro - tour.

Add h for a hard "g" before e or i: spaghetti - spaghetti, laghi - lakes.

Add i for a soft "j" before a, o, u: giacca - jacket, giorno - day, giugno - June.

C and G at a Glance

Notice that English speakers often misread che and chi. In Italian, ch always sounds like "k", never like "ch" in "cheese".

SC

The pair sc follows the same hard and soft pattern.

• Before e, i it sounds like "sh" in "shoe": scendere - to go down, uscita - exit, pesce - fish.
• Before a, o, u it sounds like "sk": scarpa - shoe, scuola - school.
• Sch before e, i also sounds like "sk": schiena - back.
• Sci before a, o, u sounds like "sh": lasciare - to leave.

GN and GLI

These two groups have no exact match in English, but you can get close.

GN

Gn sounds like "ny" in "canyon": bagno - bathroom, signora - Mrs., sogno - dream.

GLI

Gli sounds like "lli" in "million", with the tongue flat against the roof of the mouth: famiglia ("fah-MEE-lyah") - family, figlio - son, voglia - wish. The word gli (the, to him) sounds the same: "lyee".

QU, Z and S

QU

Qu always sounds like "kw": quando - when, questo - this, qui - here.

Z

Z never sounds like English "z". It is either "ts", as in grazie ("GRAHT-tsyeh") - thank you, or "dz", as in zero ("DZEH-roh") - zero. Which one depends on the word, so learn it with the audio.

S

S is usually "s" as in "sun": sera - evening. Between two vowels, many speakers say it like "z": casa ("KAH-zah") - house.

R

The Italian r is a tapped or rolled sound made with the tip of the tongue, like the quick "tt" in American "butter".

• One r is a single tap: sera - evening, caro - dear.
• A double rr is a longer roll: terra - earth, correre - to run.

Don’t use the English "r". Even a light tap sounds much more Italian.