Italian alphabet and pronunciation
Hello! Are you ready to dive into the Italian language? Let’s start with the basics: the Italian alphabet!
Hello! Are you ready to dive into the Italian language? Let’s start with the basics: the Italian alphabet! Don’t worry, it’s much simpler than it seems. The best part is that, once you learn the pronunciation rules, Italian is very “sincere”: it’s practically read as it’s written.
The Italian alphabet has 21 letters . Let’s look at them together, along with their pronunciation and an example to help us understand better.
The “foreign” letters
In addition to these 21, Italian also uses 5 other letters, sometimes called “foreign” because they are found mainly in words of non-Italian origin.
Now let’s get to the fun part: how to pronounce some letter combinations that may seem a little difficult at first.
C and G: the two sounds
These two letters are like two chameleons: they change sound depending on the vowel that follows them.
Hard sound (as in casa and gatto)
When followed by or A, O, UH
CAne, COsa, CUore
GAtto, GOla, GUsto
CHiaro (pronounced kiaro)
GHiro (pronounced ghiro)
Sweet sound (as in cena and giro)
When followed by Eor I.
CEna, CIbo
GEnte, GIorno
The special combinations
Get ready to learn some truly unique sounds!
THE
It is pronounced like the “gl” in “famiglia” (a unique sound that doesn’t exist in many other languages!).
egli, faglia, figlio.
Attention : if “gli” is followed by “a, e, o, u”, the pronunciation changes: global , gli and mici.
GN
It is pronounced like the Spanish “ñ” in “español”, or like the “gn” in “lasagna”.
bagno, segno, agnello.
SC
Here too we have two sounds.
Sweet sound (as in sci)
If it is followed by E or I.
pesce, uscita.
Hard sound (as in scarpa)
If it is followed by A , O , U or H.
scarpa, scopa, scudo, scherzo.
The Mystery of the H
You may have noticed that the Italian alphabet also includes an H. Have you ever wondered why the H is almost never pronounced? It’s a silent letter! Its main function is to make the combinations of "c"e "g"followed by "e"e sound “hard "i". “
Ho, hai, ha, hanno (verb to have).
CHiave (pronounced kiave), GHiaccio (pronounced ghiacco).
Simple, right? Italian pronunciation is much more regular and predictable than many other languages. Once you learn these rules, you’re already halfway there.
Have questions about a specific sound? Ask away!