The Basics of The Italian Alphabet

THE BASICS OF THE ITALIAN ALPHABET
The Italian alphabet is a Latin-based alphabet and it consists

of:
• 5 vowels A – E – I – O – U
• 16 Italian consonants B – C – D – F – G – H – L – M – N
–P–Q–R–S–T–V–Z
• 5 foreign consonants J – K – W – X – Y – Z
All of these letters are shared by the English alphabet, but

their Italian pronunciation is not the same!
How to pronounce the Italian alphabet?

• A A / Aah (as in “father”, just more open)
• B Bi / Bee
• C Ci / Chee
• D Di Dee
• E E / Eh (as in “end”, a bit closer)
• F Effe / Eh-ffeh
• G Gi / Gee (as in “jeep”)
• H Acca / Ah-kka (silent)
• I I / Ee
• L Elle / Eh-lleh
• M Emme / Eh-mmeh
• N Enne / Eh-nneh
• O O / Oh (wide “o” as in “front”)
• P Pi / Pee
• Q Qu / Koo
• R Erre / Eh-rreh
• S Esse / Eh-sseh
• T Ti / Tea
• U U / Oo
• V Vi, Vu / Vee, Voo
• Z Zeta / Tseh-tah
•
As we mentioned earlier, the official Italian alphabet does

not include J, K, W, X, and Y, but they still appear in foreign
words acquired by the Italian language.
However, these letters are not pronounced in the same
way either! Have a look:
• J I lunga / Ee loon-gah (“long i”)
• K Kappa / Kah-ppah
• W Doppia vi, doppia vu / Doh-ppee-ah vee, voo
(“double v”)
• X Ics / Eeks
• Y Ipsilon, I greca / Eeps-ee-loh-n, Ee greh-kah (“Greek
i”)
PRONUNCIATION RULES
The letter Acca (H)
While Italian pronunciation is pretty consistent, some
consonants have a particular behavior depending on the
case. The consonant H is one of them!
H Before a vowel
As we know, the letter H is called acca and it is
silent. When it appears in front of a vowel, we skip it
altogether and start the pronunciation with the following
letter as in hanno (they have).
H With C and G
When there is an H after C and G, however, things get
interesting. As you probably noticed, the
consonants C and G have hard and soft
pronunciations.
C and G are pronounced like a hard /k/ sound as
in “cat” (for C) and /g/ sound, as in “golf,” (for G)
when they are followed by the vowels A, O, and U,
and by consonants.
For example, casa – house, crescere – to grow, gatto –
cat, grattare – to scratch.
Otherwise, C and G are pronounced softly, like a /ch/
sound and a /j/ ( as in JUDGE) sound when they are
followed by the vowels I and E, like in cielo – sky
or gemma – gem.
What do we do, then, to have a hard /k/ or /g/ sound
with the vowels I and E? Simple, we put an H in
between! So we find that CHI, CHE, GHI, GHE retain
the hard sound.
We hear this pronunciation in words
like chiesa – church and ghepardo – cheetah.
S - Esse & Z - Zeta
Just like “C” and “G,” “S” and “Z” are also interesting
consonants.
In most words, “S” is pronounced like a hard /s/ sound, as

in the English word “song.”
• Semplice (simple) - sehm-plee-cheh

Sasso (stone) - sahs-soh
•
However, it’s pronounced like a /z/ sound, as in the

English word “zebra,” when placed between two vowels.
• Casa (house/home): cah-zah

• Chiesa (church): kee-eh-zah
Cosa (thing): coh-zah
•
Last but not least, “Z” is always pronounced like a /ts/

sound in the middle of words and when doubled, as in
pizza (peeh-tsah), or situazione (see-too-ah-tsyo-neh).
However, at the beginning of words, “Z” is pronounced
like a /dz/ sound, as in the Italian word zio (uncle).
A Ancona
B Bologna
C Cagliari
D Domodossola
E Empoli
F Firenze
G Genova
H Hotel (this is not a city, of course!)
I Isernia / Imola
L Livorno
M Milano
N Napoli
O Otranto
P Palermo / Padova
Q Quarto
R Roma (the capital!)
S Sassari / Salerno
T Torino / Taranto
U Urbino
V Venezia
Z Zagarolo
Despite most Italian consonants being pronounced just like
in English, there are a few letter combinations with different
pronunciations. Let’s call them “exceptions.” If you master
these, you will be golden.
The sound “GLI”

This is a sound you will hear in the word “famiglia“.
To get a good pronunciation of gli, think of the English word
“million.” If you’re still having a hard time pronouncing “gli”
properly, try opening your mouth as if you were smiling
when pronouncing it.
Words to practice the sound “gli”
• famiglia (family)
• bottiglia (bottle)
• coniglio (rabbit)
The sound “GN”

The “gn” is similar to the sound in the word “onion.”
Words to practice the sound “GN”
• bagno (bathroom)
• ragno (spider)
• castagne (chestnuts)
• gnocchi
The sound “SC”

The correct pronunciation of “sc” is linked with the correct
pronunciation of the letter “c”.
In fact, this constant cluster can be pronounced with a soft
sound or a hard sound.
Hard sound
Sca, sco, scu, sche, schi are pronounced just like in the word
“skeleton”
Words for practice (hard sound)
• Scherzo (joke)
• Bagnoschiuma (shower gel)
• Scarpa (shoe)
• Oroscopo (horoscope)
• Bruschetta
Soft sound
Sci, sce, scia, scio, sciu are pronounced just like in the name
“Sharon “.
Words for practice (soft sound)
• Ascensore (elevator)
• Sciare (to ski)
• Sciroppo (syrup)
• Scimmia (monkey)
Notice that when the cluster SC is followed by an i or e, it is

pronounced with a soft sound, like in scimmia or scemo.
However, if the cluster SC is followed by he and hi, it is
pronounced with a hard sound, like in bruschetta or schiena..
The “R” sound
The Italian “r“ sound is rolled on the tongue. To roll your R,
place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth, just
behind your two front teeth.
To practice the “rolled r,” you can use the English word
“butter,” which already has a built-in rolled r.
Words for practice
• Azzurro (blu)
• Arrivare (to arrive)
• Errore (mistake)
• Rumore (noise)
Double consonants
Double consonants are sounded double
• Palla and NOT pala

• Mamma and NOT mama
The difference between double consonants and single

consonants is enormous.
PaLLa is a ball, while paLa is a shovel.
CaRo is expensive, caRRo is a wagon.
One more consonant has the potential to alter the definition
of a word.
How to pronounce words like papà, città,
università
In Italian, when the accent falls on the final vowel, it is
accented, which means you will have to emphasize the last
letter, which is always a vowel.
Words for practice
• Caffè
• Papà
• Università
• Realtà
• Novità
A
amore
love
B
bambino
baby
C
cane
dog
D
dito
finger
E
estate
summer
F
fame
hunger
G
gufo
owl
H
hotel
hotel
I
idea
idea
J
jeans
jeans
K
koala
koala
L
latte
milk
M
madre
mother
N
naso
nose
O
odore
odor / smell
P
piede
foot
Q
qualità
quality
R
rosso
red
S
sole
sun
T
terra
land / earth
U
uscita
exit
V
venerdì
Friday
W
wurstel
frankfurter
X
xenofobico
xenophobic
Y
yogurt
yogurt
Z
zio
uncle

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THE BASICS OF THE ITALIAN ALPHABET

The Italian alphabet is a Latin-based alphabet and it consists

All of these letters are shared by the English alphabet, but

How to pronounce the Italian alphabet?

As we mentioned earlier, the official Italian alphabet does

In most words, “S” is pronounced like a hard /s/ sound, as

• Semplice (simple) - sehm-plee-cheh

However, it’s pronounced like a /z/ sound, as in the

• Casa (house/home): cah-zah

Last but not least, “Z” is always pronounced like a /ts/

H Hotel (this is not a city, of course!)

R Roma (the capital!)

The sound “GLI”

The sound “GN”

The sound “SC”

• Bagnoschiuma (shower gel)

• Sciare (to ski)

Notice that when the cluster SC is followed by an i or e, it is

• Arrivare (to arrive)

• Palla and NOT pala

The difference between double consonants and single

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