The sounds of Italian
Reading Italian, sound by sound.
Italian is read almost exactly as it is written. You only need a few letter combinations, double consonants and where the stress falls.
gli
lyfamiglia
The sounds
The sounds that change everything
Choose a group, then a sound. Listen to it in common words.
Sound
Reading rules
Five rules to read any Italian word aloud.
ci · chi
The h makes it hard
ci is pronounced /tʃi/, like “chee” in “cheese”; chi is pronounced /ki/, like “key”. The same rule applies to gi and ghi.
notte
Double consonants are heard
A double consonant is held longer: notte (night) ≠ note (notes).
parlare
The second-to-last syllable
Most words are stressed on the second-to-last syllable: par-LA-re.
caffè
The written accent
When the stress falls on the final vowel, it is written: caffè, città.
ho
The h is silent
It is never pronounced: ho (I have) is pronounced /ɔ/.
Reading