Italian is spelled almost exactly as it is spoken. Once you know the patterns on this page you can read nearly any word aloud — the main things to learn are what c, g and a few letter pairs do, how long to hold a double consonant, and which syllable to stress.
Every vocabulary card shows its pronunciation between slashes, like /ˈɡrattsje/ for grazie. That is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); ˈ marks the stressed syllable, a doubled letter is a long consonant, and nouns are shown with their article, as in /il kafˈfɛ/. Press 🔊 next to any example to hear it.
If you only remember five things, make it these. Each one is covered in more detail further down.
A doubled letter is not decoration: hold the consonant noticeably longer, with a tiny pause before it. It changes the meaning.
Italian has no silent vowels and no weak 'uh': a final e is a clear e. And the vowels never slide the way English 'say' and 'go' do.
Before a, o and u they are hard, as in 'cat' and 'go'. Before e and i they become 'ch' and 'j'. An h keeps them hard; an i keeps them soft.
Most words follow that pattern. A written accent on the last letter moves the stress there.
A single r is one quick tap of the tongue tip; a double rr is a full trill. Never the English r.
Italian has five vowel letters and seven vowel sounds: e and o each come in a closed and an open version. Keep every vowel short, clear and steady.
Like the a in 'father', but shorter.
Like 'ay' in 'say', but held still — no slide into 'ee'.
Like the e in 'bed'. Only ever in a stressed syllable.
Like 'ee' in 'see', but shorter.
Like the o in 'go', but pure — round your lips and don't slide into 'oo'.
Like the o in 'off'. Only ever in a stressed syllable.
Like 'oo' in 'food', but shorter.
The spelling doesn't show whether e and o are open or closed (except é and ò in final accents), and it varies from region to region — speakers in Milan and Rome don't always agree. The cards give the standard pronunciation, which the recordings follow. Don't worry about it at first: you will always be understood.
Unstressed i or u next to another vowel becomes a quick y or w, in the same syllable: the cards write j and w.
c and g are the letters that change most. The rule is the same for both: hard before a, o, u; soft before e, i. An h after them keeps them hard; an i after them, before another vowel, only marks them as soft and is not said as its own syllable.
Hard, like k: c before a, o, u, and ch before e, i. No puff of air after it.
Like 'ch' in 'church'. In ciao, the i only makes the c soft.
Hard, like the g in 'go': g before a, o, u, and gh before e, i.
Like the j in 'jam'. In giorno, the i only makes the g soft.
Like 'sh' in 'ship'. Before a, o, u — and as sch — it is 'sk'.
Close to the 'lli' in 'million', said as one sound with the middle of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. Between vowels it is always long.
Like the 'ny' in 'canyon', said as one sound. Between vowels it is always long.
Italian consonants are close to English, with two general differences: p, t and k have no puff of air after them, and t and d are made with the tongue against the back of the upper teeth rather than the ridge behind them.
A tap of the tongue tip, like the tt in American 'better'. Doubled, or at the start of a word with emphasis, a full trill.
If you can't trill yet, a firm tap is understood. It comes with practice.
Either the 'ts' of 'cats' or the 'ds' of 'kids' — the spelling doesn't say which, so check the card. Between vowels it is long.
Usually s. Before a voiced consonant (b, d, g, l, m, n, r, v) it becomes z, and between vowels it is often z too — though that varies by region.
Like 'qu' in 'quick'.
Always silent. It appears only in ch and gh, in a few forms of avere (ho, hai, ha, hanno), and in borrowed words.
An n takes the shape of what follows: 'ng' before a hard c or g, and lips-to-teeth before f or v. It happens by itself; the cards show it.
In English a double letter is just spelling. In Italian it is a sound: the consonant lasts about twice as long. For stops like tt, pp and cc, close your mouth, pause for a beat, then release; for ll, mm, nn, ss and rr, simply hold the sound. The vowel before a double consonant is a little shorter.
The cards write a long consonant doubled — /ˈsette/, /il kapputˈtʃino/ — so you can see every one.
Each pair differs only in the length of one consonant.
Italian stress has a strong usual pattern and a lot of exceptions, so the stress mark on the cards is worth watching. The stressed vowel is also slightly longer, and only a stressed e or o can be open.
Most words, including most infinitives in -are and -ire.
A large group of common words stress the third syllable from the end, with nothing in the spelling to warn you.
When the stress falls on the last vowel, it is always written with an accent.
Most IPA letters mean what you would guess. These are the conventions and symbols on the vocabulary cards that don't. Nouns are shown with their article.
The syllable after it is stressed. Words of one syllable have no mark.
A doubled symbol is a long consonant (see Double consonants).
Closed e (as in 'say', held still) and open e (as in 'bed').
Closed o (as in 'go', held still) and open o (as in 'off').
Soft c and soft g: 'ch' and 'j'.
The two sounds of z.
'sh': sc before e or i.
gli and gn.
The glides: a quick i or u before another vowel, as in 'yes' and 'we' — not the English j.
n shaped by the next sound: before c or g, and before f or v.
Exaggerate double consonants at first: pause on them as if counting a beat. It is the single most noticeable thing an English speaker can get right.
Drill the pairs: sete and sette, caro and carro, casa and cena, gatto and gelato.
In any lesson, the pronunciation settings let you slow the audio down without changing its pitch — the easiest way to hear double consonants and where the stress falls.
The role-play in each lesson has you speak your character's lines aloud. Italian rhythm, with its long stressed vowels and held consonants, comes alive in sentences.