Italian is a phonetic language. If you can master its spelling rules, you can basically listen and write words and easily read out loud any portion of Italian text. Beginners don't need to master all of these pronunciation rules. However, it's recommended to simply understand them at first. Click on the audio to imitate the pronunciation and, if you encounter problems at any time while you study, you can go back to check. Let's try it together!

The Italian language has 26 letters:

“J, k, w, x, y” are foreign letters that usually appear in foreign words. Among the remaining 21 letters, 5 of them are vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 16 are consonants.

The Italian language has 5 vowels:

1. The pronunciation of “e” and “o” can be done with either an open or a closed mouth:

*Why is there no accent mark in "cuore" and "correre"? Check the following note.

2. Accent marks only appear in words that end with a vowel, and they are pronounced on the last syllable of the word. In other situations, they are generally omitted (it is why we do not put an accent mark in "cuore" or "correre"). For example:

3. As you practice your pronunciation, pay attention to the difference between open and closed accents since this distinction can sometimes change the meaning of the word. For example:

4. Italian accents are usually stressed on the second-to-last syllable. However, irregularities need to be memorized separately.

Italian consonants are relatively easier to pronounce. Please, click on the following words to learn their pronounciations:

The following words give you examples of the pronunciation of the consonants “c” and “g” when they are followed by vowels “a”, “o” and “u”:

The following words give you examples of the pronunciation of the consonants “c” and “g” when they are followed by vowels “i” and “e”:

Generally, the letter “h” is silent. For example:

However, when it's placed after the consonants “c” or “g”, it can change the original pronunciation.

The consonants “z” and “s” have two different pronunciations: voiceless and voiced.

Beginners don't need to master the specific rules of voiceless and voiced “z” and “s”. It's enough to remember the pronunciation of specific words you come across.

Whenever the consonants “s” and “c” are combined, there can be a pronunciation change:

However, when the letters are followed by the consonant “h”, the pronunciation doesn't change:

When the consonants “g” and “n” are placed next to each other, the pronunciation changes:

When the consonants “g” and “l” are combined with the vowel “i”, in most cases the pronunciation changes:

In some cases, the sound doesn't change. For example:

In Italian, there can be two identical consonants right next to each other. This is called a double consonant. Double consonants can change the meaning of the word, therefore you need to pay attention when you pronounce them. For example:

Some common combinations of double consonants are: cc, ff, gg, ll, mm, nn, rr, tt, etc.