Alphabet & Pronunciation
Alphabet & Pronunciation
Italian spelling is far more consistent than English — once you learn a handful of rules for c, g, and a few letter combos, you can pronounce almost any word correctly on sight.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
c and g: Hard Before a/o/u, Soft Before e/i
casa (hard) / cena (soft)
house / dinner
Before a, o, or u, c sounds like English 'k' and g sounds like the 'g' in 'go'. Before e or i, c softens to 'ch' (as in 'chair') and g softens to 'j' (as in 'jeep'). To force the hard sound before e/i, Italian inserts a silent h: chi ('kee'), ghiaccio ('gee-AHT-choh'). To force the soft sound before a/o/u instead, it inserts a silent i: cioccolato ('choh-koh-LAH-toh'), giorno ('JOR-noh').
gli and gn: Sounds English Doesn't Have
famiglia / bagno
family / bathroom
gli makes an 'ly' sound squeezed into one syllable, close to the 'lli' in English 'million'. gn makes an 'ny' sound, like the middle of 'canyon' or Spanish ñ. Both are single sounds, not two separate consonants — practice them slowly at first.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- house
- English
- dinner
- English
- cat
- English
- ice cream
- English
- church
- English
- ice
- English
- family
- English
- bathroom
- English
- scarf
- English
- school
- English
- pizza
- English
- day