VOWELS

The Italian vowels are a, e, i, o, u. They are pronounced as follows:

LetterSoundAs InExample
aahbah cane (dog)
eehbet bene (well)
ieehbeet vino (wine)
oohbought oro (gold)
uoohboot uso (use)

In words where the i and u come before or after another vowel (in the same syllable), they are pronounced instead as follows:

LetterSoundAs InExample
iyyes ieri (yesterday)
iysay mai (never)
uwway uomo (man)
uwcow causa (cause)
SINGLE CONSONANTS

Italian uses the Latin alphabet, which results in a language with only 21 letters, because the letters j, k, w, x and y only occur in Italian as part of words imported from other languages.

Additionally, the language has both single and double consonants. The pronunciation of single consonants is summarized in the chart below:

LetterSoundAs InExample
b bbat bene (well)
c (before a, o, u) kcat cane (dog)
ch (before e, i) chi (who)
c (before e, i) chchin cena (breakfast)
ci (before a, o, u) ciao (hi/bye)
d ddip dopo (after)
f ffair fare (to do, make)
g (before a, o, u) ggas gatto (cat)
gh (before e, i) ghiaccio (ice)
g (before e, i) jgym gente (people)
gi (before a, o, u) giacca (jacket)
gli lymillion figlio (son)
gn nycanyon bagno (bathroom)
l llove latte (milk)
m mman mano (hand)
n nname nome (name)
p ppen pane (bread)
q k(w)quick qui (here)
r rbrrrrr… rosso (red)
s (voiceless)ssip sale (salt)
spin specchio (mirror)
s (voiced)zzip casa (house)
sbaglio (mistake)
sc (before a, o, u) skskill scuola (school)
sch (before e, i) schema (scheme)
sc (before e, i) shshave scena (scene)
sci (before a, o, u) sciarpa (scarf)
t ttent tanto (much)
v vvine vino (wine)
z ts or dscats or lads zio (uncle)

DOUBLE CONSONANTS

These are not sounded in English, even though double letters are often used (but they represent single consonant sounds).

The Italian double consonants last approximately twice as long as corresponding single ones and are pronounced with more intensity. They occur between vowels or between a vowel and l or r:

ExampleMeaning
arrivedercigood-bye
bassoshort
bellobeautiful
caffècoffee
camminareto walk
facciaface
formaggiocheese
mammamom
nonnograndfather
occhioeye
pizzapizza

SPELLING PECULIARITIES

In general, there is a one-to-one correspondence between a sound and the letter (or letters) used to represent it. The main exceptions are as follows.

Words with a stressed final vowel are written with an accent mark on the vowel. The mark is usually grave. But in some words, especially those ending in -ché, the acute accent mark may be used.

ExampleMeaning
caffècoffee
cittàcity
perchéwhy, because
poichésince

Words spelled with j, k, w, x, and y are words that Italians have adopted from other languages, especially English.

ExampleMeaning
il jazzjazz
il karatèkarate
il weekendweekend

The letter h is used only in several present indicative tense forms of the verb avere (to have). It is always silent.

ExampleMeaning
io hoI have
tu haiyou have (familiar)
Lei hayou have (polite)
lui / lei hahe / she has
loro hannothey have

As in English, capital letters are used at the beginning of sentences and to write proper nouns (names of people, countries, etc.). However, there are a few different conventions worth noting: the pronoun io (I), titles, months of the year, days of the week, and adjectives and nouns referring to languages and nationalities are not capitalized.

ExampleMeaning
dottoreDr.
professoreProfessor
signoraMs., Mrs.
cineseChinese
ingleseEnglish
italianoItalian
gennaioJanuary
settembreSeptember
ottobreOctober
lunedìMonday
martedìTuesday

On the other hand, the polite pronoun Lei (you) and other corresponding polite forms are capitalized (although this is optional).