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🔤 Compendium
Grammar
IT
Italiano — Alphabet and pronunciation
The Italian alphabet has 21 letters. The five vowels a, e, i, o, u are always pronounced clearly, and most consonants have a fixed sound. The letters j, k, w, x, y appear only in foreign or borrowed words.
1
How it works
✓ Rule
Italian spelling is largely phonetic: each letter is usually read the same way. The vowels stay pure (casa, vero, vino, sole, luna), while c and g are hard before a, o, u (casa, gatto) but soft before e and i (cena, gelato).
2
Sounds to watch
| Letter / digraph | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| c + e, i | soft, like ch in "chair" | cena, ciao |
| c + a, o, u | hard k | casa, cuoco |
| g + e, i | soft, like j in "jam" | gelato, giorno |
| gli | like lli in "million" | figlio, gli |
| gn | like ny in "canyon" | gnocchi, bagno |
| sc + e, i | like sh in "ship" | pesce, sciare |
| z | ts or dz | pizza, zero |
| h | always silent | ho, hotel |
3
Good to know
⚠ Note
The letter h is always silent: it only hardens c and g (chi, ghe) or marks forms of avere (ho, hai, ha). Double consonants are held longer and change meaning, so nonno (grandfather) is not nono (ninth).