LE REGOLE dei SUONI

e LE LETTEREin ITALIANO

La lettera “A”•The letter “A” always makes

the same sound in Italian, no matter how many times it is used in a word.

The letter “A” makes the sound:

“ah”

EXAMPLES of words with “A”

• lana

• sala

• Mamma

• Papa`

• Calandra

• Sara

La lettera “E”• The letter “E” always makes the same sound in Italian, no matter how many times it is

used in a word.The letter “E” makes the sound:

“eh”

EXAMPLES of words with “E”

• penne

• Sere

• Mele

• Delle

• Rete

• Mettete

La lettera “I”•The letter “I” always makes the same sound in Italian, no matter how many times it is

used in a word.The letter “I” makes the sound:

“ee”

EXAMPLES of words with “I”

• Fili

• Mini

• Bindi

• Siti

• Vini

• Ziti

La lettera “O”•The letter “O” always makes

the same sound in Italian, no matter how many times it is

used in a word.The letter “O” makes the sound:

“oh”

EXAMPLES of words with “O”

• fono

• foto

• Moto

• Cotto

• Sotto

• Coro

• Moro

La lettera “U”• The letter “U” always makes the same sound in Italian, no matter how many times it is

used in a word.The letter “U” makes the sound:

“oo”

EXAMPLES of words with “U”

• Futuro

• Uva

• Lume

• Tu

• Nuvola

The following letters DO NOT EXIST in the Italian alphabet:

•J•K•W•X•Y

The letters “C”& “G” are special

•The letters C and G are the only 2 letters

in Italian that can make 2 different

sounds each depending on what

letter is next to them!

La lettera “C”•The letter “C” sounds like

“CH” when E or I are next to it:• EXAMPLES:

• Cima Cielo• Citta Cinema

• Cestino Celeste• Certo Cera

La lettera “C”…• Should NEVER EVER EVER

NEVER EVER NEVER EVER NEVER NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER NEVER EVER NEVER EVER NEVER EVER…..

SOUND LIKE AN “S”

La lettera “C”•The letter “C” sounds like “K”

when any letter BESIDES “E” or “I” are next to it:

•EXAMPLES:•Carta costo•Chilo crede•Cura clima

La lettera “G”•The letter “G” sounds like “J”

when E or I are next to it:•EXAMPLES:

•Gioco Gita•Giallo Gigi

•Gesto Gelato•Genere Gettone

La lettera “G”•The letter “G” sounds like “GH”

when any letter BESIDES “E”, “I”, “N”, or “L” are next to it:

• EXAMPLES:• Gomma Gol

• Grillo Grande• Gucci Gloria

Le lettere “GL”•The letter combination of

“GL” sounds like “Y” •EXAMPLES:•gli aglio

•maglione paglia•medaglia

Le lettere “GN”•The letter combination of

“GN” sounds like “NY”•EXAMPLES:

•giugno ragna• legno sognare

•bagno

DOUBLE CONSONANTS

• WHEN you see a double consonant in an Italian word it usually means that you must

EMPHASIZE that sound.• mamma sette offerta• grasso mattina pollo

• otto babbo Gianni• doppio ecco addio

ACCENT MARKS•WHEN you see an accent mark on the END of a word in Italian, it means you must EMPHASIZE

that part of the word.• Manfre`citta` papa`

• Gesu` virtu` carita`• volonta` universita` gia`