Italian has a reputation as the language you can read aloud on day one. The letters are regular, and a c before an e is always the same sound. Then you say nonno (grandfather) so that it sounds like nono (ninth), and the reputation stops helping.
The spelling leaves out two things, and English habits hide a third. It never tells you whether an e or an o is open or closed. It marks stress only when stress falls on the last vowel. And it writes double consonants that English readers see and then pronounce single.
This cheat sheet lists all 30 sounds of standard Italian with an example word for each, then covers those three gaps one by one.
Want an Italian word in IPA? Look it up in the Italian to IPA converter.
How the 30 sounds are counted
The inventory follows Wikipedia's Help:IPA/Italian key for standard Italian: 7 vowels, 2 semivowels and 21 consonants. Each one gets one row in the tables below, and the rows add up to 30.
The key itself has 23 rows of native consonants. Two of them, [ɱ] as in invece and [ŋ] as in anche, are what /n/ becomes before /f v/ and before /k ɡ/. The key's own footnote says a nasal always takes the place of articulation of the consonant that follows it, so these two are forms of /n/ rather than separate sounds, and they are not counted. Sounds that only turn up in loanwords, such as the /h/ of hobby or the /ʒ/ of garage, are left out too.
Two notes on the transcriptions. They come from an Italian pronunciation lexicon IPAtics maintains, checked by hand, which shows vowel quality and double consonants but does not mark stress, so you will not see a stress mark in the tables. The section on stress shows where it falls. And the affricates carry a tie bar, as in /t͡ʃ/, to show that the two symbols stand for one sound. The Wikipedia key writes the same sound without it, as /tʃ/.
Vowels (7)
| Symbol | Example | Example in IPA | Nearest English sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | pane | /pane/ | a in spa, but shorter |
| /e/ | vero | /vero/ | a in fade, without the glide |
| /ɛ/ | bello | /bɛllo/ | e in bed |
| /i/ | vino | /vino/ | i in ski |
| /o/ | sole | /sole/ | o in go, without the glide |
| /ɔ/ | otto | /ɔtto/ | o in off |
| /u/ | luna | /luna/ | u in rule |
Five vowel letters, seven vowels. The extra two come from e and o, which each have a closed version (/e/, /o/) and an open one (/ɛ/, /ɔ/). The open ones occur only in stressed syllables, and the spelling never shows which one a word has. That alone is a good reason to check transcriptions instead of trusting the letters.
Semivowels (2)
| Symbol | Example | Example in IPA | Nearest English sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| /j/ | più | /pju/ | y in yes |
| /w/ | uomo | /wɔmo/ | w in wine |
These are usually the letters i and u when they sit next to another vowel and do not carry the stress. Più is one syllable, not "pee-oo".
Consonants (21)
The consonants split into three groups by how they are made.
Stops and affricates (10)
| Symbol | Example | Example in IPA | Nearest English sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| /p/ | padre | /padre/ | p in spin, no puff of air |
| /b/ | bocca | /bokka/ | b in about |
| /t/ | tre | /tre/ | t in star, tongue on the teeth |
| /d/ | dove | /dove/ | d in today, tongue on the teeth |
| /k/ | chi | /ki/ | c in scar, no puff of air |
| /ɡ/ | gatto | /ɡatto/ | g in again |
| /t͡s/ | pizza | /pitt͡sa/ | ts in cats |
| /d͡z/ | zero | /d͡zɛro/ | ds in dads |
| /t͡ʃ/ | ciao | /t͡ʃao/ | ch in check |
| /d͡ʒ/ | gelato | /d͡ʒelato/ | j in job |
English /p t k/ come with a small puff of air at the start of a stressed syllable. Italian /p t k/ do not, which is why the comparisons above are spin, star and scar: after /s/, English drops the puff as well. Italian /t/ and /d/ are also made with the tongue against the back of the upper teeth, not on the ridge behind them.
The spelling rules fit in a few lines. C and g are /k/ and /ɡ/ before a, o and u, and before an h, as in chi. Before e and i they are /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/, as in ciao and gelato; in ciao the i is only there to soften the c. The letter z is either /t͡s/ or /d͡z/, and the spelling does not say which: pizza has the first, zero the second.
Fricatives (5)
| Symbol | Example | Example in IPA | Nearest English sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| /f/ | fame | /fame/ | f in fast |
| /v/ | voce | /vot͡ʃe/ | v in vent |
| /s/ | sale | /sale/ | s in sorry |
| /z/ | sbaglio | /zbaʎʎo/ | z in zoo |
| /ʃ/ | pesce | /peʃʃe/ | sh in shoe |
/s/ and /z/ are both written s. At the start of a word before a vowel it is /s/, and before a voiced consonant such as b, d, g, v, l, m, n or r it is always /z/, as in sbaglio (mistake). Only between two vowels can either one appear, and that is where regions part ways: northern speakers tend to say /z/ in casa, central and southern speakers /s/.
Nasals, laterals and r (6)
| Symbol | Example | Example in IPA | Nearest English sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| /m/ | mano | /mano/ | m in mother |
| /n/ | naso | /naso/ | n in nest |
| /ɲ/ | gnocchi | /ɲɔkki/ | ny in canyon |
| /l/ | latte | /latte/ | l in leaf, never the dark l of milk |
| /ʎ/ | figlio | /fiʎʎo/ | none (lli in million comes close) |
| /r/ | Roma | /roma/ | none (a tap or a trill) |
Gn is always /ɲ/. Gli is /ʎ/ in almost every word; the exceptions include Greek-derived words such as glicosio (glucose), where it is /ɡl/ followed by /i/.
Double consonants: hold them
Italian writes double consonants and says them long. For a stop such as /tt/ the closure is held for a beat before it releases. For a sound that can be stretched, such as /ll/ or /ss/, the sound itself goes on longer. It is a real contrast, and plenty of word pairs differ in length and nothing else:
| Example | Example in IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| caro | /karo/ | dear |
| carro | /karro/ | cart |
| pala | /pala/ | shovel |
| palla | /palla/ | ball |
| fato | /fato/ | fate |
| fatto | /fatto/ | done |
| nono | /nɔno/ | ninth |
| nonno | /nɔnno/ | grandfather |
| sono | /sono/ | I am |
| sonno | /sonno/ | sleep |
English has long consonants only where two words, or two parts of a word, meet: the /kk/ in bookcase, the /tt/ in night-time. That is the feeling to aim for inside a single Italian word.
The vowel before the consonant changes too. A stressed vowel followed by a single consonant is long, so in fato the a is held a little and the t is short. In fatto it is the other way round: a short a and a held t.
Three more rules finish the picture:
- /t͡s/, /d͡z/, /ʃ/, /ɲ/ and /ʎ/ are always long between vowels, even when the spelling writes them once. That is why pesce is /peʃʃe/, figlio is /fiʎʎo/ and stazione is /statt͡sjone/.
- /z/ is the one consonant that never doubles.
- In standard pronunciation, a word's first consonant also doubles after a stressed final vowel and after certain short words, so va via ("go away") is said with a long /v/ in the middle. This is called syntactic gemination. Speakers from northern Italy use it inconsistently.
Stress, and the two kinds of e and o
Most Italian words are stressed on the second-to-last syllable: PA-ne, ge-LA-to, ra-GAZ-zo. Many are stressed one syllable earlier, and the spelling gives no warning: TA-vo-lo (table), te-LE-fo-no (telephone), PAR-la-no (they speak). Stress on the last syllable is the one case the spelling marks, with an accent: città, perché.
Stress matters for more than rhythm, because it decides which e and o a syllable can have. /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ occur only in stressed syllables, and every unstressed e or o is the closed one. Move the stress and the vowel closes:
| Example | Example in IPA | Stressed syllable |
|---|---|---|
| bello | /bɛllo/ | BEL-lo |
| bellissimo | /bellissimo/ | bel-LIS-si-mo |
| otto | /ɔtto/ | OT-to |
| ottanta | /ottanta/ | ot-TAN-ta |
| terra | /tɛrra/ | TER-ra |
| terreno | /terreno/ | ter-RE-no |
The written accent on a final vowel also tells you its quality. An acute é is closed and a grave è is open. A final stressed o is almost always open, so it is written ò:
| Example | Example in IPA | What the accent says |
|---|---|---|
| perché | /perke/ | é: closed /e/ |
| cioè | /t͡ʃoɛ/ | è: open /ɛ/ |
| però | /perɔ/ | ò: open /ɔ/ |
Inside a word, nothing marks the difference, and a few pairs are spelled identically. Pesca with /ɛ/ is a peach; with /e/ it is fishing. Venti with /e/ is "twenty"; with /ɛ/ it is "winds". Botte with /o/ is a barrel; with /ɔ/ it is "blows". Dictionaries print the accent inside the word (pèsca, pésca) to tell them apart. Ordinary text does not.
This is also the most regional part of Italian pronunciation. The standard, and the dictionaries that record it, follow a pattern that comes from Florentine. Some regional accents, including those of Palermo and Piedmont, drop the open and closed split altogether.
The five sounds English speakers miss
1. The tapped or trilled r
A single r is usually a tap: the tip of the tongue strikes the ridge behind the upper teeth once. American English makes the same movement for the t in butter. A double rr is a trill, several taps in quick succession, and the pair caro /karo/ and carro /karro/ rests on that difference. The English r is a different sound altogether: the tongue comes close to the roof of the mouth but touches nothing. Spanish splits tap and trill the same way, and the drills in our guide to the IPA symbols English speakers get wrong in Spanish carry over to Italian.
2. Double consonants
If nonno and nono come out the same, you are saying "ninth" when you mean "grandfather". Read the pairs in the table above aloud, record yourself, and listen for the held consonant. If you cannot hear the held t in fatto that is missing from fato, the listener cannot either.
3. /ʎ/, the gli sound
English has no /ʎ/. The nearest thing is the lli in million, which is two sounds, an /l/ followed by a /j/. Italian /ʎ/ is one: the middle of the tongue presses flat against the hard palate while air escapes at the sides. Keep the tip of your tongue down behind your lower teeth and try to say an /l/; that gets close. Practise on famiglia /famiʎʎa/, aglio /aʎʎo/ (garlic) and figli /fiʎʎi/ (children).
4. Pure /e/ and /o/
The vowels of English day and go do not end where they start: the tongue slides up towards /i/ or /u/ at the end. Italian /e/ and /o/ stay put from start to finish. Hold your jaw and lips still until the next consonant arrives: vero /vero/, sole /sole/, nome /nome/.
5. Full vowels where English would reduce them
English often turns unstressed vowels into schwa, the "uh" at the end of pasta as English speakers say it. Our guide to the English schwa explains why that habit runs so deep. Italian has no schwa, and every vowel keeps its full quality whether it is stressed or not: pasta /pasta/ ends in a real /a/. The final vowel often carries grammar, so reducing it erases information. Ragazzo /raɡatt͡so/ is a boy, ragazza /raɡatt͡sa/ is a girl, and a schwa at the end makes them the same word.
Convert your own text
Tables cover the sounds; your own reading list covers the words. Look up any Italian word in the Italian to IPA converter and compare the transcription with the rows above. If a symbol is still new to you, how to read IPA transcriptions starts from the beginning.
IPAtics shows the IPA for any text you select, in any app.
Sources: the inventory and the notes on gemination, nasals, /r/ and vowel length follow Wikipedia's Help:IPA/Italian; the regional notes follow Wikipedia's Italian phonology and syntactic gemination articles; the homograph pairs follow Wiktionary; the English comparisons follow Ladefoged and Johnson, A Course in Phonetics, chapters 3 to 5.