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Lessons for English speakers

Learn to read Italian

A short, active path into reading Italian: decode real words from a small sound guide, learn where the endings and the verb sit, meet the past that fables are printed in, and read a whole fable before opening your first book.

13 core sections · ≈ 32 min + 3 optional lookups · ≈ 48 min with everything
5

Script lookup: every letter, every letter team

Optional lookup · ≈ 5 min
What you'll learn
  • Open this when a word will not come apart. The stories ahead do not need it.
  • The Italian alphabet is twenty-one letters; j, k, w, x and y turn up only in borrowed words.
  • Eight letter teams cover every remaining sound: ch, gh, ci, gi, sc, sch, gli, gn.
  • The last three blocks are the spelling-is-not-the-sound cases, collected in one place.

You do not need this section to finish the lesson. It is here for the moment a word will not come apart in your mouth — an unfamiliar letter pair, a spelling that refuses to match the sound you expect. Look up the row, then go straight back to where you were. Nothing in the two stories at the end depends on reading it.

The five vowels

  • a
    ah, as in father
    casaKAH-zah
    “house”
  • e
    eh, as in bed
    verdeVEHR-deh
    “green”
  • i
    ee, as in machine
    piccoloPEEK-koh-loh
    “small”
  • o
    oh, as in more
    soleSOH-leh
    “sun”
  • u
    oo, as in food
    unoOO-noh
    “one”

Each vowel keeps its full value, even in the middle of a long word, and even at the end of one.

The letters that are not English

  • c
    k before a, o, u — but the ch of church before e and i
    casa and ciao: one letter, two sounds, and the vowel after it decides which.
    caneKAH-neh
    “dog”
  • g
    g as in go before a, o, u — but j as in jam before e and i
    gatto and gelato — the same pair of sounds, one letter down from c.
    gattoGAHT-toh
    “cat”
  • h
    no sound at all. Its job is to keep c and g hard
    h is a shield: it hardens c and g. chi = “kee”.
    hooh
    “I have”
  • r
    tapped — the tongue flicks once behind the top teeth. Never the English r
    The tt of an American “butter” — one flick, not a growl.
    rossoROHS-soh
    “red”
  • s
    s as in sit, but usually the z of rose between two vowels
    Caught between two vowels it goes lazy: casa is “KAH-zah”.
    casaKAH-zah
    “house”
  • z
    ts as in cats, or dz as in kids — the word decides, and either is understood
    The ts you already say in pizza.
    grazieGRAH-tsyeh
    “thank you”
  • qu
    kw. The q never appears without its u
    q never travels without u — the same inseparable pair as English queen.
    quikwee
    “here”

The eight letter teams

  • ch
    k — never the ch of church
    h is a shield: chi = “kee”, never “chee”.
    chikee
    “who”
  • gh
    g as in go
    The same shield on g — and you already say it in spaghetti.
    spaghettispah-GEHT-tee
    “spaghetti”
  • ci
    the ch of church; before another vowel the i is silent and is there only to soften the c
    ciaochow
    “hello; bye”
  • gi
    j as in jam; before another vowel the i is silent
    The j of gelato, the same one English borrowed.
    giornoJOR-noh
    “day”
  • sc
    sh as in ship before e or i; sk before a, o, u
    The sh you already say in prosciutto.
    pescePEH-sheh
    “fish”
  • sch
    sk — the same h doing the same job
    The shield again: never “-shetta”.
    bruschettabroo-SKEHT-tah
    “bruschetta”
  • gli
    the lli of million: the flat of the tongue on the roof of the mouth, l and y together
    famigliafah-MEE-lyah
    “family”
  • gn
    the ni of onion: the same broad tongue contact, with the air going through the nose — not g then n
    gn as in lasagna — you already say it.
    gnocchiNYOHK-kee
    “gnocchi”

The five letters Italian does not use

  • j
    borrowed words only: jeans, judo
  • k
    borrowed words only: karate, kiwi
  • w
    borrowed words only: weekend, wafer
  • x
    borrowed words only: taxi, extra
  • y
    borrowed words only: yoga, yogurt

The Italian alphabet is twenty-one letters, not twenty-six. If you see one of these five, the word came in from somewhere else and is usually said roughly the way the lending language says it.

Spelling on the left, sound on the right

ce
“cheh” — felicefeh-LEE-cheh“happy”
che
“keh” — perchépehr-KEH“why; because”
ci
“chee” — dieciDYEH-chee“ten”
chi
“kee” — chikee“who”
gi, ge
“j” as in jam — giornoJOR-noh“day”
ghi, ghe
“g” as in go — spaghettispah-GEHT-tee
sci, sce
“sh” — pescePEH-sheh“fish”
gli
the “lli” of million — famigliafah-MEE-lyah“family”
gn
the “ni” of onion — gnocchiNYOHK-kee“gnocchi”
qu
“kw” — quikwee“here”
h
nothing at all — hooh“I have”
casa
“KAH-zah”
The s sits between two vowels, so it says z.
gli uccelli
“lyee oot-CHEHL-lee”
the birds — three of this path’s spelling rules in three syllables

The words on this path that lean further back

albero“tree”
AL-be-ro — “AHL-beh-roh”
piccolo“small”
PIC-co-lo — “PEEK-koh-loh”
nevica“it is snowing”
NE-vi-ca — “NEH-vee-kah”

There is no rule to derive those from. Learn each one when you meet it.

Two accents that are not about the lean at all

èeh“is”
eeh“and”
Same sound, different word. The accent is there to keep them apart in writing.
sìsee“yes”
sisee
si is the little word inside si chiama“he is called; she is called”.