Popular Flashcards
Let’s go
Andiamo
(Ahn-dyah-moh)
Fantastic
Fantastico
What’s up?
Che c’è
keh cheh
Agreed? Agreed!
D’accordo? D’accordo! (dahk-kohr-doh? dahk-kohr-doh!
Don’t worry about it.) (It doesn’t matter.
Non fa niente. (nohn fah nee-ehn-teh.) You say Non fa niente when someone apologizes to you for something.
You’re welcome
Non c’è di che. (nohn cheh dee keh.)
May I pass/come in?
Permesso? (pehr-mehs-soh?
Italians use this expression every time they cross a threshold entering a house or when passing through a crowd.
(Wonderful!) (Fabulous!)
Stupendo! (stooh-pehn-doh!)
Okay
Va bene! (vah beh-neh!)
Alphabet
Pronounce a
In Italian, the letter a has just one pronunciation. Think of the sound of the a in the English word father. The Italian a sounds just like that. To prevent you from falling back to the other a sounds found in English, the Italian a appears as (ah) in this book, as shown earlier in casa (kah-sah) (house). Here are some other examples: albero (ahl-beh-roh) (tree) marmellata (mahr-mehl-lah-tah) (jam) sale (sah-leh) (salt)
Pronounce e
To pronoun the e, try to think of the sound in the word day, which comes very close to the Italian e. In this book, you see the e sound as (eh). For example: sole (soh-leh) (sun) peso (peh-zoh) (weight) bere (beh-reh) (to drink) The Italian e actually has two pronunciations: an open e and a closed e. The open e sounds like the e in the English words exit and bet and in the Italian ecco (ehk-koh) (here we go) (here it is), è (eh) (he/she/it is), and festa (feh-stah) (party). You pronounce the closed e like the a in the English words late and day, such as in the Italian words e (eh) (and), nemico (neh-mee-koh) (enemy), and nome (noh-meh) (name). How do you know when to pronounce the open or closed e? You listen to many Italian songs and native Italian speakers and follow their lead
Pronounce i
The Italian i is simply pronounced (ee), as in the English word see. Here are some examples: cinema (chee-neh-mah) (cinema) bimbo (beem-boh) (little boy) vita (vee-tah) (life)
Pronounce o
The Italian o is pronounced as the o in the English (from the Italian) piano, and the pronunciation appears as (oh). Try it out on the following words: domani (doh-mah-nee) (tomorrow) piccolo (peek-koh-loh) (little; small) dolce (dohl-cheh) (sweet) Just as the e has two pronunciations for the open or closed e, so does the o. You pronounce the open o in Italian like the o in the English word soft: buono (bwoh-noh) (good), notte (noht-teh) (night), (noh-veh) (nine). The closed o sounds like the English word cold, which you see in Italian words like sole (soh-leh) (sun), voto (voh-toh) (vow), and torta (tohr-tah) (cake). Again, the best way to get familiar with the two pronunciations is to listen to native Italian speakers and practice.
Pronounce U
The Italian u always sounds like the English (ooh), as the oo in zoo. Here are some sample words: tu (tooh) (you) luna (looh-nah) (moon) frutta (frooht-tah) (fruit)
Mother
Madre
Father
Padre
Italian c sound
Hard c: When c is followed by a, o, u, or any consonant, you pronounce it as in the English word cat, indicated by the pronunciation (k). Examples include casa (kah-sah) (house), colpa (kohl-pah) (guilt; fault), and cuore (kwoh-reh) (heart). To get the (k) sound before e and i, you must put an h between the c and the e or i. Examples include che (keh) (what), chiesa (kyeh-zah) (church), and chiave (kyah-veh) (key). Soft c: When c is followed by e or i, you pronounce it as you do the first and last sounds in the English word church; therefore, the pronunciation is (ch). Examples include cena (cheh-nah) (dinner), cibo (chee-boh) (food),
and certo (chehr-toh) (certainly). To get the (ch) sound before a, o, or u, you have to insert an i. This i, however, serves only to create the (ch) sound; you don’t pronounce it. Examples include ciao (chou) (hello; goodbye), cioccolata (chok-koh-lah-tah) (chocolate), and ciuccio (chooh-choh) (baby’s pacifier).
Italian G Sound
The Italian g behaves the same as the c, so it’s presented here the same way: Hard g: When g is followed by a, o, u, or any consonant, you pronounce it as you pronounce the g in the English word good, and the pronunciation looks like (g). Examples include gamba (gahm-bah) (leg), gomma (gohm-mah) (rubber), and guerra (gweh-rah) (war). To get the (g) sound before e or i, you must put an h between the letter g and the e or i. Examples include spaghetti (spah-geht-tee) (spaghetti), ghiaccio (gyahch-choh) (ice), and ghirlanda (geer-lahn-dah) (wreath). Soft g: When g is followed by e or i, you pronounce it as you do the first sound in the English word job; therefore, the pronunciation is (j). Examples include gentile (jehn-tee-leh) (kind), giorno (johr-noh) (day), and gelosia (jeh-loh-zee-ah) (jealousy). To get the (j) sound before a, o, or u, you have to insert an i. The i serves only to indicate the proper sound; you don’t pronounce it. Examples include giacca (jahk-kah) (jacket), gioco (joh-koh) (game), and giudice (jooh-dee-cheh) (judge
Consonant H in Italian
The consonant h has only one function: namely, to change the sound of c and g before the vowels e and i, as described earlier. It also appears in foreign expressions such as hostess, hit parade, and hobby, and in some forms of the verb avere (ah-veh-reh) (to have), but it’s always silent.
Consonant q in Italian
Q exists only in connection with u followed by another vowel; that is, you always find qu. The q is pronounced like (k), and qu is, therefore, pronounced (kw). Examples include quattro (kwaht-troh) (four), questo (kwehs-toh) (this), and quadro (kwah-droh) (painting; framed art
Consonant q in Italian
Q exists only in connection with u followed by another vowel; that is, you always find qu. The q is pronounced like (k), and qu is, therefore, pronounced (kw). Examples include quattro (kwaht-troh) (four), questo (kwehs-toh) (this), and quadro (kwah-droh) (painting; framed art
Consonant r in Italian
Italian r is not pronounced with the tongue in the back, as it is in English, but trilled at the alveolar ridge, which is the front part of your palate, right behind your front teeth. You have to practice it. In the beginning, you may not find this pronunciation manageable, but practice makes perfect! Here are some words to help you practice: radio (rah-dee-oh) (radio) per favore (pehr fah-voh-reh) (please) prego (preh-goh) (you’re welcome
Please
(pehr fah-voh-reh) (please
