|
i The letter ‘i’ in Italian is always pronounced like the English i in Italian in injury /interesting Internet
Che idea! L ( Ke i-day-ya!) = What an idea! &
EXCEPTION – why? They maintain the original pronunciation from English
Un ipod! Che bello! = An iPod. How nice!
Un ipad! Che bello! = An iPad. How nice!
Un iphone! Che bello! = An iPhone. How nice!
z ts or dz sound as in pizza (pronounced pits-tza)
zero (dzero)
lezione
grazie
marzo= March
gli /L in Italian as in million or sell (NB L in English at the beginning of a word has a different tongue position eg less)
gli amici
gli occhiali
gli occhi
cellulare
molto bene
ultimo(last/latest)
famiglia
luglio= July
gn n-yer sound as in onion gn gnocchi
ogni = every
signora=Ms/Mrs/Madam
signore=Sir
signor Bianchi =Mr White
chi/che as in kitten/kettle in English
Che film! = What a film! (KE film)
anche = too
Chi è! = Who is it? (Ki eh?)
chilo = kg/kilo
ghi/ghe as in Ghibellines/ghetto in English
Ho i capelli lunghi! = I have long hair
spaghetti!
ci/ce as in check in English
Ciao! ricci =curly faccio cinque (5)
C’è la signora C.? = Is Ms C. there?
cellulare =mobile phone
gi/ge as in gin/gentle in English
oggi! = Today
maggio = May
festeggi
giugno= June
gennaio = January
buongiorno
sci/sce as in ship/shed in English
Ho i capelli lisci = straight
sciare = to ski
uscire = to go out
scemo! = idiot!
‘R’ Roll your ‘r’ s —or at the very lest remember to pronounce them.
We ignore them in English: eg car/fern/firm/for/fur
Long & short vowels: The vowel is short sette(7) if a double consonant exists VS sete(thirst)
The vowel is long if there is 1 consonant
as in English: hopping/hoping mopping/moping eg an/no an/ni
casa (house) VS cassa (box)
sano (healthy) VS sanno (they know)
sete (thirst) VS sette (number 7)
‘s’ as in English music pigs dad’s caves like a “Z” in English
In Italian, an ‘s’ between 2 vowels is the same musica casa esame
‘h’ is always silent & similar to the English W in whole vs hole or K in knight
It distinguishes 2 words that are pronounced the same but have a different meaning.
Ho = I have vs o = or
Hanno = They have vs anno = year |
