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M

A Bi Ci Di E F Gi H I L
          effe   acca   elle
                   
M N O Pi Qu R S Ti U Vi Z
emme enne       erre esse       zeta


 

The Alphabet, Spelling and Phonetic conventions.

To spell a word, particularly on the telephone, Italians refer to the names of cities.

To spell the word "CASA" (house) they will say: "COMO, ANCONA, SIENA, ANCONA."

The list of cities is not fixed. Thus, instead of "COMO," one could as well use "CATANIA," "CAPRI" or any other well known location.

Below you will find the alphabet spelled the Italian way.

Complete list of all the cities (mp3)
 
Click on A to hear the pronunciation.
Click on the links to connect to the city's Websites.
A A come Ancona                  
B B come Bologna                 
C C come Como                     
D D come Domodossola        
E E come Empoli                   
F F come Firenze                   
G G come Genova                 
H H Acca come Hotel           
I I come Imola                     
L L come Livorno                
M M come Milano                

 

 
Click on to hear the pronunciation.
Click on the city to connect to the Website.
N N come Napoli               
O O come Otranto             
P P come Palermo             
Q Q "Cu" come Quadro      
R R come Roma                
S S come Siena                 
T T come Torino               
U U come Udine                
V V come Venezia             
Z Z Zeta Zero                    

 

Write the name of the city next to the corresponding letter

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
L
M

 

 

 
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
Z

 

 

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER LETTERS?

Italian normally is written with only 21 letters.
The remaining letters (JKWXY) are used almost exclusively for foreign words.
And here is how they are pronounced....

J J = i lunga
K K = kappa
W W = doppia vu
X X = ics
Y Y = i greca

 

 

ITALIAN PHONETIC CONVENTIONS

Unlike English, Italian is written according to fixes phonetic conventions.
This means that the various sounds are written always (well, almost always) in the same way.

Learn a few rules and you will be able to read and pronounce any text accurately.

                                        Complete list of all the words below (mp3)

LETTERA C   In the textboxes below write other words with the featured sound
CA CASA
CO COMO
hear the pronunciation CU
 CUBO
hear the pronunciation CHI CHIANTI
hear the pronunciation CHE
 ORCHESTRA BRUSCHETTA
     
hear the pronunciation CIA CIAO
hear the pronunciation CIO PASTICCIO
hear the pronunciation CIU CIUCO
hear the pronunciation CI CAPPUCCINO PUCCINI
hear the pronunciation CE VERSACE   DOLCE

 

LETTERA C   Write the translation
hear the pronunciation CA CASA, arca, cammello, pacato, orca
hear the pronunciation CO COMO, arco, fianco, parco, ricco, spacco
hear the pronunciation CU CUBO, acuto, accusare, curioso, lacuna
hear the pronunciation CHI CHIANTI, macchina, chiodo, chimica, chiuso
hear the pronunciation CHE ORCHESTRA, BRUSCHETTA, forchetta, racchetta
     
hear the pronunciation CIA CIAO, lancia, mancia, pasticciare, ciarlare
hear the pronunciation CIO PASTICCIO, arcione, cio', acciottolato,
hear the pronunciation CIU CIUCO, paciugo, ciucciare,
hear the pronunciation CI CAPPUCCINO, PUCCINI, cipolla, cima, arcigno, ciglio
hear the pronunciation CE VERSACE, DOLCE, ceramica, aceto, cerimonia, cento

LETTERA G    
hear the pronunciation GA GABBANA
hear the pronunciation GO SPAGO
hear the pronunciation GU GUCCI
hear the pronunciation GHI GHIRO
hear the pronunciation GHE SPAGHETTI
     
hear the pronunciation GIA GIACOMO
hear the pronunciation GIO GIORGIO
hear the pronunciation GIU GIULIANI
hear the pronunciation GI GIGLI
hear the pronunciation GE GELATO
     
hear the pronunciation GN GNOCCHI  LASAGNA
hear the pronunciation GLI VOGLIO

 
LETTERA G   Write the translation
hear the pronunciation GA GABBANA, gabbia, toga, conga, galante, regalare
hear the pronunciation GO SPAGO, golena, pargolo, gomitolo, Congo, gomena
hear the pronunciation GU GUCCI, arguto, paguro, guru, coagulante
hear the pronunciation GHI GHIRO, ghigno, paghi, paciughino, ghianda
hear the pronunciation GHE SPAGHETTI, ghetto, righello, paghe, folaghe
     
hear the pronunciation GIA GIACOMO, giacca, arrangiare, giaculatoria, gianni, flangia
hear the pronunciation GIO GIORGIO, giorno, ragionare, ligio, pigione, peggiore
hear the pronunciation GIU GIULIANI, giuggiolone, giugno, aggiungere, digiuno
hear the pronunciation GI GIGLI, girello, pagina, psicologi, agitare, gita
hear the pronunciation GE GELATO, gesto, agente, argento, reagente
hear the pronunciation GLI VOGLIO, voglia, coniglio, conchiglia, quadriglia, maglia, bottiglie
hear the pronunciation GN AGNOSTICO, ignorare, gnucco, ignavia, agnello, gnocchi

GRUPPO SC-    
hear the pronunciation SCI SCIVOLARE
hear the pronunciation SCE SCENA
hear the pronunciation SCIA SCIAGURA
hear the pronunciation SCIO SCIOPERO
hear the pronunciation SCIU SCIUPARE


 

GRUPPO SC-   Write the translation
hear the pronunciation SCI SCIVOLARE, cascina, fasci, scimmia
hear the pronunciation SCE SCENA, fasce, oscena, ganasce, scempio
hear the pronunciation SCIA SCIAGURA, pascia', lasciare, coscia, sciancrato
hear the pronunciation SCIO SCIOPERO, liscio, sciogliere, rilascio
hear the pronunciation SCIU SCIUPARE, sfasciume, asciugare

 

GRUPPO GL-   Write the translation
hear the pronunciation GLI figli, conigli, magli, gigli, giacigli
hear the pronunciation GLIA foglia, figlia, famiglia, bottiglia, aglianico, voglia
hear the pronunciation GLIE foglie, paglierino, bottiglie, cogliere, canaglie
hear the pronunciation GLIO padiglione, faraglioni, orgoglio, foglio, cartiglio, aglio

 

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