Learn the Italian alphabet and the pronunciation of Italian words
In this first Italian lesson you will be able to study the alphabet and how to pronounce Italian words. With the Italian lessons found on waialo.com you can improve your vocabulary and pronunciation even if you never heard an Italian word in your life.
The Italian alphabet contains 21 letters, the same letters found in the English alphabet except: ‘J j’, ‘K k’, ‘W w’, ‘X x’, ‘Y y’; the 5 missing letters can be found in foreign words. In Italian language you will find 5 vowels (‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’ ,’u’) with 7 different sounds (each of the letters ‘e’ and ‘o’ have two different sounds), when you will find more than one vowel in a word, you will have to pronounce them separately. If you don’t have a lot of practice in Italian pronunciation and you don’t know which sound to use for ‘e’ or ‘o’, you can use as an alternative: for ‘e’ at the end of the words a sound similar to ‘ay’ in ‘l ayer’, otherwise you can use a sound like ‘eh’ in ‘M ehndi’, for ‘o’ the sound ‘oh’ like in ‘alc ohol’. Now, in the following table you can study the Italian alphabet, the Italian letter names and how to pronounce each letter in Italian words.
Letter Italian Name Pronunciation A a a like ‘a’ in ‘faster’ B b bi like ‘b’ in ‘boy’ C c ci before ‘e’ or ‘i’ like ‘ch’ in ‘chin’ otherwise like ‘c’ in ‘cat’ D d di like ‘d’ in ‘dog’ E e e like ‘e’ in ‘set’ or like ‘a’ in ‘say’ F f effe like ‘f’ in ‘fish’ G g gi before ‘e’ or ‘i’ like ‘g’ in ‘gymnastics’ otherwise like ‘g’ in ‘go’ H h acca is always silent I i i like ‘ee’ in ‘meet’ L l elle like ‘l’ in ‘lime’ M m emme like ‘m’ in ‘me’ N n enne like ‘n’ in ‘nice’ O o o like ‘o’ in ‘often’ or like ‘o’ in ‘hope’ P p pi like ‘p’ in ‘pit’ Q q cu like ‘q’ in ‘quick’ R r erre like ‘r’ in ‘road’ S s esse between vowels like ‘s’ in ‘nose’ otherwise like ‘s’ in ‘siting’ T t ti like ‘t’ in ‘town’ U u u like ‘oo’ in ‘foot’ V v vi like ‘v’ in ‘vase’ Z z zeta like ‘ts’ in ‘accents‘
zero – zero (pronunciation : ze-roh)
one – uno (pronunciation : oo-noh)
two – due (pronunciation : doo-eh)
Three - tre (pronunciation: three)
four – quattro (pronunciation : kwaht-troh)
five - cinque (pronunciation: Cheen-kweh)
six – sei (pronunciation : seh-ee)
seven - put (pronunciation: set-teh)
eight - Otto (pronunciation: a risk-toh)
nine – nove (pronunciation : noh-veh)
ten – dieci (pronunciation : dee-eh-chee)
eleven - Undici (pronunciation: onn-dee-chee)
twelve – dodici (pronunciation : doh-dee-chee)
thirteen – tredici (pronunciation : treh-dee-chee)
fourteen – quattordici (pronunciation : kwaht-tor-dee-chee)
fifteen – quindici (pronunciation : kween-dee-chee)
sixteen – sedici (pronunciation : seh-dee-chee)
seventeen – diciassette (pronunciation : dee-chahs-set-teh)
eighteen – diciotto (pronunciation : dee-choht-toh)
nineteen – diciannove (pronunciation : dee-chahn-noh-veh)
twenty – venti (pronunciation : ven-tee)
twenty-one – ventuno (pronunciation : ven-too-noh)
twenty-two – ventidue (pronunciation : ven-tee-doo-eh)
twenty-three – ventitré (pronunciation : ven-tee-treh)
twenty-four – ventiquattro (pronunciation : ven-tee-kwaht-troh)
twenty-five – venticinque (pronunciation : ven-tee-cheen-kweh)
twenty-six – ventisei (pronunciation : ven-tee-seh-ee)
twenty-seven – ventisette (pronunciation : ven-tee-set-teh)
twenty-eight – ventotto (pronunciation : ven-toht-toh)
twenty-nine – ventinove (pronunciation : ven-tee-noh-veh)
thirty – trenta (pronunciation : tren-tah)
thirty-one – trentuno (pronunciation : tren-too-noh)
thirty-two – trentadue (pronunciation : tren-tah-doo-eh)
thirty-three – trentatré (pronunciation : tren-tah-treh)
forty - Quaranta (pronunciation: wah-tah-Rahn)
forty-one - quarantuno (pronunciation: Well-Rahn-too-noh)
forty-two - Quarantadue (pronunciation: Well-Rahn-so-doo-er)
forty-three - quarantatré (pronunciation: Rahn-wah-tah-treh)
Fifty - Kinkwanta (PRONUNCIATION: China-Kwahn-folding)
sixty – sessanta (pronunciation : ses-sahn-tah)
seventy – settanta (pronunciation : set-tahn-ta)
eighty – ottanta (pronunciation : oht-tahn-ta)
ninety – novanta (pronunciation : noh-vahn-tah)
one hundred – cento (pronunciation : chen-toh)
two hundred – duecento (pronunciation : doo-eh-chen-toh)
More words, closely related with the main subject:
divide – diviso (pronunciation : dee-vee-zo)
multiply – per (pronunciation : per)
four divided by two – quattro diviso due (pronunciation : kwaht-troh dee-vee-zo doo-eh)
equals - equals (pronunciation: ooguale)
how much is …? – quanto è …? (pronunciation : kwahn-toh eh …?)
Good day – Buongiorno (pronunciation : Bown-giorno) Good evening – Buonasera (pronunciation : Bownah-seh-rah) Good night – Buona notte (pronunciation : Bownah no-te) Hello – Salve (pronunciation : Salvay) Hi – Ciao (pronunciation : Ciaooh) What is your name? – Qual è il tuo nome? (pronunciation : kuahl eh eel towh nomeh?) What is your last name? – Qual è il tuo cognome? (pronunciation : kuahl eh eel towh co-neo-may?) My name is… – Il mio nome è… (pronunciation : eel mee-oh nomeh eh…) Glad to meet you – Felice di conoscerti (pronunciation : Feh-lee-ceh dee coh-noh-shehr-tee) Nice to meet you – Piacere di conoscerti (pronunciation : Peeah-cehreh dee coh-noh-shehr-tee) Thank you – Grazie (pronunciation : Grahtseeay) Thank you very much – Grazie molto (pronunciation : Grahtseeay mohl-toh) A warm welcome – Un caloroso benvenuto (pronunciation : oon caloh-roh-zo behnveh-noo-toh) Welcome – Benvenuto (pronunciation : behnveh-noo-toh) Goodbye – Addio (pronunciation : Addio) Goodbye –Arrivederci (pronunciation : Arrivedehrci) Bye – Ciao (pronunciation : Ciaooh) See you soon – A presto (pronunciation : Ah prestoh) How are you? – Come stai? (pronunciation : Coh-meh staee?) Excuse me – mi scusi (pronunciation : mee skoo-zee) I apologize – mi scuso (pronunciation : mee skoo-zoh) Please – per favore (pronunciation : pehr fah-vohreh) Please – prego (pronunciation : praygo)
More words, closely related with the main subject:
yes / no – sì / no (pronunciation : see / noh) today – oggi (pronunciation : oh-gee) tomorrow – domani (pronunciation : doh-manee) yesterday – ieri (pronunciation : yehree) Help – Aiuto (pronunciation : ah-yoo-toh) I do not speak well Italian – Io non parlo bene italiano (pronunciation : yoh nohn par-loh beh-neh ita-lee-anoh) I do not speak Italian – Non parlo italiano (pronunciation : nohn par-loh ita-lee-anoh) I do not understand – Non capisco (pronunciation : nohn kapee-scoh) can I…? – Io potrei…? (pronunciation : eeoh poh-treh-ee) I would like… – Mi piacerebbe… (pronunciation : mee pya-ceh-ray-bay) Can you help me? – Mi puoi aiutare? (pronunciation : mee poy ah-yoo-tah-ray)