The Italian Alphabet

The Italian alphabet has 21 letters. J, K, W, X and Y are used only in foreign words and names, which makes 26 in all. Tap any letter to hear its name in Italian.

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Printable chart (PDF) 145 KB · 1 page

All 26 letters (21 + 5)

Tap any letter to hear its name in Italian.

a say “ah” a as in “father”
bi say “bee” b as in “bed”
ci say “chee” k before a, o, u and in chi/che; ch as in “church” before e, i (“ciao”)
di say “dee” d as in “dog”
e say “eh” e as in “bed”, or a closed e like “ay” without the glide (not shown in writing)
effe say “EF-feh” f as in “fun”
gi say “jee” g as in “go” before a, o, u and in ghi/ghe; j as in “jam” before e, i
acca say “AHK-kah” always silent; it only makes c and g hard (chi, ghe) and appears in ho, hai, ha, hanno
i say “ee” ee as in “see”
i lunga say “ee LOON-gah” foreign words: as in the original language (“jeans” = j as in “jam”); in a few Italian names, ee (“Jesolo”)
cappa say “KAHP-pah” k as in “skip” (no puff of air)
elle say “EL-leh” l as in “let”
emme say “EM-meh” m as in “man”
enne say “EN-neh” n as in “no”
o say “oh” an open o as in “off” or a closed, pure “oh” (not shown in writing)
pi say “pee” p as in “spin” (no puff of air)
cu say “koo” kw; always followed by u (“quando”)
erre say “ER-reh” an r with the tip of the tongue: one tap, rolled when double (rr)
esse say “ES-seh” s as in “sun”; often z as in “zoo” between vowels and before b, d, g, l, m, n, r, v (“sbaglio”)
ti say “tee” t as in “stop” (no puff of air)
u say “oo” oo as in “food”
vu say “voo” v as in “van”
doppia vu say “DOHP-pyah voo” foreign words only: w (“web”) or v (“würstel”)
ics say “eeks” ks as in “box”
ipsilon say “EE-psee-lon” ee, in foreign words only (“yogurt”)
zeta say “DZEH-tah” ts as in “cats” or dz as in “kids” (“pizza” ts, “zero” dz)

8 letters that sound different for English speakers

Before e and i: “ch” as in “church”, not s or k una cena · dinner
ch = k: chiave = “KYAH-veh” una chiave · key
Before e and i: j as in “jam” un gelato · ice cream
Always silent: ho = “oh”
Tapped or rolled with the tip of the tongue una ragazza · girl
Never a plain z: ts or dz una pizza · pizza
Always “oo”, never “you” un uomo · man
Always said, even at the end: cane = “KAH-neh” un cane · dog

C and G, gli, gn, sc and double letters

Letters	Example	Sound
ci · ce		ch as in “church”: “chee”, “cheh”
chi · che · ghi · ghe		The h keeps c and g hard: “kee”, “keh”, “ghee”, “gheh”.
gi · ge		j as in “jam”; in gia, gio, giu the i is not said (giacca = “JAHK-kah”).
gli		Like the “lli” in “million”, but softer.
gn		ny as in “canyon”.
sci · sce		sh as in “shop”.
nn · tt · zz…		Double letters are held longer: nonno “grandfather” vs nono “ninth”.
à · è · é · ì · ò · ù		An accent marks a stressed final vowel (città, caffè); è is open, é closed (perché).

A word for every letter

Each letter below has its name and a real word from the Flashcardly course (starting with the letter where one exists), with a picture and native audio.