Italian Letter Combinations - The art of speaking smoothly

Knowing Italian letter combinations is very important! So much so, that it is the key to speaking intelligibly and smoothly- like a nice boat ride in calm waters that will allow you to enjoy the ocean instead of puking.

Firstly, we need to know how to pronounce the vowels in Italian.

A (AH)

E (EH)

I (EE)

O (OH)

U (OO)

The vowels will be our guides, like Virgil in Dante's Inferno, the vowels are our buddies.

Moving on:

These are the letter combinations that we will be focusing on today:

1. C

2. CH

3. SC

4. SCH

5. G

6. GH

7. GN

8. GLI

9. QU

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Let us officially begin with "C"

In English this letter when combined with certain vowels, could either have a hard sound like "Cat" or a soft sound like "Cell". In Italian the sounds this letter makes might be a little different, however, the concept in the same.

Soft Sound:

The Italian soft sound, is not really the "S" sound we are used to with the letter "C", instead it is the English equivalent to the letter combinations "CH" like "Church" - this soft sound only happens when the "C" is followed by an "e" or "i"

For instance, instead of us in English spelling "China" with "CH", in Italian, they just spell it out as "Cina" (same sound)

So, words like "Cinema" are not pronounced "Sinema" but "Chinema"

Hard Sound:

The Italian hard "C" sounds is just like English.

Car / Casa

Court / Coro

Cult / Cuoco

Same "K" sound

However, please pay attention, to make the hard "K" sound with "C" - you can only use the "A", "O" or "U"

To make this sound with "E & I " you need a different letter combination.

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The "CH" Combination

In English this letter combination has the "CHurch" sound, and it also has the hard "C" sound like "Chorus, Choir"

Well, in Italian, there is only the hard "C" sound with this letter combination. HOWEVER, this letter combination can only be used with two vowels, such as "E" & "I"

The reason of why that is is because the "H" is supposed to help the "C" keep its hard sound.

Therefore, words like "CHiave" (key) are pronounced as "Key-ah-vey"

Words like "CHe" (what) are pronounced as "KEH"

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The "SC" Combination

This combination is like the English equivalent of "SK" like "Skeleton" or a "SH" sound like "SHower"

Let's begin with the "hard" sound

When "SC" is followed by "A, O" or "U" the sound this combination will make is "SK"

For instance "SCuola" (School) is pronounced "SKoo-oh-lah"

Now, the soft sound "SC" can only be made if this letter combination is followed by "I" or "E"

Words like "SCelta" (a choice) is pronounced "SHel-tah"

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The "SCH" Combination

If you have not noticed it yet, I would like to bring to your attention that the letter "C" needs the letter "H" to help it out whenever it needs help with the letters "E" & "I"

So, just like the letter "C" needing "H" to make its hard sound (ie. chiave), the letter "C" is also going to need "H" to make the "SK" sound with "E" & "I"

So, words like "raSCHera" (a type of Italian cheese) is pronounced "rah-SKEH-rah"

And, words like "maSCHIo" (male) are pronounced "ma-SKey-oh"

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The "G" Letter combination

Let us just say that the "G" is going to be used VERY similar to how the "C" is used in Italian.

Just like the letter "C" the "G" has both a soft and a hard sound. The soft sound being like the word "Gel" and the hard sounds being like the word "Gate"

THE AMAZING news about the letter "G" however" is that both the hard and the soft sounds are JUST like English (HALLELUJAAAHHH)

Hard sounds with the "G" can only be made with vowels "A, O" & "U"

Soft sounds can only be made with "E" & "I"

So, hard sound = "Gato" (Cat) is pronounced "Gah-Toh"

And the soft sound = Gelato (ice cream) is pronounced "Geh-lah-toh"

To make the hard sounds with "E" & "I" you will need a different letter combination -- with you guessed it - Archangel - "H"

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Letter Combination "GH"

Now that we know how to use "G" we need to learn how to make the hard "G" sound with "E" & "I". Just like the letter "C" needed "H" to make a hard sound, the "G" will need its services as well.

Thankfully, we in the English language has an example, "GHETTO"

Use this word as reference every time you see this letter combination followed by "E" & "I".

Words like "GHiaccio" (ice) are pronounced (GUI-A-CHEE-OH)

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Letter Combination "GN"

This letter combination is not one that we have a lot in English. It has a Spanish equivalent "Ñ"

The most similar English sound I can think of is "NY"

So, words like "viGNa" (vineyard) are pronounced "VINYA"

Other words like "ciGNo" (swan) are pronounced "CINYO"

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Letter Combination "GLI"

This letter combination is both its own word and also a letter combination used in other words.

By itself it could be a pronoun to mean "him" or it could be a definite article to mean "THE"

However, today we will focus on how to pronounce it.

"GLI" sounds a lot like the "YIELD" but without the "D"

Therefore, words like "aGLIo" (garlic) are pronounced "AH-YIEL-OH"

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Here we are, we made it to the last combination

Letter Combination "QU"

The biggest problem that I encountered while teaching this letter combination is helping my students that have taken Spanish in the past understand that you DO pronounce the "U" here

Like the word "Acqua" (Water) is pronounced as "Ak-Koo-Ah"

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Let's quickly summarize before we forget everything and cry ourselves to sleep:

The letter "C" works very similar to English, except that it has the "CHurch" sound when it's followed by the letters "E" or "I"

The hard sound when using "C" can only be made with "A, O" & "U", UNLESS you add an "H" in the mix to create the hard sound with "E" & "I"

Then to make the "SK" (Skull) sound combination or the "SH" sound you need "SC" (Shoes)

Hard sound, again can only be made with "A, O" or "U" when followed SC.

Soft sounds, can only be made with "E" or "I"

SK/SH sound needs the "SC"/SCH combination

To make the "SK" hard sound the "SC" combination has to be followed by the "A, O, U"

To make this same hard sound with "E" & "I" you need "SCH"

The soft sound "SH" can only be made when the "SC" combination is followed by "E" or "I"

The letter "G" works pretty much like English, except that when trying to make the hard "G" sound with "E" or "I" you need an "H" to be followed by the "G"

The "GN" combination is like NY

"Gli" letter combiantion is like "YIELD" without the "D"

Lastly, the "QU" letter combination - THE "U" MUST BE pronounced!

If you have any questions, please let me know!!

SMOOTH SAILING!!

Want to keep practicing? Visit my Quizlet page for this lesson:

https://quizlet.com/_3ni6i0?x=1jqt&i=12vlx8