Alfabeto

Alphabet

The Italian alphabet has 21 letters:

;Italian name;English Pronunciation

A;A;ah B;BI;bee C;CI;chee D;DI;dee E;E;eh F;EFFE;ehf-feh G;GI;jee H;ACCA;ahk-kah I;I;ee L;ELLE;ehl-leh M;EMME;ehm-meh N;ENNE;ehn-neh O;O;oh P;PI;pee Q;CU;kooh R;ERRE;ehr-reh S;ESSE;ehs-seh T;TI;tee U;U;ooh V;VI / VU;vee / vooh Z;ZETA;tseh-tah / dzeh-tah

Have you noticed? The alphabet lacks J, K, W, X and Y!

They are however present in a few loanwords and have their own pronunciation:

;Italian name;English pronunciation

J;I LUNGA;ee loon-gah K;CAPPA;kah-ppah W;VU DOPPIA / DOPPIA VU;voo doh-ppee-ah / doh-ppee-ah voo X;ICS;eeks Y;IPSILON / I GRECA;eeps-ee-loh-n / ee greh-kah

PUT INTO PRACTICE

Listen to the audio first and then read aloud the following conversation.

Dialogo informale;Informal dialogue

A: Come ti chiami?;What’s your name? B: Mi chiamo Johanna.;My name is Johanna. A: Come si scrive?;How do you spell it? (Literally "How is it written?) B: J-O-H-A-N-N-A.;ee loon-gah, oh, ah-kka, aah, eh-nneh, eh-nneh, aah. A: J-O-H-A-N-N-A?;ee loon-gah, oh, ah-kka, aah, eh-nneh, eh-nneh, aah? B: Esatto.;That’s right.

EXERCISES

Che cos'è? Che cosa sono?

What is it? What are they?

Dialogo;Dialogue

A: Che cos'é?;What is it? B: È un libro.;It is a book. A: Che cos'é?;What is it? B: È una piazza.;It is a square. A: Che cosa sono?;What are they? B: Sono spaghetti.;They are spaghetti. A: Che cosa sono?;What are they? B: Sono scarpe.;They are shoes.

IMPORTANT

Che cos'è?;What is it? Che cosa sono?;What are they?

EXERCISE

Chi è? Chi sono?

Who is he / she? Who are they?

Dialogo;Dialogue

A: Chi é?;Who is he? B: È un attore.;He is an actor. A: Chi è?;Who is she? B: È una cantante.;She is a singer. A: Chi sono?;Who are they? B: Sono calciatori.;They are soccer players. A: Chi sono?;Who are they? B: Sono ballerini.;They are dancers.

IMPORTANT

Chi è?;Who is he / she? Chi sono?;Who are they?

EXERCISE