Italian is considered to be one of the most beautiful languages in the world, but finding your way around its mix of vowels and sounds can get a bit complicated.
If youâre struggling with understanding Italian pronunciation, along with the different diphthongs and vowel sounds in Italian, donât panic!
In this article, weâve prepared a step-by-step guide on mastering Italian vowels and diphthongs with handy pronunciation guides and examples along the way. Thereâs also a fun exercise waiting for you at the end!
Plus, mastering Italian alphabet pronunciation is an effective way of learning Italian since it helps us become acquainted with new, unfamiliar sounds and tones. And learning how to pronounce vowels in Italian and understand Italian diphthongs is a step in the right direction. So, andiamo!
What are vowels?
The five Italian vowels are just like the vowels in English: a, e, i, o, u. Simple, right? Well, kind of.
While the Italian language has five vowels, there are technically seven sounds. Thatâs because the vowels e and o can have both open and closed sounds.
How to pronounce the Italian vowels
Our table below contains some helpful hints on pronouncing the seven Italian vowel sounds. As an English speaker, perhaps the most important thing to remember is that e and i are different from the English pronunciations.
The vowel e sounds like eh, whereas the vowel i sounds like ee. So, the next time you order a plate of fettuccine, it should sound like fet-too-chee-neh and not fet-too-chee-nee!
There are also open and closed sounds with the e and o vowels. Keep in mind that the difference between these sounds can be subtle. The closed sounds might be a bit more difficult to get used to, since they donât appear as often as open sounds in the English language. Donât be discouraged if you donât hear or feel the difference right away.
Remember: practice makes perfect, and thereâs a fun activity towards the end of the article that can help you differentiate between the sounds (or at the very least, laugh!).
| Letter | IPA | Sounds like in English | Example words | Example words translation |
| A | a | ah (like the âaâ sound in âfatherâ) | amare, ascoltare, antica, antipatica | to love, to listen, antique, unfriendly |
| E (open) | Δ | eh (like the âeâ in âbetâ) | bene, leggi, testa, zero | good, you read, head, zero |
| E (closed) | e | eh (like the âaiâ in âhairâ) | menta, rete, sera, vela | mint, net/network, evening, sail |
| I | i | ee (like the âeeâ in âsteepâ) | Italia, amici, isola, intero | Italy, friends, island, whole |
| O (open) | É | o / aw (like the âoâ in âhotâ) | poco, cosa, storia, brodo | a bit, thing/what, history/story, broth/soup |
| O (closed) | o | oh (similar to the âoâ in âgoâ) | sono, sopra, forno, sconto | I am, above, oven, discount |
| U | u | oo (like the âooâ in âstoopâ, or the âuâ in âdudeâ) | uno, unico, punto, urlare | one, unique, point, to scream |
For the most part, Italian vowels can be pretty straightforward. Now that youâve seen the pronunciation hints for the vowels, letâs take a look at some words that contain all five vowels!
documentari : doc-oo-men-tah-ree
(English translation: documentaries)
portrastrumenti : por-trah-stroo-men-tee
(English translation: instrument holder)
contrappuntiste: con-trah-poon-tees-teh
(English translation: contrapointists)
Okay, the last two words might not be that common in everyday language, but theyâre great tools to pronounce all five vowels. Plus, theyâre pretty long words, and theyâre just fun to say!
Now that weâve understood Italian vowels and their sounds, letâs look at even more sounds they can make when combined!
Italian diphthongs
If youâre scratching your head over what a diphthong is (or how to pronounce it), fear not. Basically, itâs a fancy way of describing adjacent combinations of two vowels within the same syllable. The possibilities in Italian are (almost) endless:
ia - ie - io - iu - ua - ue - uo - ui - ai - au - ei - eu - oi
The coupling and the positioning of the two vowels have a big impact on how they are pronounced. And theyâre very common in Italian!
You might also hear diphthongs described as âgliding vowelsâ, which can be a helpful way to think about them. Imagine the two vowels on a romantic first date as they glide across an ice skating rink, hand in hand, effortlessly melting into one another. Before this example gets too cheesy and romantic, just keep in mind that the first vowel immediately glides into the next vowel, creating a new sound.
There are two categories of Italian diphthongs - ascending and descending - and these classifications depend on âstrongâ vowels and âweakâ vowels. Typically, weak vowels will change their sound when the diphthong is pronounced.
The vowels I and U are considered to be weak vowels, because their sounds change when followed by another vowel in a diphthong. So, for instance:
-The word chiodo (nail) contains the diphthong io. You might recognize these vowels as the Italian word âioâ (I in English, like âI amâ), and you may even recognize the word âchiâ (meaning who in English). But the io diphthong sounds like âyoâ, so it makes a completely different sound to the words âioâ and âchiâ. Why? Remember: diphthongs are part of the same syllable and canât be separated!
So, instead of being pronounced as âkey-oh-doeâ, it would be âkyo-doeâ since the io diphthong makes a âyoâ sound. This is just one reason why learning Italian diphthongs is important. If youâre feeling overwhelmed, donât worry. Weâve separated and explained everything in our two tables below. Letâs check them out!
Italian diphthongs: Ascending
If an Italian diphthong is âascendingâ, that means that the âweakâ vowel (i or u) comes first in the pairing. Take a look at these examples and practice saying them out loud!
| Vowel diphthongs | IPA | Sounds like in English | Example Words | Example words translation |
| ia | Ëia | Like "ya" in "yard" | piano, triangolo, spiare, chiave | piano, triangle, to spy, key |
| ie | Ëie | Like âyeâ in âyeahâ | cielo, dieci, piede, tieni | sky, ten, foot, you hold/keep |
| io | Ëio | Like âyoâ in âyo-yoâ | chiodo, piove, coniglio, figlio | nail, rain, rabbit, son |
| iu | ju | Like âyouâ | Giugno, piume, fiume, chiuso | June, feather, river, closed |
| ua | wa | Like âwaâ in âwaterâ | guardo, guanto, quale, uguale | I look, glove, which, equal |
| ue | we | Like âooâ in âgooeyâ + âehâ = âoo-ehâ | bue, quello, questo, due | ox, that, this, two |
| uo | wo | Like âwoâ in âwoahâ | scuola, uovo, cuoca, fuoco | school, egg, chef (female), fire |
| ui | wi | Like âooeyâ in âgooeyâ | cui, lui, quinto, qui | which, he, fifth, here |
Italian diphthongs: Descending
Descending diphthongs contain the strong vowel first, followed by the weak vowel. Try them out!
| Vowel diphthongs | IPA | Sounds like in English | Examples | Example words translation |
| ai | ËaiÌŻ | Like âeyeâ or âIâ | mai, sai, zaino, assai | never, you know, backpack, very much |
| au | auÌŻ | Like âowâ | pausa, paura, baule, aumento | pause/a break, fear, trunk of a car, an increase |
| ei | ËeiÌŻ | Like âayâ in âhayâ | sei, bei, farei, andrei | you are, nice (plural), I would do (something), I would go (somewhere) |
| eu | euÌŻ | Like âehâ + âooâ | Europa, Europeo, pneumatico, neutro | Europe, European, tire, neutral, |
| oi | ËÉiÌŻ | Like âoyâ in âAhoy!â | poi, noi, voi, tuoi | then/later, we, you (plural), yours |
All about accent marks
Our final point to cover about vowels is all about accent marks that come at the final vowel of some words. In Italian, accent marks are only used with vowels. You may have already noticed these in common words like:
perché and venerdÏ (why and Friday in English)
Do you notice anything about the accents on these two words? Theyâre facing different directions! The accent on perchĂ© (an upwards stroke) is an acute accent, which makes an âopenâ sound. Acute accents only occur on the vowel e. The accent on venerdĂŹ (a downwards stroke) is a grave accent, which makes a âclosedâ sound.
Accent marks can be helpful when learning Italian, because they can guide you on where to place the stress when you speak. Youâll also see accent marks on some conjugations (like when using the remote past and future) as well as most days of the week (excluding the weekend!).
Ă - cittĂ (city)
Ăš - lo Ăš (it is)
é - perché (why)
ĂŹ - venerdĂŹ (Friday)
ĂČ - puĂČ (he/she can)
Ăč - giĂč (down)
Itâs also possible to think about accent marks within a word (not just at the end), but this linguistic topic can get a bit complicated and would also lead us into a journey of regional dialects. Thatâs for another article! For now, work on mastering the open or closed endings as well as the vowel sounds. In fact, we have a fun way for you to do that in our next section!
Fun pronunciation exercises
In Italian, the word âtongue-twisterâ is translated as scioglilingua -- try saying that five times fast! The verb âsciogliereâ means âto meltâ, so you can think of this as a âtongue melterâ, or a great way to loosen up your mouth to Italian vowels and diphthongs!
Scioglilingue can also help with your fluency, and at the very least, give you a nice laugh. Weâve separated them based on which vowels and diphthongs they target, but you can try them all out for fun. Letâs start with a classic one about chucking wood!
To help with the e and i sounds:
- Quanti rami di rovere roderebbe un roditore se un roditore potesse rodere rami di rovere?
(English translation) - How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
This next one also has two open Ă© sounds!
- Trentatré trentini entrarono in Trento, tutti e trentatré trotterellando.
(English translation) - Thirty-three people from Trento entered Trento, all thirty-three of them trotting along.
To help with the a, e, and i sounds:
You might need a partner for this one! Note: Corriere della Sera is an Italian Newspaper.
- Buona sera, buona sera! Ha il Corriere della Sera di ieri sera? No, non ho il Corriere della Sera di ieri sera, ma ho il Corriere della Sera di Stasera!
(English translation) - Good evening, good evening! Do you have last nightâs Corriere della Sera? / No, I donât have last nightâs Corriere della Sera, but I have tonightâs Corriere della Sera!
To help with the ue, oi, ei, diphthongs and i sounds:
- Li vuoi quei kiwi? E se non vuoi quei kiwi che kiwi vuoi?
(English translation) - Do you want those kiwis? And if you donât want those kiwis, which kiwis do you want? - A questâora il questore in questura non câĂš.
(English translation) - At this time, the commissioner is not at the police station. - Due tazze strette in due strette tazze.
(English translation) - Two narrow cups in two narrow cups.
To help with open and closed o sounds and the classic i sounds.
The open o sounds are in bold, which makes a sound like o / aw (like the âoâ in âhotâ).
- O postino che porti la posta, dimmi postino che posta portasti.
(English translation) - Oh postman who brings the mail, tell me, postman, what mail you brought.
Practice makes perfect
Like anything in life, practice makes perfect. But hey, even if your pronunciation in Italian isnât perfect just yet, thereâs nothing wrong with that. The most important part of learning a language is putting yourself out there and learning along the way. Check out our guide on how to best learn Italian in record time for fun and creative ideas to achieve fluency.
Otherwise, order your next coffee or drink of choice with confidence, and revisit this handy guide when you need a refresher on your Italian vowels and diphthongs. And donât forget to check out our other Italian language articles. Arrivederci!
