I read that all vowels are pronouced in Italian, yet over and over again when I see “ie” or “ei” the “i” or the “e” go silent. I check different Italian speakers, and it is not in the accent. If all vowels are not pronounced outside the abbreviated words that are designated so, fine. But if there are instances where a vowel goes silent, is there a rule?
ie and ei
MarcelloT3
December 3, 2021
caterina-rocket-italian-tutor
December 17, 2021
Hi Marcello,
Thank you for your question!
Indeed, in Italian you usually pronounce all vowels.
In some cases, however, you may find words like "camicie" (where the "i" is not pronounced separately) or "cieco" (which is pronounced just like "ceco"). In almost all cases, whenever a word include "-cie" (as in "sufficiente", "efficienza", "scienza", "coscienza") or "-gie" (as in "valigie" or "ciligie"), you would only pronounce the "e" (unless there's a specific accent on the letter "i", in which case you need to pronounce the letter "i" separately).
Would this explanation help? :) Let me know if you would like more examples, happy to provide further words :D
Thank you for your question!
Indeed, in Italian you usually pronounce all vowels.
In some cases, however, you may find words like "camicie" (where the "i" is not pronounced separately) or "cieco" (which is pronounced just like "ceco"). In almost all cases, whenever a word include "-cie" (as in "sufficiente", "efficienza", "scienza", "coscienza") or "-gie" (as in "valigie" or "ciligie"), you would only pronounce the "e" (unless there's a specific accent on the letter "i", in which case you need to pronounce the letter "i" separately).
Would this explanation help? :) Let me know if you would like more examples, happy to provide further words :D