Italian alphabet
The Italian Alphabet, l’alfabeto italiano, has 21 letters. These letters are all shared by the English alphabet, but they are not pronounced the same way.
Below is an audio guide to the pronunciation of the letters of the Italian alphabet.
How to pronounce the Italian alphabet
As you can see, the Italian alphabet looks exactly like the English one! However, the letters J, K, W, X and Y are rare in Italian.
Resources for further reading:
We have included them here, however you’ll find them most commonly used for loanwords - that is, words borrowed from other languages.
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
The Italian Alphabet broken down
Below you can find the full alphabet, complete with audio for each individual letter so that you can get each sound down.
And after that, there's your Rocket Reinforcement activities - so don't forget to scroll to the very bottom!
The full Alphabet in Italian
A
Sounds like "a" in “cat”
B
Sounds like "bee"
C
Sounds like "chee" in “cheese”
D
Sounds like "dee" in “deep”
E
Sounds like "ey" in “they”
F
Sounds like "ef-eh"
G
Sounds like "gee"
H
Sounds like "ah-ca"
I
Sounds like "ee"
J
Sounds like "jay"
K
Sounds like "kappa"
L
Sounds like "el-eh"
M
Sounds like "em-eh"
N
Sounds like "en-eh"
O
Sounds like "oh"
P
Sounds like "pee"
Q
Sounds like "coo"
R
Sounds like "eh-reh"
S
Sounds like "es-eh"
T
Sounds like "tee"
U
Sounds like "oo"
V
Sounds like "vee"
W
Sounds like "doh-pia-voo"
X
Sounds like "eecks"
Y
Sounds like "eepsilon"
Z
Sounds like "dzay-tah"
Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record
Rocket Record lets you perfect your Italian pronunciation. Just listen to the native speaker audio and then use the microphone icon to record yourself. Once you’re done, you’ll get a score out of 100 on your pronunciation and can listen to your own audio playback. (Use a headset mic for best results.) Problems? Click here!
Pronunciation Practice
Now that we've been through all the letters, it's time to see if you can pronounce the following words:
A
amore
love
B
bambino
baby
C
cane
dog
D
dito
finger
E
estate
summer
F
fame
hunger
G
gufo
owl
H
hotel
hotel
I
idea
idea
J
jeans
jeans
K
koala
koala
L
latte
milk
M
madre
mother
N
naso
nose
O
odore
odor / smell
P
piede
foot
Q
qualità
quality
R
rosso
red
S
sole
sun
T
terra
land / earth
U
uscita
exit
V
venerdì
Friday
W
wurstel
frankfurter
X
xenofobico
xenophobic
Y
yogurt
yogurt
Z
zio
uncle
That's probably enough pronunciation practice of the alphabet in Italian! With these Italian lessons, remember the more you listen, the more you'll be able to recognize words as they're spoken. Here are a few recommended Italian lessons to try next!
- Learn to sing Happy Birthday in Italian!
- An important lesson on the structure and pronouncing numbers in Italian.
- Learn the right ways to say Yes and No in Italian.
A presto! Maria DiLorenzi: Rocket Italian
Make It Stick With Rocket Reinforcement
Reinforce your learning from this lesson with the Rocket Reinforcement activities!