Pronunciation: The vowels – Elementary Italian

THE VOWELS
Italian vowels are always pronounced very clearly. Although they are represented by only five letters (a, e, i, o, u), they correspond to seven sounds. The vowels a, i, and u are always pronounced in the same way.

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Listen how to pronounce the following vowels

a is always pronounced like ‘a’ in the word cat or ‘o’ in mouse
i is always pronounced like ‘ea’ in the word tea, ‘eo’ in people or ‘oe’ in feet
u is always pronounced like ‘u’ in the word rule or ‘oo’ in cool;

The vowels e and o, on the other hand, have two different sounds each, open or closed.

Listen how to pronounce the following vowels

e can be pronounced open like ‘e’ in the word met or closed like ‘a’ in the word may.
o can be pronounced open like ‘o’ in the word dog or closed like ‘o’ in the word ‘row’.

You should not be concerned too much about it because a different pronunciation does not in general hinder comprehension of a word. Even Italians pronounce these vowels (e and o) in different ways.

It is important, however, to keep in mind at least one case, where the different and distinct pronunciation of e changes the meaning of the words. In this case, the distinction is between the two sounds reflected in spelling.

Listen how to pronounce them

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è is pronounced open, like ‘e’ in pen, and means is: Lui è un ragazzo italiano (He is an Italian boy)
e is pronounced closed like ‘a’ in may and means and: Tu e io (You and me)

Activity

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(second row)

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