Learn about Italian vowels
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Italian Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn all 7 Italian vowel sounds. |
| a, ɛ, e, i, ɔ, o, u |
| With these sounds, you can pronounce any vowel that could possibly appear in Italian! |
| Some vowels may be hard for you to distinguish, especially for English speakers, so make sure you listen carefully! |
| Are you ready? |
| Then let's get started! |
| The first vowel is... |
| a |
| sarà (it will be) |
| casa (house) |
| alto (tall, high) |
| It's identical to the A sound in the word 'father', except that it's held for a little longer. Open your mouth wide and let the air pour out. |
| a, a (slowly) |
| a, a (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| ɛ |
| bene (good) |
| cioè (i.e., that is) |
| elica (propeller) |
| It's identical to the E sound in the word 'red'. This is an 'open' sound, so be sure to widen your mouth. |
| ɛ, ɛ (slowly) |
| ɛ, ɛ (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| e |
| vero (true) |
| inglese (English) |
| stelle (stars) |
| It's very similar to the E sound in the word 'neigh'. Drop your jaw just a tiny tiny bit, until you hear a slight change in sound, but be careful not to widen your mouth too much. This will prevent you from carrying over the I sound and will allow you to properly pronounce this sound. |
| e, e (slowly) |
| e, e (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| i |
| imposta (tax) |
| colibrì (hummingbird) |
| bile (bile) |
| It's identical to the double E sound in the word 'see'. |
| i, i (slowly) |
| i, i (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| ɔ |
| parola (word) |
| posso (I can) |
| otto (eight) |
| It's identical to the OU sound in the word 'ought'. This is an 'open' sound, so be sure to widen your mouth. |
| ɔ, ɔ (slowly) |
| ɔ, ɔ (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| o |
| ombra (shade) |
| come (as, like) |
| foro (hole) |
| This is like the previous sound, except your tongue is positioned a little bit higher. |
| It's quite similar to the O sound in the word 'owe'. |
| Just make sure not to widen your mouth too much. You only want to carry over the W sound slightly. |
| Listen to [the native speaker]. |
| o, o (slowly) |
| o, o (slowly) |
| And the last vowel is... |
| u |
| tutto (all) |
| tuo (your) |
| ultimo (last) |
| It's identical to the double OO sound in the word 'boot'. |
| u, u (slowly) |
| u, u (slowly) |
| Well done! You just learned all 7 vowel sounds in Italian! |
| a, ɛ, e, i, ɔ, o, u |
| With these sounds, you can properly pronounce any vowel that could possibly appear in the Italian language! Isn't that great? |
| Well, that's all for vowels. |
| In the next lesson, you'll start learning consonant sounds. |
| Which vowel sound was the most difficult for you to learn? Please comment and share your thoughts. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Italian Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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