Lesson 1

The Italian Alphabet

As with many other languages the Italian alphabet has fewer letters than the English alphabet, 21 letters to be exact.

Aa-a

Bb-bi

Cc-ci

Dd-di

Ee-e

Ff -effe

Gg-gi

Hh-acca

Ii-i

Ll-elle

Mm-emme

Nn -enne

Oo -o

Pp -pi

Qq-cu

Rr-erre

Ss-esse

Tt -ti

Uu-u

Vv –vi/vu

Zz-zeta

Foreign Letters:

Letters which are considered foreign because they are not used in the Italian alphabet consist of j (i lunga), k (cappa), w (vi/vu doppia) x (ics) and y (i greca). These letters often only appear in “foreign words” which have been borrowed such as Kiwi or Yogurt.

The letters j (i lunga), k (cappa), w (vi/vu doppia) x (ics) and y (i greca) do appear in Italian but are thought of as foreign letters. They are used mainly in foreign loan words and their pronunciation depends on the word they appear in.

21 lettere dell'alfabeto italiano

Lettere non italiane

Suoni speciali

Gli articoli

Maschile (finisce con o)

il

lo (s+consonante / z)

Femminile (finisce con a)

la

Parole / espressioni da Imparare

allora (so, well, therefore)

comunque (anyway)

e poi (and so, and then)

ma certo (but, of course)

mi dispiace (I’m sorry)

come stai? (How are you?)

bene (good, well)

cosi cosi (so so)

male (bad)

benvenuto (welcome)

ciao (hi, goodbye)

come ti chiami? (What is your name?)

mi chiamo (I am, my name is)

Grazie mille (Thank you very much.)