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:

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The best Italian software: what you need to know

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

I

idea

J

jeans

K

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

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!

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.