Italian Pronunciation for the letters C and G

One of the strange matters of our Alphabet is that there are some letters that have at the same time different sounds according with the vowel that comes after.
This is what happens to the consonant C and G. Their pronunciation changes if the vowel that follows is A, O, U by one side, and I or E by the other. Let’s thing for example to the difference between the pronunciation of CASA and of CIAO. We pronounce CASA like “Kasa” while I am sure that you know how to pronounce the C of CIAO.
Different the case in which you have the H in between. Think for example to the word “chiamare” (to call) or “perché” (why and because). The same for the letter G: spaghetti or “ghiaccio” (ice).
Watch the videos here below for a full explanation.

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Italian Pronunciation for the letter C

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Italian Pronunciation for the letter G

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Just remember that the C and G sound that you have with the vowels A, O, U is called “hard“, while the C and G sound that you have with the vowels I, E is called “soft“. In this context in Italian use the word “duro” for “hard” (its literal translation) but n0t “morbido” for soft: “morbido” means “soft” in Italian actually. For describing a “soft” consonant in Italian, we use the word “dolce“, literally “sweet”.

Here following you find a short interesting guide about the Italian pronunciation. We are by the way covering many of the topics that are discussed there. We share it with you because it is a good guide and the brevity in this case is a virtue. You can go back there and review whenever you want.

Italian Pronunciation for the letters C and G

Italian Pronunciation for the letters C and G

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Strange Italian Consonants

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