How to Pronounce Vowels in Italian

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Updated July 03, 2019

Italian pronunciation might pose some difficulties for the beginner. Yet it is very regular, and once the rules are understood, it is easy to pronounce each word correctly. Italian vowels (le vocali) are short, clear-cut, and are never drawn out.

The "glide," with which English vowels frequently end, should be avoided. Finally, it should be noted that the vowels a, i, and u, are always pronounced the same way. E and o, on the other hand, have an open and a closed sound that may vary from.

How to Pronounce Vowels

A—sounds like a in father
E—has two sounds: short vowel like e in pen; long vowel, similar to ai in fair
I—sounds like ea in tea or i in marine
O—has two sounds: like o in cozy or similar to o in cost
U—sounds like u in rude

Tips:

Italian vowels are always articulated in a sharp, clear fashion, regardless of stress. They are never slurred or pronounced weakly.
Vowels (a,e,i,o,u) always retain their value in diphthongs.
Italian is a phonetic language, which means that it is spoken the way it is written. Italian and English share the Latin alphabet, but the sounds represented by the letters often differ considerably in the two languages.