C

Italian Letter

In Italian, the pronunciation of the letter C depends on the other letters around it.

1. When C precedes a soft vowel (E, I), it is pronounced like English’s ch as in "chip." Phonetic symbol: []

Italian sound files Per esempio…
the letter c
cena   dinner
cibo   food
francese   French

2. When C precedes a hard vowel (A, O, U) or consonant, it’s pronounced like a hard English c, as in "concrete." Phonetic symbol: [k]

Italian sound files Per esempio…
caffè   coffee
medico   doctor
cugino   cousin
crema   cream

 When a hard C sound is needed in front of E or I, add H: CH.

3. There’s sometimes a third sound when C is preceded by S – see SC.

 Related lesson

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Italian pronunciation

Virtual Italian Teacher at Lawless Languages | Website | + posts

Ciao! I’m Laura K Lawless, creator, writer, editor, and CLO (Chief Lawless Officer) of this free online Italian learning site. Lawless Italian is an official Lawless Languages site.

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