Italian Letter
The Italian letter G can be pronounced in a few different ways.
1. When G precedes a soft vowel (E, I), it is pronounced like the soft g in "gel." Phonetic symbol: [dʒ]
 |
Per esempio… |
| the letter g | ||
| gelato | ice cream | |
| giorno | day | |
| pigiama | pajamas | |
| valigetta | briefcase | |
2. When G precedes a hard vowel (A, O, U) or R, it’s pronounced like the hard g in "granite." Phonetic symbol: [g]
|
Per esempio… |
| gomito | elbow | |
| grazie | thank you | |
| guanti | gloves | |
| lattuga | lettuce |
When a hard G sound is needed in front of E or I, add H: GH.
See GL and GN for two other pronunciations.
Related lesson
- Letter combinations: GH | GL | GN
- Hard and soft vowels
- Italian alphabet
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