Italian All-in-One For Dummies (8 page)

ahy as the
i
in
ice:
dai
(dahy) (
you give
)

ee as in
feet:
diva
(
dee
-vah) (
diva
)

ehy as the
ai
in
aid:
lei
(lehy) (
she
)

ou as in
out:
auto
(
ou
-toh) (
car
)

Consonants

Italian has the same consonants that English does. You pronounce most of them the same way in Italian as you pronounce them in English, but others have noteworthy differences.

b:
As in
bene
(
beh
-neh) (
well
)

d:
As in
dare
(
dah
-reh) (
to give
)

f:
As in
fare
(
fah
-reh) (
to make
)

l:
As in
ladro
(
lah
-droh) (
thief
)

m:
As in
madre
(
mah
-dreh) (
mother
)

n:
As in
no
(noh) (
no
)

p:
As in
padre
(
pah
-dreh) (
father
)

t:
As in
treno
(
treh
-noh) (
train
). Make certain to exaggerate the
t
when it's doubled, like in the word
spaghetti
(spah-
geht
-tee).

v:
As in
vino
(
vee
-noh) (
wine
)