How to pronounce C

Italian consonant

C can represent two different sounds depending on the letter that follows it.

C is pronounced with a hard sound (with IPA symbol /k/) when followed by any consonant or the vowels A, O and U.

It is never aspirated as in cat.

C

C sound

How to pronounce CH

The “ke” and “ki” sounds, as in Kentucky and keen, are spelled as CHE and CHI.

Casa, schema, chilo, collo, curva

House, pattern, kilo, neck, curve

How to pronounce CI

C sounds like the “ch” in check when followed by the vowels E or I.

Ci + A, E, O and U, respectively CIA, CIE/CE, CIO and CIU, roughly correspond to the sounds in charcoal, check, chocolate and choose. The IPA symbol is /ʧ/.

Cina, cervello, calcio, baciare

China, brain, soccer, to kiss

Length of the C sound

The C sound in Italian can be single or double.

Italian pronunciation tantrums: what’s up with those double consonants?
These double consonants are called geminates. English uses them only in the written language: a word like tabby, as in tabby cat, is pronounced as if it were actually “taby” and not as “tab-bee”.

Italian geminates, on the other hand, are longer in quality than single consonants, as if they were “doubled”.

Not all Italian consonants can be doubled.

It is double when it’s written as cc. You won’t find a double consonant at the beginning of an Italian word, but always in the middle. For example…

Bacca, cuccia

Berry, kennel

Listen closely. The “cc” sounds in bacca and cuccia (one is hard and the other one is not) are double and have a longer sound. Here are some other examples:

Cacciare, pacco, cocciuto

To hunt, parcel, stubborn

Other Italian words with the C sound

Locusta	Locust
Focaccia	Focaccia bread
Cioccolato	Chocolate
Piccolo	Small
Selciato	Cobblestone
Cento	A hundred

Your turn!

Pronounce each given word.

Easy

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Hard

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