Italian consonant
G can represent two different sounds depending on the letter that follows it.
| G | G sound |
G is pronounced with a hard sound (with IPA symbol /g/) when followed by any consonant or the vowels A, O and U.
How to pronounce GH
The “ghe” and “ghee” sounds, as in Ghetto, are spelled as GHE and GHI.
Examples:
| Gatto, ghetto, ghiro, gola, gufo | Cat, ghetto, dormouse, throat, owl |
How to pronounce GI
G sounds like the “j” in jeans when followed by the vowels E or I.
Gi + A, E, O and U, respectively GIA, GIE/GE, GIO and GIU, roughly correspond to the sounds in jar, jet, John and juice.
| Giallo, gelato, giocare, giusto | Yellow, ice cream, to play, correct |
Length of the G sound
The G 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 gg. You won’t find a double consonant at the beginning of an Italian word, but always in the middle. For example…
| Leggo, fuggire | I read, to get away |
Listen closely. The “g” sounds in leggo and fuggire (one is hard and the other one is not) are double and have a longer sound. Here are some other examples:
| Aggancio, pioggia, maggio | Hooking, rain, May |
Other Italian words with the G sound
| Viaggiare | To travel | |
| Goccia | Drop | |
| Gioia | Joy | |
| Bagaglio | Suitcase | |
| Pigrizia | Laziness | |
| Figura | Figure |
Your turn!
Pronounce each given word.
Easy
Hard
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