Italian Language Lessons
Grammar, spelling, and usage
Italian Pronunciation
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Stress / Accento Tonico
Usually, Italian words are stressed on the next–to–the–last syllable.
| amico | friend |
| foglia | leaf |
| Milano | Milan |
| nipote | nephew |
| padre | father |
| parlare | to speak |
| signorina | Miss |
| studiare | to study |
| telefonare | to telephone |
| uomo | man |
When the final –e is dropped from a word, as happens with some masculine titles when they are directly followed by a proper name, the position of the stress remains unchanged.
| dottore | doctor |
| dottor Nardi | Doctor Nardi |
| professore | professor |
| professor Pace | professor Pace |
When words are stressed on the last vowel, they always have a written accent over that vowel.
| cioè | namely |
| città | city |
| perchè | because |
| però | however |
| tassì | taxi |
| università | university |
| venerdì | Friday |
| virtù | virtue |
It is useful to remember that open e and o occur only in stressed syllables.
| automobile | automobile |
| medico | physician |
| nobile | noble |
| telefono | telephone |
Note: The written accent is used with a few monosyllables in order to distinguish them from others that have the same spelling but a different meaning.
| dà | gives |
| da | from |
| è | is |
| e | and |
| là | there |
| la | the; it; her |
| né | nor |
| ne | some |
| sé | himself, herself |
| se | if |
| sì | yes |
| si | oneself |
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