PRONUNCIA

LETTERE

C   &   G

followed by a vowel

This is basically the only area where ITALIAN presents some degree of complexity when it comes to SPELLING.

Compared to English it's a cup of tea: there are a few, very few, fixed rules to follow.

1. LET'S BEGIN FROM THE VOWELS

THERE ARE TWO SETS OF VOWELS

BACK VOWELS:     A  O   U

IF YOU PRONOUNCE THESE VOWELS NOW, YOU WILL NOTICE

THEY ARE PRODUCED IN THE BACK OF YOUR MOUTH

FRONT VOWELS:   E    I (i)

THEY ARE PRODUCED IN THE FRONT OF YOUR MOUTH

C and G with a BACK VOWEL:

C sounds like K

Como, Casa, Cubo

G (soundslike "goal")

gola, gala, gusto  

casa como cubo  //   gala gola gusto

C and G with a FRONT VOWEL the pronunciation changes

C sounds like "ch" in cherry
cena     Cina  

(Standard phonetics: "ch" is written:  č)

G sounds like J
gelato Gino   

Problem: we have CE CI but we want to write the sounds KE  and KI
 

Here is the solution

ce ci .......che, chi (ke  - ki)

orchestra, chi?

ge gi  .......  ghe ghi (Gary gimlet)

spaghetti, Lamborghini

Now the opposite problem

we have ca, co, cu and we want to write 'cha' 'cho' 'chu'

Here is the solution

ca co cu  ........ cia cio ciu

ciao, cioccolato, ciuffo

We have ga go gu and want to write"J" ja, jo, ju

ga go gu ........ gia gio giu

giallo, giorgio, giugno

Recap

ca co cu  ...... che chi  (sound K)

cia cio ciu .... ce ci  (sound "ch")

ga go gu ...... ghe ghi  (Guttural)

gia gio giu.....ge gi   (j)