Do you know how to pronounce fettuccine, gnocchi, and bruschetta? The letter C can be tricky in Italian! In today’s lesson, you’ll learn how to pronounce Italian food names with C and CH.
To help you remember what you learn in today’s lesson, you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. Just scroll down to find them!
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Bonus Materials
Remember what you learnt today with our free bonus materials including a word list, quiz, flashcards and transcript.
Today’s Italian words
Carne = meat
Gnocchi = a type of pasta made from flour and potatoes
Dolci = desserts
Spinaci = spinach
Cipolla = onion
Pancetta = bacon
Cena = dinner
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Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Italian words with C and CH
Italian flashcards
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
- Download the flashcards: How to pronounce an Italian menu (C and CH)
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Transcript
Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.
K: Which Italian food name do most people pronounce wrong? Find out which one it is and how to pronounce it right as we learn how to pronounce the letter C in 5 minute Italian, episode 11.
Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
M: And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
K: In today’s lesson, we’re going to learn how to pronounce the letter C in Italian. We’ll start by looking at some words that you already know on an Italian menu and learn some new ones so that next time you go to an Italian restaurant or eat out in Italy, you can order food like a pro.
The letter C in Italian is usually pronounced as a hard K sound.
M: like in Carbonara.
K: That pasta from Rome with eggs and pancetta.
M: and in carne.
K: Which means meat. And like carbonara, it’s spelt with CA at the beginning and it’s pronounced as a hard K. That reminds me, you can find the words from today’s episode with the spelling in the comments box below.
So here’s the thing that can be a bit tricky for native English speakers. If you see a CH spelling in Italian, it’s actually pronounced as a hard K sound, not as a soft “ch” sound as it would be in English.
M: Like in gnocchi
K: The last syllable is spelt C – H – I – so the C plus H is pronounced as a hard K sound.
M: And in zucchini.
K: Yep – the middle syllable CHI is spelt with a C plus H, so again we get the hard K sound. Another word which is commonly mispronounced is bruschetta.
M: OH yes. Everyone says bruschetta, with a soft “ch” sound (like in chair) but the correct pronunciation is bruschetta, with a hard K sound (like in cat).
K: The only time C is pronounced as a soft “ch” sound in Italian is when it’s followed by the letter i or e.
M: Like in cappuccino and fettuccine
K: And you can also hear this sound in the word dolci which you might see on an Italian menu – it means desserts. The last syllable “CI” is spelt CI. So we get the soft “ch” sound at the end.
M: Right. Dolci. And we also have spinaci
K: Which means spinach. Like in dolci, the last syllable is spelt C + I, so it’s pronounced as a soft “ch” sound.
M: And cipolla.
K: which means onion. And the first two letters are C + I.
K: Now let’s look at a few words with the letter e.
M: We’ve got pancetta
K: Which you’ve probably come across before – it means bacon in Italian.
M: And cena, which means dinner.
K: Time for a quick recap.
K: How do you say meat in Italian?
M: Carne.
K: And how do you say dinner in Italian?
M: Cena.
K: And why is the C pronounced as a soft “ch”? I
M: It’s because the C is followed by the letter e. Cena.
K: How do you say onion in Italian?
M: Cipolla.
K: And the C is soft, because it’s followed by the letter i. So to recap: C is usually pronounced like K, even when you get the letters CH together. It’s only pronounced as a soft “ch” sound (like in chair) when it’s followed by the letters e or i.
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