Spelling - Easy Learning Grammar Italian

1 How to spell words that have a hard k or g sound

In Italian the [k] sound you have in the English words kite and car is spelled in two different ways, depending on the following vowel:

c before a, o and u
ch before e and i

This means that the Italian word for singer is spelled cantante (pronounced [kan-tan-tay]; the word for necklace is spelled collana (pronounced [kol-la-na]), and the word for cure is spelled cura (pronounced [koo-ra]).
However, the Italian word for that is spelled che (pronounced [kay]) and the word for chemistry is spelled chimica (pronounced [kee-mee-ka].

TipRemember that the Italian words for kilo and kilometre are spelled with ch:

due chili	two kilos
cento chilometri	a hundred kilometres

In the same way, the hard [g] sound that you have in the English word gas is also spelled two ways in Italian:

g before a, o and u
gh before e and i

This means that the Italian word for cat is spelled gatto (pronounced [ga-toe]; the word for elbow is spelled gomito (pronounced [go-mee-toe]), and the word for taste is spelled gusto (pronounced [goos-toe]).
However, the Italian word for leagues is spelled leghe (pronounced [lay-gay]) and the word for lakes is spelled laghi (pronounced [lah-ghee].

2 How to pronounce c + a vowel

As we have seen, the Italian letter c is pronounced like a [k] when it’s followed by a, o, or u.
When c is followed by e or i it is pronounced like the [ch] in children. This means that centro (meaning centre) is pronounced [chen-tro] and città (meaning city) is pronounced [chee-tah].

3 How to pronounce g + a vowel

The Italian letter g is pronounced like the [g] in gas when it’s followed by a, o, or u. When an Italian g is followed by e or i, however, it’s pronounced like the [j] in jet. This means that gente (meaning people) is pronounced [jen-tay] and giorno (meaning day) is pronounced [jor-no].

4 How to spell verb endings which have c or g + vowel

When an Italian verb has a hard [k] or [g] sound before the infinitive ending, for example cercare (meaning to look for) and pagare (meaning to pay), you have to change the spelling to ch and gh in forms of the verb that have endings starting with e or i.
Here are the present and future tenses of cercare and pagare, showing how the spelling changes.

Vowel that follows c/g	Present of cercare	Meaning	Present of pagare	Meaning
o	cerco	I look for	pago	I pay
i	cerchi	you look for	paghi	you pay
a	cerca	he/she looks for	paga	he/she pays
i	cerchiamo	we look for	paghiamo	we pay
a	cercate	you look for	pagate	you pay
a	cercano	they look for	pagano	they pay

Vowel that follows c/g	Future of cercare	Meaning	Future of pagare	Meaning
e	cercherò	I’ll look for	pagherò	I’ll pay
e	cercherai	you’ll look for	pagherai	you’ll pay
e	cercherà	he/she will look for	pagherà	he/she will pay
e	cercheremo	we’ll look for	pagheremo	we’ll pay
e	cercherete	you’ll look for	pagherete	you’ll pay
e	cercheranno	they’ll look for	pagheranno	they’ll pay

Cosa cerchi? – Cerco le chiavi.	What are you looking for? – I’m looking for my keys.
Pago io. – No, paghiamo noi.	I’ll pay. – No, we’ll pay.

When an Italian verb has a [sh] or [j] sound before the infinitive ending, for example lasciare (meaning to leave) and mangiare (meaning to eat), you drop the i of the stem before endings starting with e or i.
This means that you spell the tu form of the present tense of these verbs lasci
and mangi.

Lasci la finestra aperta?	Are you leaving the window open?
Cosa mangi?	What are you eating?

The futures of the two verbs are spelled lascerò, lascerai, lascerà, lasceremo, lascerete, lasceranno and mangerò, mangerai, mangerà, mangeremo, mangerete, mangeranno.

Fa caldo, lascerò a casa il maglione.	It’s hot, I’ll leave my jumper at home.
Domani mangeremo meno.	We’ll eat less tomorrow.

TipAlthough the spelling of some verb endings changes, the pronunciation stays the same.

5 How to spell plurals of nouns and adjectives ending in –ca or –ga

When a feminine noun or adjective has a hard [k] or [g] sound before the singular ending –a, you add an h to the plural ending.

Singular	Meaning	Plural	Meaning
amica	friend	amiche	friends
riga	line	righe	lines
ricca	rich	ricche	rich
lunga	long	lunghe	long

una sua amica ricca	a rich friend of hers
le sue amiche ricche	her rich friends
una riga sotto le parole	a line under the words
Ne ho letto solo poche righe.	I just read a few lines of it.

TipFeminine nouns and adjectives always keep their hard [k] and [g] sounds in the plural.

6 How to spell plurals of nouns and adjectives ending in –co or –go

There is not a fixed rule for the sound of the consonants c and g in the plural of masculine nouns and adjectives ending in –co and –go.
Some words keep the hard sound of their c or g in the plural, and add an h to the spelling.

Singular	Meaning	Plural	Meaning
fuoco	fire	fuochi	fires
albergo	hotel	alberghi	hotels
ricco	rich	ricchi	rich
lungo	long	lunghi	long

È un albergo per ricchi.	It’s a hotel for rich people.
Ho i capelli lunghi.	I’ve got long hair.

The plurals of many other words, however, change from the hard [k] sound to the [ch] sound, or from the hard [g] to [j]. This means their plurals are not spelled with an added h.

Singular	Meaning	Plural	Meaning
amico	friend	amici	friends
astrologo	astrologer	astrologi	astrologers
greco	Greek	greci	Greek
psicologico	psychological	psicologici	psychological

un astrologo greco	a Greek astrologer
i miei amici e i loro problemi psicologici	my friends and their psychological problems

7 How to spell plurals of nouns ending in –io

When the i of the –io ending is stressed, as it is in zio (meaning uncle) and invio (meaning dispatch), the plural is spelled with double i: zii, invii.

Ho sei zii e sette zie.

I’ve got six uncles and seven aunts.

If the i of the –io ending is not stressed you spell the plural ending with only one i, for example figlio → figli; occhio → occhi.

Ha gli occhi azzurri.

He’s got blue eyes.

8 How to spell plurals of nouns ending in –cia and –gia

The spelling of the plurals of these words also depends on whether the i of the ending is stressed.
In some words, such words as farmacia (meaning chemist’s) and bugia (meaning lie), the stress is on the i, and the plurals keep the i: farmacie; bugie.

Non dire bugie.

Don’t tell lies.

In others, such as faccia (meaning face) and spiaggia (meaning beach) the i of the singular ending is not stressed, and the plural is not spelled with i: facce; spiagge.

le nostre spiagge preferite

our favourite beaches

9 How to use accents

Accents have two main uses: one is to show that a word is stressed on the last syllable, which is not normal in Italian, for example città (meaning city), università (meaning university), perché (meaning why/because), cercherò (meaning I will look for).

For more information on Stress, see Stress.

The second use of accents is to distinguish between words that have identical pronunciations and spellings.

Without an accent		With an accent
da	from	dà	he/she/it gives
e	and	è	is
la	the/it	là	there
li	them	lì	there
ne	of it/them	né	neither
se	if	sé	himself
si	himself/herself/one	sì	yes
te	you	tè	tea