Native Phrase Lab
WillowbrookWord 366 of 545 · Countries and languages
How to pronounce Italian
/ɪˈtæliən/ British English
i·TAL·ee·ən
4 beats (syllables). The strong beat is the second one.
a Coloured letters don’t sound the way they look.
✗ Many people say
eye·TAL·ian
✓ Say
i·TAL·ee·ən
My tip
Stress moves to TAL: i-TAL-ee-ən. Start with a short i, not eye.
In a sentence
I borrowed a cookbook for Italian recipes.
Now you say it
- Listen to me two or three times.
- Say it slowly, one beat at a time: i-TAL-ee-ən.
- Say the sentence at normal speed.
Questions
How do you pronounce Italian?
In British English, Italian is pronounced /ɪˈtæliən/. Say it like this: i-TAL-ee-ən. Stress moves to TAL: i-TAL-ee-ən. Start with a short i, not eye.
How many syllables are in Italian?
When you say it, Italian has 4 syllables: i-TAL-ee-ən. The strong beat is the second one, TAL.
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Practise these sounds
- The schwa, /ə/The small, weak sound in this word. It’s one of the 4 sounds you can practise completely free in my Sound Atlas.
- The strong beat: /æ/ as in “cat”Meet this sound and hear it in my Sound Atlas. Free.
- The Sound MapAll 44 sounds of British English, in my voice. Free.
- Pitch Perfect: the Word stress setHear me say it, record yourself, and see your sound under mine. A premium game.
- More gamesFive of my English games are free to play.