Learning the letters of the Italian alphabet is essential if you are thinking about studying the Italian language. Today not only will we explain how many letters there are in the Italian alphabet, but also how to pronounce them and how to identify the missing letters that only appear in foreign words.
As you can see below, there are 21 letters (21 lettere) in the Italian alphabet: 16 consonants and 5 vowels (16 consonanti e 5 vocali). Try to read them by using the phonetic spelling in brackets next to each letter and then check how to pronounce them with the video presented by one of our Italian tutors.
- A (a)
- B (bi)
- C (ci)
- D (di)
- E (e)
- F (effe)
- G (gi)
- H (acca)
- I (i)
- L (elle)
- M (emme)
- N (enne)
- O (o)
- P (pi)
- Q (qu)
- R (erre)
- S (esse)
- T (ti)
- U (u)
- V (vu)
- Z (zeta)
There are also an additional 5 letters which are not part of the Italian alphabet but which we can find in some loanwords, which are words adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification:
- J (i lunga) – e.g. juniores
- K (cappa) – e.g. kayak
- W (doppia vu) – e.g. walkie-talkie
- X (ics) – e.g. xilofono
- Y (ipsilon) – e.g. yogurt
Now that you know the letters of the Italian alphabet why don’t you continue your learning Italian journey with us? Take a look at the sections Italian grammar and Italian vocabulary and learn even more about the Italian language.