A little effort to speak the language can buy a whole lot of goodwill in Italy.
Here are some guidelines, words, and phrases to get you ready for your next trip to Italy.
Another key is knowing how letters are pronounced in Italian.
A couple overlooking a small village in Tuscany.Credit:Ascent/PKS Media Inc. via Getty Images
Here are some general examples:
A is pronounced as a short A, soah.
Example:areais pronouncedah-reh-ah.
E is pronounced as a long A, soay, and its never silent.
A plaza in Perugia, Italy.Evgeniya Vlasova/Travel + Leisure
Example:carne(meat) iscar-nay.
I is pronounced as a long E, soee.
Example:ieri(yesterday) isee-yehr-ree.
A family on a playground in the Italian Dolomites.Ambika Verma/Travel + Leisure
U is a hard vowel, usually pronouncedoo.
Example:uva(grape) isoo-vah.
SoBolognaisbuh-lon-yah,gnocchiisnyo-key,andbagno, which means bath or bathroom, isbah-nyoh.
A woman overlooking the cityscape of Turin, Italy.Laura La Monaca/Travel + Leisure
To ask someone if they speak English, sayparla inglese?
(par-lah een-gleh-zeh?).
Sayscusa (skooz-ah)if you bump them or step on their foot while doing so.
To ask where something is, start with:dove (doh-vey)…?
To ask how much something costs, say:quanto costa (kwan-toh coh-sta)?
Laura La Monaca/Travel + Leisure
