A1 · Alphabet and pronunciation · about 4 minutes
c and g: hard or soft
The next letter decides how c and g sound.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need23
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- il cinemathe cinema
- vicinonear, nearby
- prendereto take
- la chiavethe key
- ciaohello, bye (informally)
- oggitoday
- la giornatathe day
- il pescethe fish
- frescocool, fresh
- la cuginathe cousin (female)
- la cucinathe kitchen
- benewell
- il biscottothe biscuit
- la chiesathe church
- chiudereto close
- il lunedìMonday
- freddocold
- mettereto put
- la sciarpathe scarf
- la viathe street (in an address)
- la bancathe bank
- l’amicothe friend (male)
- mangiareto eat
Practise as flashcards · 1Practise as flashcards · 2Practise as flashcards · 3
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
Understand
Remembere and i make c and g soft; an h makes them hard again.
- Signal words
- ce
- ci
- che
- chi
- gi
- ghi
- sce
The form
How it is written and said
Each row gives the rule first, then examples in Italian that show it.
| k before a, o, u | casa, come, cura |
| ch (as in church) before e, i | cena, cinema |
| k before e, i: add an h | che, chi, chiesa |
| ch before a, o, u: add a silent i | ciao, cioccolato |
| j (as in jam) before e, i | gelato, giro |
| hard g before e, i: add an h | spaghetti, ghiaccio |
| sh | pesce, sciarpa |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Before e and i, c and g go soft.
Il cinema è vicino alla gelateria.The cinema is near the ice-cream shop.
An h after c or g keeps the sound hard.
Chi ha preso le chiavi?Who took the keys?
An i before a, o, u makes the sound soft and is not heard itself.
Ciao! Oggi è una bella giornata.Hi! It's a lovely day today.
sc before e and i sounds like sh.
Il pesce è fresco.The fish is fresh.
Example sentences
Mia cugina cucina bene.My cousin is a good cook.
Prendo un cappuccino e due biscotti.I'll have a cappuccino and two biscuits.
La chiesa è chiusa il lunedì.The church is closed on Mondays.
1 more example sentences
Ho freddo, metto la sciarpa.I'm cold, I'll put my scarf on.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
When the ending of a word changes, the spelling has to hold the sound in place. banca is said with a k; add an -e for the plural and you get bance, which would be read ban-che with the ch of church. To keep the k, an h goes in: banche. The same with amica — amiche and lago — laghi. English instincts make this worse, because to an English eye ch looks like the soft sound and is the last thing you would add to keep a sound hard.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
One lesson, one clear goal: you pass with 80% right on the first try. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself4 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
Your progress
What your lesson on this topic shows:
The lesson decides this, not a button: passed at 80% on the first try, mastered when you pass it again on another day.
Next on the path: 4 · Double consonants, gli and gnBack to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Before a, o and u, c sounds like k and g like the g in go: casa, come, gatto, gusto. Before e and i both go soft — and here English almost helps you, because English softens them before e and i too, as in city and gem. The difference is the soft sound itself: Italian c is the ch of church, not the s of city, and g is the j of jam. So cena, cinema, gelato, giro.
To keep the sound hard before e or i, Italian puts an h in between: che, chi, chiesa, spaghetti. This is the exact reverse of English. In English ch is the soft sound of church; in Italian ch is always a k, as in chemistry.
To make the sound soft before a, o or u, Italian puts an i in between, and that i is not heard: ciaois chowgiornois jor-nogiallois jal-lo
The same pattern turns sc before e and i into a single sh: pesce, scendere, and with a silent i sciarpa. Before a, o and u it stays s plus k: scuola, fresco. And q always comes with u and sounds like kw, as in English: quattro, questo.
The verbs on this page, in every form: essere · avere · prendere · mettere