One vowel decides
The letters C and G have two sounds each in Italian. Before a vowel, that vowel decides: e and i make them soft, a, o and u keep them hard.
Hard versus soft
Hard: ca, co, cu and ga, go, gu
casa
[ka-sa]
house
cosa
[ko-sa]
thing
gatto
[gat-to]
cat
gusto
[gu-sto]
taste
Soft: ce, ci and ge, gi
cena
[chay-na]
dinner
cinema
[chee-ne-ma]
cinema
gente
[jen-teh]
people
gelato
[jeh-la-to]
ice cream
The silent H
Do you need a hard k or g before e or i? Then you write an H in between: che, chi, ghe, ghi. The H is never pronounced. It only signals: the sound stays hard here.
che, chi, ghe, ghi
che
[keh]
what / that
chi
[kee]
who
perché
[per-keh]
why / because
anche
[an-keh]
also / too
spaghetti
[spa-get-tee]
spaghetti
funghi
[fun-gee]
mushrooms
Only the H tells them apart
ci
us / there
soft: chee
chi
who
hard: kee
In full sentences
Example sentences
Ciao, come stai?
Hi, how are you?
Mangio un gelato al cioccolato.
I’m eating a chocolate ice cream.
C’è molta gente al cinema.
There are a lot of people at the cinema.
Gli spaghetti con i funghi sono buoni.
The spaghetti with mushrooms are good.
