b, d, f, r, s, v, z and the hard c and g

Nine more consonants

Today: b, c, d, f, g, r, s, v, z. Together with the ten letters of lesson 1 they make nineteen of the twenty-one Italian letters, enough for most words. Learn their Italian names too – you need them to spell your name aloud: bi, ci, di, effe, gi, erre, esse, vu, zeta. b, d and f sound much as in English, and v is a real v, with the upper teeth on the lower lip: vino.

Capital B: the post, then two bellies, the upper one smaller. Small b: a tall post with one belly at the bottom. C is one curve, open to the right.

Capital D: the post, then one big belly. Small d: the round part first, then the tall post on its right – b turned around. Capital F: an E without its lowest bar. Small f: a hook from the top down, then a short bar across.

Capital G: a C with a short bar turning in. Small g: the round part, then a tail below the row that curls left. Capital R: a P with a leg. Small r: a short post and a small shoulder.

S is one snake-like stroke: round to the left at the top, round to the right at the bottom. V: two slanted lines that meet at the bottom.

Z is three strokes in one zigzag: the bar on top, the slant down to the left, the bar at the bottom.

c and g before a, o, u: always hard

Before a, o and u, c is a hard k sound and g is the g of “go”: casa, cosa, gola, gufo. Before e and i both letters change their sound – that is the first lesson of the next unit. Until then every ca, co, cu you read is “ka, ko, ku”.

r is rolled with the tip of the tongue, and it is always pronounced, also before a consonant: verde is “VER-de”, with a clear r. z is a double sound: dz in zero, ts in other words. s at the start of a word is a clean s, as in “sun”: sole.

la casa, la cosa, il gufothe house, the thing, the owl

Vino rosso o bianco?Red wine or white?