The pronunciation of r and rr in Italian

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The pronunciation of r and rr

The letter r has two different sounds:

Caro

Expensive

Carro

Cart

A single r sounds soft when it is:

  • between two vowels

Gara

Competition

Allora

So

  • between a consonant and a vowel:

Capriccio

Whim

Grigia

Gray

  • at the start of a word:

Ruota

Wheel

Rumore

Noise

The r sounds strong when it is:

  • between a vowel and a consonant:

Inverno

Winter

Quarto

Quarter

  • doubled in the middle of a word:

Farro

Spelt

Correggo

I correct

Notes: 

  • there are no words in Italian that start with rr.
  • depending on where in Italy you are, you may hear variations in the pronunciation of the r, e.g. stronger or softer, or even what we call the r moscia ("soft r", which resembles the French “r”).

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