Stress / Accento Tonico

Usually, Italian words are stressed on the next–to–the–last syllable.

amicofriend

foglialeaf

MilanoMilan

nipotenephew

padrefather

parlareto speak

signorinaMiss

studiareto study

telefonareto telephone

uomoman

When the final –e is dropped from a word, as happens with some masculine titles when they are directly followed by a proper name, the position of the stress remains unchanged.

dottoredoctor

dottor NardiDoctor Nardi

professoreprofessor

professor Paceprofessor Pace

When words are stressed on the last vowel, they always have a written accent over that vowel

cioènamely

cittàcity

perchèbecause

peròhowever

tassìtaxi

universitàuniversity

venerdìFriday

virtùvirtue

It is useful to remember that open e and o occur only in stressed syllables.

automobileautomobile

medicophysician

nobilenoble

telefonotelephone

Note: The written accent is used with a few monosyllables in order to distinguish them from others that have the same spelling but a different meaning.

dàgives

dafrom

èis

eand

làthere

lathe; it; her

nénor

nesome

séhimself, herself

seif

sìyes

sioneself