Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)

STRESS

1. Which syllable to stress

Most Italian words have two or more syllables, (units containing a vowel sound). In this section syllables are shown divided by | and the stressed vowel is in italic.

Most words are stressed on the next to the last syllable, for example, fi|ne|stra.

Some words are stressed on the last vowel, and this is always shown by an accent, for example, u|ni|ver|si|tà.

Some words have their stress on an unexpected vowel, but are not spelled with an accent, for example, mac|chi|na (meaning car).

If a word has the stress on a vowel you wouldn’t expect, the stressed vowel is in italics, for example, vogliono (meaning they want), vendere (meaning to sell), quindici (meaning fifteen), medico (meaning doctor).

This book also marks the stress in words in which i before another vowel is pronounced like y, for example Lidia.

1 Words that are stressed on the next to last syllable

Two-syllable words always stress the first vowel, unless the final vowel has an accent:

Words with three or more syllables generally have the stress on the next to the last vowel:

2 Words that stress the last syllable

There are a number of nouns in Italian that have the stress on the final syllable and are spelled with an accent. They sometimes correspond to English nouns that end with ty, such as university and faculty.

There are some common adverbs and conjunctions that have the stress on the final syllable and are spelled with an accent, for example, per|ché, co|sì, and pe|rò.

For more information about Spelling, see page 191.

3 Words that stress an unexpected syllable

Some words have the stress on a syllable which is neither the last, nor the next to the last.

Note that past participles such as fi|ni|to (meaning finished) and par|ti|to (meaning left) always have the stress on the next to last syllable, but there are similar-looking words, such as su|bi|to (meaning immediately) and com|pi|to (meaning homework), that are not past participles, and that have the stress on a syllable you wouldn’t expect.

Tip

When learning new vocabulary, check in the dictionary where the stress goes.

4 Stress in verb forms

In the present tense, the loro form always has the stress on the same vowel as the io form:

In the future tense of all verbs the stress is on the last syllable of the io form and the lui/lei form. These two verb forms are spelled with an accent on the stressed vowel.

The infinitive of –are verbs always has the stress on the a of the ending, for example in|vi|ta|re (meaning to invite) and cam|mi|na|re (meaning to walk). The infinitive of –ire verbs always has the stress on the i of the ending, for example par|ti|re (meaning to leave) and fi|ni|re (meaning to finish).

The infinitive of –ere verbs sometimes has the stress on the first e of the ending, for example, ve|de|re (meaning to see) and av|e|re (meaning to have). However, these verbs often stress a syllable before the –ere ending, for example ven|de|re (meaning to sell), di|vi|de|re (meaning to divide) and es|se|re(meaning to be).

Tip

Remember that –ere verbs do not always stress the e of the ending, and take note of the stress when learning a new verb.

5 Different stress for different meanings

In a few cases one word has two pronunciations, depending on its meaning. The following are some examples:

Key points

Two-syllable words are stesssed on the first syllable, unless there’s an accent.

Longer words are usually stressed on the next to the last syllable.

If the stress is on an unexpected vowel you need to learn it.