Animals
Was that a question?
Asking questions in Italian is easy! Just pronounce any statement as a question.
È un uccello.
It's a bird.
È un uccello?
Is it a bird?
Did you notice that it uses the same verb form as he and she? That might come in handy!
Z as in zoo
The letter z in Italian has two different sounds.
zoo
zoo (it sounds like dz, as in clouds)
zucchero
zucchero (it sounds like ts, as in nets)
There's no general rule, so you'll have to remember how z sounds in the most common Italian words.
Here’s one tip for you though: when z isn't the first letter of a word, it sounds longer and stronger. Same thing for double z.
Here’s one tip for you though: when z isn't the first letter of a word, it sounds longer and stronger. Same thing for double z.
colazione
colazione, grazie (as in pizza, but longer)
tazza
tazza, ragazzo, ragazza (as in pizza, but longer)
Nello zoo
In Italian, you will come across many word combinations. Nel and nello are a couple of them. Let's see how they are formed.
in + il = nel
in + lo = nello
For example, you can see these combinations used to talk about the location of people, animals, and objects.
Le scimmie sono nello zoo.
The monkeys are in the zoo.