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Italian · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "debole" in Italian?
DEH-boh-leh, stress on the first syllable, the e closed and crisp like the e in "vero," not open like the e in "forte." In IPA: /ˈde.bo.le/.
Three syllables — de, bo, le — stressed on the first, another "sdrucciola" pattern like "libero" and "facile." All the emphasis sits up front, then the word eases off through two light, quick syllables.
Listen: debole
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Sound it out
The main thing to get right here is the closed e at the start — easy to second-guess, since a good number of similarly-shaped Italian words (like "forte" or "bello") use the open e instead, and Italian spelling gives no visual clue either way.
Hear it in a sentence
Mi sento debole oggi.
I feel weak today.
Listen: Mi sento debole oggi.
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"Mi sento debole" uses the reflexive verb "sentirsi" (to feel) — literally "I feel myself weak" — the standard Italian construction for describing a physical or emotional state, where English just says "I feel weak" with no reflexive pronoun. "Debole" stays in its base form here since this -e ending class doesn't mark the speaker's gender on the adjective.
"Debole" covers physical weakness, as here, but also a weak argument, a weak signal, or a "weakness" for something ("avere un debole per qualcuno," to have a soft spot for someone) — a figurative extension that closely parallels the English idiom.
Where English speakers slip
Since Italian spelling never marks vowel openness, and many visually similar words (bello, forte, vento) use the open e, learners often guess wrong and open the e in "debole" too, saying it with the vowel of "bet" instead of the tighter, closed vowel of "they." There's no shortcut here besides learning words like this one individually.
The second slip is stressing the second syllable instead of the first, following a vague sense that longer words should carry weight further back — Italian sdrucciola words like "debole" resist that instinct and keep the stress locked on the first syllable.