LingoDrop
Italian · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "felice" in Italian?
feh-LEE-cheh, stressed on the middle syllable. In IPA: /feˈli.tʃe/. The final "ce" is soft, like the end of "cheese," never a hard k.
Three even syllables, fe, li, and ce, cleanly separated, with the stress on the middle syllable, "li."
Listen: felice
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Sound it out
This is a good word to lock in the c rule seen throughout this set: c is soft before e or i, hard before a, o, or u. "Felice" ends in "ce," so that final consonant is always a soft "ch," the same sound that closes the English word "beach."
Hear it in a sentence
Sono molto felice oggi.
I am very happy today.
Listen: Sono molto felice oggi.
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"Sono molto felice oggi" uses "sono," the io-form of "essere" (to be), with "molto" as an invariable adverb (very) modifying the adjective rather than agreeing with it. "Oggi" (today) sits at the end of the sentence, the neutral, unmarked position for time adverbs in Italian, matching the calm, default word order English could also use here ("I am very happy today"). "Felice" is one of Italian's invariable -e adjectives, the same form for masculine and feminine (compare "triste" elsewhere in this set), unlike -o/-a adjectives such as "cattivo/cattiva" that change with gender.
Where English speakers slip
The final "ce" sometimes gets pulled toward a hard k, especially by learners reminded of English words like "feline" that share some letters with "felice." Italian keeps it soft here without exception, the same "ch" sound that ends "peace" phonetically, not "leak."
There's also a pull to stress the first syllable, "FEH-li-cheh," by loose analogy with English "feline" or "felicity." Correct Italian stress falls on the middle syllable, fe-LI-ce.