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Italian · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "il ponte (m.)" in Italian?
eel POHN-teh, stressed on the first syllable of "ponte." In IPA: /il ˈpon.te/. Keep the o clean and closed, and don't let it slide into a nasal vowel the way English sometimes does before an n.
"Ponte" is written and spoken as two syllables, pon-te, with all the stress up front and the second syllable trailing off quickly and lightly.
Listen: il ponte (m.)
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Sound it out
The main thing to watch here is what happens to the vowel before the n: English speakers often let a vowel go nasal or swallow the n before a consonant (as in "don't"), but Italian keeps the o and the n as two separate, fully pronounced sounds, with nothing blurred between them.
Hear it in a sentence
Attraversiamo il ponte a piedi.
We cross the bridge on foot.
Listen: Attraversiamo il ponte a piedi.
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"Attraversiamo il ponte a piedi" uses "a piedi" (literally "to feet") for "on foot," one of a small family of manner-of-transport phrases that don't map onto English prepositions word for word — compare "in treno" (by train) and "in macchina" (by car), where Italian consistently reaches for a different preposition than English does.
"Ponte" is used literally for physical bridges, as here, and also figuratively for a long weekend created by a public holiday falling near a weekend ("fare il ponte," to bridge the gap and take the days in between off too) — a very common, distinctly Italian use of the word worth knowing beyond its literal meaning.
Where English speakers slip
English speakers frequently let the vowel before a nasal consonant blur or nasalize, the way "don't" or "want" don't fully articulate their vowels before the n. Italian "ponte" needs a clean, closed o followed by a clearly and separately pronounced n — resist the urge to soften or nasalize the vowel.
The other slip is stressing the second syllable by analogy with English words that end in "-te" sounding drawn out (like a hesitant "ponTAY"). "Ponte" is stressed firmly on the first syllable and the final e is short and unstressed, closer to a clipped "teh" than a lingering "tay."