How to Pronounce 'Importante': Italian Pronunciation Guide

Q: How do you pronounce importante in Italian?

importante is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /im.porˈtan.te/. It means “important.” eem-por- TAHN -teh, stress landing on the third syllable, one beat later than the English cognate "important" leads you to expect. In IPA: /im.porˈtan.te/ .

How do you pronounce "importante" in Italian?

eem-por-TAHN-teh, stress landing on the third syllable, one beat later than the English cognate "important" leads you to expect. In IPA: /im.porˈtan.te/.

importante /im.porˈtan.te/

Four syllables — im, por, tan, te — stressed on "tan," the second-to-last. English "important" stresses its second syllable (im-POR-tant); Italian shifts that emphasis one syllable to the right, onto "tan," and then closes with a light, fully-pronounced final "te" that English drops to almost nothing.

Listen: importante

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Sound it out

As a close cognate, "importante" is one of the easier words to read on sight, but the English version's habits — swallowing the ending, softening vowels — need to be unlearned for the Italian to land right.

im A crisp, unstressed "eem," with a true short i, not the schwa-ish "uhm" English gives this syllable.

por An open "por," rhyming with "more" but without any r-coloring lingering into the vowel — the r is a light tap, not the American r.

tan The stressed syllable: a bright, open "tahn," the same a as in "father," carrying all the word's emphasis.

te A clean, fully-voiced "teh" to finish — Italian never drops or mumbles a final syllable the way English trails "-tant" off into almost nothing.

Hear it in a sentence

È un giorno importante.

It's an important day.

Listen: È un giorno importante.

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Here "importante" follows the same -e adjective pattern as "facile" and "difficile": one form for masculine and feminine singular ("un giorno importante" or "una giornata importante"), with only "importanti" changing for the plural. The sentence itself uses "è" plus the indefinite article "un" to describe the day — a simple "it's an important day" construction that doesn't need a possessive or extra qualifier the way English sometimes adds one.

Where English speakers slip

Because "importante" is nearly identical to its English cognate, the most common mistake is simply importing the English stress and vowel reductions wholesale: IM-por-tint, stressed on the first syllable with the final syllables mushed into schwas. Italian keeps every vowel full and clear and moves the stress to "tan."

The second slip is the American r in "por": English speakers tend to curl the tongue back and let the r color the vowel before it, producing something closer to "pore." Italian r is a quick tap of the tongue against the ridge behind the teeth, with the vowel staying clean on either side of it.