LingoDrop
Italian · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "la persona (f.)" in Italian?
per-SOH-nah, stress on the middle syllable, with a closed "oh" — not the reduced English "per-SO-nuh." In IPA: /perˈso.na/.
Three syllables, per, so, and na, each kept distinct and fully voiced, unlike the two-syllable English cognate "person" it resembles.
Listen: la persona (f.)
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Sound it out
Because "persona" is such a close cognate of English "person," the biggest challenge isn't any single sound — it's resisting the urge to just say the English word. Italian keeps every syllable here fully pronounced.
Hear it in a sentence
È una brava persona.
She's a good person.
Listen: È una brava persona.
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"È una brava persona" relies on a quirk worth flagging: "persona" is grammatically feminine no matter who it describes, so "una brava persona" can refer to a man just as easily as a woman. The adjective agrees with the noun's grammatical gender, not the real-world gender of the person being described.
"Brava," rather than "buona," is the natural word for describing someone's character here — buona persona is used too, but brava carries a slightly warmer, more approving tone, closer to "a good, capable person" than a flat moral judgment.
Where English speakers slip
Because "persona" and "person" are such close cognates, English speakers often just import the English pronunciation wholesale — "PER-suhn" — collapsing three syllables into two and reducing the last vowels to a schwa. Italian keeps all three syllables clear and full: per-SO-na.
The r-plus-vowel combination in "per" also tends to merge into a single English r-colored vowel, the muffled "er" of "her" or "fur." Italian keeps the e and the r as two separate articulations — a short, clear e followed by a quick tap, not a blended sound.