LingoDrop
Italian · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "la pizza (f.)" in Italian?
lah PEET-tsah, with a crisp "ts" sound in the middle, not a plain "z." In IPA: /la ˈpit.tsa/. The final a stays a full, open "ah," never a mumbled schwa.
Two syllables, piz and za, with the double z marking a genuinely held "ts" sound — English has borrowed this word so thoroughly that the original Italian consonant sound often gets softened along the way.
Listen: la pizza (f.)
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Sound it out
"Pizza" is one of the most familiar Italian words in English, which is exactly why it's easy to mispronounce — the borrowed English version has quietly drifted from the original, especially in how clearly the final a is said.
Hear it in a sentence
Stasera mangiamo la pizza.
Tonight we're eating pizza.
Listen: Stasera mangiamo la pizza.
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The example, "Stasera mangiamo la pizza" (Tonight we're eating pizza), shows a distinctly Italian use of the definite article: where English says "we're eating pizza" with no article at all, Italian says "mangiamo la pizza," using "la" to talk about the food generically. Italian regularly keeps the definite article in front of food and drink nouns even when no specific, previously-mentioned item is meant.
"Mangiamo" is the "noi" (we) form of "mangiare" (to eat), and "stasera" (tonight) sitting at the front of the sentence is a common way Italian fronts time expressions rather than tucking them at the end as English typically does.
Where English speakers slip
Because "pizza" is such a familiar loanword, English speakers often carry over the English pronunciation without noticing the differences: English tends to reduce the final a toward a schwa, "PEET-suh," while Italian keeps it a full, open "ah" all the way to the end of the word.
The doubled z can also get softened toward an English "z" sound, as in "please," instead of the crisper "ts" Italian actually uses — the same "ts" you hear in English "cats," just moved to the middle of the word instead of the end.