How to Pronounce 'La scarpa (f.)': Italian Pronunciation Guide

Q: How do you pronounce la scarpa (f.) in Italian?

la scarpa (f.) is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈskar.pa/. It means “shoe.” SKAR-pa , with a hard "sk" like the English word "scar," and a crisp, un-swallowed final "a." In IPA: /ˈskar.pa/ . All the stress sits on the first syllable.

How do you pronounce "la scarpa (f.)" in Italian?

SKAR-pa, with a hard "sk" like the English word "scar," and a crisp, un-swallowed final "a." In IPA: /ˈskar.pa/. All the stress sits on the first syllable.

la scarpa (f.) /ˈskar.pa/

Two syllables, scar and pa, both said with full, clear vowels — Italian never lets that final "a" fade into the mumbled "uh" English speakers tack onto words like "pizza" or "opera."

Listen: la scarpa (f.)

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Sound it out

The tricky part isn't the letters, it's the habits English brings to them: "sc" here is always hard, and the r is nothing like the English r.

sc A hard "sk," as in "scar" or "scan." This only changes before e or i (as in "scena"), so before a it's always safe to read it as English "sk."

r A single quick tap of the tongue against the ridge behind the upper teeth, not the English r's back-of-the-mouth curl. It's closer to the tt in American "butter" than to any English r.

pa A short, full "pah." Keep the vowel clean and open all the way through, don't let it trail off toward a weak "puh."

Hear it in a sentence

Questa scarpa è troppo piccola.

This shoe is too small.

Listen: Questa scarpa è troppo piccola.

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"Scarpa" is feminine, which is why the sentence uses "questa" (this) rather than "questo." Italians default to talking about footwear one shoe at a time when the topic is fit, "questa scarpa è troppo piccola" points at a single shoe that doesn't fit, while a full pair would switch to the plural "queste scarpe."

"Troppo" here is an adverb modifying the adjective "piccola," not an adjective itself, so it never changes form no matter what noun is nearby. "Piccola" does agree, taking the feminine ending to match "scarpa," and that agreement is the part English speakers most often forget since English adjectives never change for gender.

Where English speakers slip

The most common mistake is softening "sc" into "sh," saying something like "SHAR-pa." That's borrowed from French-derived English spellings, but Italian "sc" only makes an "sh" sound before e or i; before a, o, or u it's always a hard "sk," the same sound that opens "scan" and "scar."

The other slip is the r. English speakers reach for their own r, pulling the tongue back and rounding the lips slightly, which makes "scarpa" sound heavier and more American than it should. Italian r is a single fast flick of the tongue tip, much closer to the quick d-like sound in the middle of American "ladder" than to any English r.