How to Pronounce 'L'orologio (m.)': Italian Pronunciation Guide

Q: How do you pronounce l'orologio (m.) in Italian?

l'orologio (m.) is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /o.ro.ˈlɔ.dʒo/. It means “watch; clock.” oh-roh-LOH-joh , stress on the third syllable, with an open "aw"-ish o right at the stress and a soft "j" at the end. In IPA: /o.ro.ˈlɔ.dʒo/ .

How do you pronounce "l'orologio (m.)" in Italian?

oh-roh-LOH-joh, stress on the third syllable, with an open "aw"-ish o right at the stress and a soft "j" at the end. In IPA: /o.ro.ˈlɔ.dʒo/.

l'orologio (m.) /o.ro.ˈlɔ.dʒo/

Four syllables, o, ro, lo, and gio, with the third one stressed; that last "gio" is written with two letters for one soft "jo" sound.

Listen: l'orologio (m.)

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Sound it out

Two things to watch for: the stressed o in the middle is more open than the o's around it, and the -gio ending uses the same silent-i rule as "giacca" and "ciao."

o An unstressed opening "oh," light and quick, not the vowel that gets the emphasis in this word.

ro A quick, unstressed "roh" with a tapped r, gliding straight into the next syllable.

lo The stressed syllable, an open "aw"-leaning "loh," the same open-o quality as in English "law," not the tighter closed o of "low."

gio A soft "jo," as in "jog." The i is silent, marking the g as soft rather than hard, the same rule as gia- in "giacca."

Hear it in a sentence

Il mio orologio è rotto.

My watch is broken.

Listen: Il mio orologio è rotto.

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"Orologio" is masculine, and because it starts with a vowel, "il" contracts to "l'", written "l'orologio." In "Il mio orologio è rotto," "mio" (my) still takes the masculine agreement even though the article elided; possessive adjectives in Italian normally travel with an article ("il mio orologio," literally "the my watch"), unlike English, which never doubles up a determiner and a possessive together.

"È rotto" uses "essere" (to be) with the adjective "rotto" (broken) to describe a resulting state, this is the ordinary way Italian says something is broken, not a passive construction with "is being broken," just a plain description like "è vecchio" (it's old) or "è nuovo" (it's new).

Where English speakers slip

English speakers often close that stressed o, saying "oh-roh-LOH-joh" with a tight, diphthong-y "oh" the way English says "low." Italian's stressed o here is open, closer to the vowel in English "law" or "raw," a distinction Italian keeps consistently but English speakers don't naturally hear or produce.

The other common slip is hardening the gi at the end into a hard g, or worse, pronouncing the i as its own syllable, "oh-roh-LOH-jee-oh." That i is silent scaffolding for the soft g sound, not an extra vowel, the word stays at four syllables, not five.