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Italian · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "lui" in Italian?
LWEE, said as one quick syllable, like the name "Louie" run together rather than split apart. In IPA: /ˈluj/.
Written with two vowels, u and i, but pronounced as a single syllable — the i collapses into a fast glide right after the u, not a beat of its own.
Listen: lui
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Sound it out
Like "più," this word looks like it should take two syllables to say and doesn't — the u carries the syllable, and the i just glides off the end of it.
Hear it in a sentence
Lui è mio fratello.
He is my brother.
Listen: Lui è mio fratello.
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"Lui è mio fratello" uses the subject pronoun "lui" even though Italian verb endings usually make subject pronouns optional — "è mio fratello" alone would already mean "he's my brother." Adding "lui" here adds emphasis or clarifies exactly who is being talked about, often in contrast with someone else already mentioned.
"Lui" also doubles as the disjunctive pronoun used after prepositions ("con lui," with him; "per lui," for him), the same pattern seen with "te" after "per" and "con" elsewhere in this list — Italian pronouns change form depending on whether they're the subject, object, or follow a preposition.
Where English speakers slip
The most common mistake is splitting the two vowel letters into two syllables, something like "loo-ee," the same instinct that affects "più." In fluent Italian, "lui" is a single syllable, with the i reduced to a glide rather than a full vowel.
The second slip is over-stressing the pronoun in every sentence out of habit, when in natural speech "lui" is often unstressed and quick unless the speaker is specifically drawing a contrast — much like English "he" is usually unstressed except when emphasized.