LingoDrop
Italian · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "otto" in Italian?
AWT-toh, with an open "aw" and a firmly held double t. In IPA: /ˈɔt.to/.
Two syllables, ot and to, stressed on the first. As with "quattro" and "sette," the double t is a real, held sound, not a spelling flourish.
Listen: otto
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Sound it out
The vowels and consonants are all straightforward on their own, the whole word hinges on correctly timing that double t in the middle, the same feature that shows up across several of Italy's numbers.
Hear it in a sentence
Il negozio apre alle otto.
The store opens at eight.
Listen: Il negozio apre alle otto.
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"Il negozio apre alle otto" uses the definite article "il" in front of "negozio" (the store) where a general statement in English might drop it. Italian regularly requires a definite article in front of nouns that English leaves bare, especially when talking about a specific, known place like "the store" in a daily routine.
"Alle otto" again follows the standard time pattern, "a" plus the feminine plural article agreeing with the unspoken "ore," giving "at the eight [hours]," exactly parallel to "alle sei" and "sono le sette."
Where English speakers slip
As with "quattro" and "sette," the double t is the main casualty of English speech habits, particularly the American flapping rule that turns a t between vowels into a fast, almost "d"-like tap, as in "city" or "otter." "Otto" needs that t held distinctly longer, with a real stop, or it risks sounding like a completely different, single-consonant word.
The second slip is closing the stressed o, saying something closer to "OH-toh," the way English spelling patterns (a single o before a consonant, as in "over") suggest a long, closed vowel. Italian keeps this o open, the same vowel as in "off" or "saw," throughout the stressed syllable.