LingoDrop
Italian · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "perdere" in Italian?
PEHR-deh-reh, stressed on the first syllable, with an open e that English speakers often miss. In IPA: /ˈpɛr.de.re/.
Three syllables, per, de, and re, each pronounced separately, with the stress up front, on "per."
Listen: perdere
Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.
Sound it out
This word puts Italian's open/closed e distinction on full display: the stressed e in "per" is open, like the e in English "bet," while the two unstressed e's later in the word are closed and tighter. English doesn't distinguish these two e sounds at all, so both can start to sound identical to an untrained ear.
Hear it in a sentence
Non voglio perdere le chiavi.
I don't want to lose the keys.
Listen: Non voglio perdere le chiavi.
Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.
"Non voglio perdere le chiavi" pairs the negated modal "non voglio" (I don't want) directly with the infinitive "perdere," the same no-preposition pattern seen with other modal verbs in Italian. "Le chiavi" is plural with its definite article, the default way Italian refers to "the keys" as a specific, known set, matching English structurally here.
Where English speakers slip
The most common mistake is flattening both e's in "perdere" to the same sound, since English has no open/closed e contrast to draw on. Italian actually opens the first e (in the stressed "per") more than the two that follow, a real, audible difference that native listeners notice even when it doesn't change meaning in this particular word.
The r is also a frequent trip point: influenced by Spanish's rolled r in words like "perro," some learners over-roll the r in "perdere." Standard Italian uses a single quick tap here, not a sustained trill.