The Italian “R”: How do you Say it?

How to Pronounce the Letter “R” in Italian

Many English speakers can find the Italian “r” a bit hard to say. This is because this sound is quite different from English. So today I want to tell you how to make it properly.

As a start, you need to position your mouth in the right way. Let’s see how.

Basically, to reproduce the “r” in Italian you need to roll up your tongue. But if you don’t know how to do it just follow these three easy steps:

1. Place your mouth as if you are making a T: you’ll notice that your tongue is on the palate just behind your front teeth
2. Relax your tongue
3. Push the air out of your mouth until your tongue vibrates against your teeth 

Relaxation is very important to make the R to vibrate correctly. Don’t worry if you cannot make it right on the first attempt. Keep trying until you get it right.

Italian Words with the Letter “R”

Here you are some Italian words that contain the letter “r”. 

• ROMA = Rome
• RANA = Frog
• ROSSO = Red
• PERCHE‘ = Why or Because
• GRAZIE = Thanks
• PARCO = Park

Listen to their pronunciation below.

The double “R” in Italian

If you’d like an extra challenge you can check these 25 words with a double “r”. To make this sound you need to say the “r” but hold if for a bit longer.

In the video below I put these words in a context so you can improve your vocabulary as well.

A Simple Italian Tongue Twist (with the letter “R”) …. 

Before we move on to the last part of this lesson, let me give you a simple tongue twist in Italian with the letter R.

It will help you to practice this sound even if it seems impossible at the beginning!

People teach this tongue twist (and others) to their kids to help them to pronounce this sound correctly.

In fact, the Italian R is probably one of the most difficult to learn even for Italians!

Sometimes even native speakers can have troubles with saying the R!

So don’t be too hard on yourself if you cannot get it right immediately …

Here you are the tongue twist:

TRE TIGRI CONTRO TRE TIGRI.

Literally means: three tigers against three tigers.

Listen to its pronunciation below.

As you can see, you have to say the sound R several times in this phrase.

It will be a bit hard at the beginning but keep repeating it and eventually it will become natural to say the R. 

And Now it’s Your Turn!  

Okay and now it’s your turn so let’s do a very simple activity.

Here you are some more Italian words with the Italian R: try to read them so you can practice the pronunciation of this sound.

• ORO = Gold
• CARTA = Paper
• NERO = Black
• ERBA = Grass
• PORTA = Door
• ROTTO = Broken 

Now listen to the recording and check your pronunciation!

This was everything for today! I hope you liked this lesson. If you want to improve your Italian pronunciation, you can also check the following lessons: 

• 5 BASIC PRONUNCIATION RULES IN ITALIAN 
• THE SECRET TO SAY THE SOUND “GLI” IN ITALIAN 
• SOUND GN IN ITALIAN: ARE YOU SAYING IT RIGHT?