Using Accented Vowels In Italian Posted by Geoff on Jul 18, 2016 in Grammar
On a recent visit to England I needed to write a few messages in Italian on an English keyboard, and quickly became aware that my accented vowels were missing!
On my Italian keyboard, apart from the standard a, e, i, o and u, I also have à, è, é, ì, ò and ù.
As you can see, I have two different accented e’s: è and é. When the accent slopes backwards (è) it is called grave, and when it slopes forward (é) it is called acuto. The grave is always used when à, ì, ò, and ù are the final letter in a word.
… guarda là, un’aquila! Photo CC by Tony Hisgett
In most cases, omitting the accent isn’t a disaster. For example, if you write perche instead of perché it will still be perfectly comprehensible. But writing e (and) instead of è (it is) can result in confusion.
Here’s a list of some common words in which the accent is obligatory. Where appropriate I have given the non accented version of the word to clarify the difference:
così (adverb: like this/in this way) vs cosi (noun: things, more commonly used in the feminine form: la cosa/le cose)
per accendere il forno devi fare così (you have to light the oven like this)
cosa sono questi cosi? (what are these things?)
città (town/city) N.B. many words which end with ‘ty’ in English, such as university, charity etc. usually end with the accented à in Italian: università, carità etc.
Firenze è una bellissima città (Florence is a beautiful city)
ciò (this/that/what)
ciò vuol dire che devo riscrivere l’articolo (this means that I’ll have to rewrite the article)
è (verb: is) vs e (conjunction: and)
questo è uno dei miei libri preferiti (this is one of my favourite books)
Dante Alighieri e Francesco Petrarca sono i padri della lingua italiana (Dante Alighieri and Francesco Petrarca are the fathers of the Italian language)
già (already/yet)
siamo già arrivati? (are we there yet?)
giù (down)
per scendere giù al fiume devi seguire questo sentiero (to get down to the river you have to follow this footpath)
là (adverb: there) vs la (definite article, feminine singular: the; or direct object pronoun, feminine singular: her, it)
guarda là, un’aquila! (look over there, an eagle)
dov’è l’aquila? Non la vedo! (where’s the eagle? I can’t see it)
lì (adverb: there) vs li (direct object pronoun, masculine plural: them)
i tuoi occhiali sono lì sul tavolo (your glasses are there on the table)
me li passi per piacere? (can you pass them to me please?)
né … né (conjunction: neither … nor) vs ne (pronoun: of it/of them)
lei è vegetariana, quindi non mangia né carne né pesce (she’s vegetarians, so she eats neither meat nor fish)
le banane ci sono? Sì, ce ne sono tre (are there any bananas? Yes, there are three of them)
però (conjuction: but) vs pero (noun, masculine singular: pear tree)
mi piace la frutta, però solo quando è ben matura (I like fruit, but only when it’s really ripe)
l’anno scorso abbiamo piantato un pero in giardino (last year we planted a pear tree in the garden)
perciò (therefore)
sono impegnato, perciò domani non posso venire (I’m busy, therefore I can’t come tomorrow)
perché (why/because)
perché devi comprare una macchina nuova? (why do you have to buy a new car?)
perché l’altra è troppo vecchia (because the other one is too old)
più (more)
sono sfinito, non ce la faccio più! (I’m worn out, I can’t go on any more!)
può (he/she/it can)
mi può aiutare per favore? (can you help me please?)
sé (reflexive pronoun: himself/herself/itself) vs se (conjuction: if)
l’ha fatto per sé (he did it for himself)
se non ti piace basta dirmelo! (if you don’t like it just tell me!)
sì (adverb: yes) vs si (personal pronoun: one/himself/herself/itself)
vuoi un bicchiere d’acqua? Sì grazie (do you want a glass of water? Yes please)
Si prega di lavarsi le mani, grazie (Please wash your hands, thank you. literally: one prays to wash one’s hands, thank you)
You may also find the following articles useful: Parole e Accenti
Tip: If you’re using an English keyboard without accented vowels, you can ‘cheat’ by using the apostrophe (‘), e.g. perche’ instead of perché, citta’ instead of città, and so on.
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Comments:
Charlie DeWeese:
A bit laborious, but if you work in MS Word, you can do Insert, Symbol and access accented vowels and a host of other symbols. It saves the most recent ones you have used, so I don’t have to hunt for the accented vowels. Certainly a poor substitute for a real Italian keyboard, but it works. There are also keyboard short cuts, if you have the patience to learn and remember them.
Rosalind:
Possibly more practical to use the ALT code, i.e. ALT and 141 for ì and ALT 149 for ò, etc. Since I sometimes write in Italian and, more often, in Corsican, the full list is posted up near my computer.
On a smartphone, of course, just a long press on the vowel concerned.
.
Elaine:
Not having an Italian keyboard on my laptop, I looked up and wrote out all the shortcuts (alt + digits). I have them taped to my laptop, beside the mouse-pad. If anyone is interested, they are as follows:
À = alt + 0192; à = 0224
È = 0200; è = 0232; é = 0233
Ì = 0204; ì = 0236
Ò = 0210; ò = 0242
Ù = 0217; ù = 0249
Larry Turner:
Thanks for the article on accents – especially the words spelt with and without accents.
But what is the difference between using ‘e’ with an acuto and a grave? I have read that this is not clear even in Italy.
Geoff:
@Larry Turner Good question Larry! Okay, the accento acuto (é) is used when the pronunciation is chiuso (‘closed’), e.g., in the word perché the final é is pronounced like the English ‘a’ as in day, or stay.
The accento grave (è) is used when the pronunciation is aperto (‘open’), e.g. è like the ‘e’ in the English word end.
However, don’t worry about it too much because, as you correctly state, these rules of pronunciation are quite vague for Italians as well. The important thing is to write the correct accent on the appropriate word.
Hope that helps, a presto, Geoff 🙂
Arleen:
On an English keyboard to get the grave mark you hold down the control and ` keys together, release and then type the letter you want, to get the acuto accent hold down the control key and the ‘ key together, release then type in the letter you want.
Love all your blogs!
Donna:
There is also the option of using the “alt ” key with a number code for example “e” with a grave accent can be produced on an English keyboard by holding down the alt key while typing 0232. A list can be found online easily. I keep one taped to my desk for easy reference
Mike:
With newer Mac OSs, you can hold down any given key and numbered options will come up. I just made è by holding down the E key for a second, and then hitting the 1 key.
In any case, this was a great article that helped clarify accents for me. Thanks!