Italian language: Stress

Stress (Accento tonico)

amico
foglia
nipote
padre
parlare
signorina
studiare
telefonare
uomo

friend
leaf
nephew
father
to speak
Miss
to study
to telephone
man

When the final -e is dropped from a word, as happens with some masculine titles when they are directly followed by a proper name, the position of the stress remains unchanged, cf.:

dottore
dottor Nardi
professore
professor Pace

doctor
Doctor Nardi
professor
Professor Pace

When words are stressed on the last vowel, they always have a written accent over that vowel, cf.:

cioè
città
perchè
però

namely
city
because
however

It is useful to remember that open e and o occur only in stressed syllables, cf.:

automobile
medico
nobile
telefono

automobile
physician
noble
telephone

Note: The written accent is used with a few monosyllables in order to distinguish them from others that have the same spelling but a different meaning, cf.:

dà
da
è
e
là
la
né
ne
sé
se
sì
si

gives
from
is
and
there
the; it; her
nor
some
himself, herself
if
yes
oneself

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