Stress / Accento Tonico
Usually, Italian words are stressed on the next–to–the–last syllable.
amicofriendfoglialeafMilanoMilannipotenephewpadrefatherparlareto speaksignorinaMissstudiareto studytelefonareto telephoneuomoman
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.
dottoredoctordottor NardiDoctor Nardiprofessoreprofessorprofessor Paceprofessor Pace
When words are stressed on the last vowel, they always have a written accent over that vowel.
cioènamelycittàcityperchèbecauseperòhowevertassìtaxiuniversitàuniversityvenerdìFridayvirtùvirtue
It is useful to remember that open e and o occur only in stressed syllables.
automobileautomobilemedicophysiciannobilenobletelefonotelephone
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.
dàgivesdafromèiseandlàtherelathe; it; hernénornesomeséhimself, herselfseifsìyessioneself
