C is one of the most mispronounced letters in Italian. It’s not your fault, though! Often, the rules governing the pronunciation of the letter C in Italian are the opposite of those in English.
I’m going to explain the rules here, but it’s worth watching the entire video, as it’s packed with vocabulary that you might or might not be familiar with, giving you a great opportunity to expand your Italian vocabulary.
The rules are simple:
The hard C sound (like in kite) is used when C appears before a, o, u, and also before consonants, or when you see ch (e.g., caro, cosa, cura, chi).
The soft C sound (like in chair) occurs before the vowels e and i (e.g., cena, cinque).
If there’s a double C, you emphasize it by holding the sound a bit longer and making it stronger. Whether it’s a soft C or a hard C, the doubling always lengthens the sound (e.g., bocca has a hard double C, and faccia has a soft double C).
To simplify it further, you can remember this rule:
Hard C sound, except before e and i.
Pronouncing the letter C in Italian