Italian · Difficult words

How to pronounce mento in Italian

mento

Chin

MEHN-toh/ˈmen.to/

Standard Italian · Choose 1.00× to hear the original pace.

mento is pronounced /ˈmen.to/ in Italian. In mento: Keep the tongue toward the front and sustain a single /e/ vowel. Listen for its exact height in the recording. Listen to the word on its own, then compare it with the example sentence.

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Find the sounds in mento

Read mento in these IPA segments: ˈmen · to. Dots and stress marks identify the boundaries shown in the reference; these symbols are not English spelling. The mark /ˈ/ comes immediately before the main stressed syllable. Give that syllable a little more prominence without swallowing the others.

  1. 1.A steady /e/ vowel

    In mento: Keep the tongue toward the front and sustain a single /e/ vowel. Listen for its exact height in the recording.

    Watch out: English “ay” often ends with a glide; do not automatically carry that glide into this vowel.

  2. 2.A steady /o/ vowel

    In mento: Round the lips and keep the tongue toward the back for a steady /o/. Follow the length indicated in the transcription.

    Watch out: Avoid automatically turning a single /o/ into the moving vowel of English “go”.

Hear it in context

Mi sono graffiato il mento sul marciapiede.

I scraped my chin on the sidewalk.

Listen once, say it aloud, then replay at 1.00×. Keep the word connected to the surrounding sentence rather than giving every syllable equal weight.

Pronunciation and variety

mento is presented using Standard Italian. Regional accents and connected speech can change details. The isolated word and the example let you compare the dictionary form with a short spoken context.

The English-style respelling is approximate. Use the IPA and recording together for vowel quality and consonants that do not have an exact English equivalent.

Meaning and everyday use

Questions about mento

How do you pronounce mento?

mento is pronounced /ˈmen.to/ in Italian. In mento: Keep the tongue toward the front and sustain a single /e/ vowel. Listen for its exact height in the recording. Listen to the word on its own, then compare it with the example sentence.

What should I listen for first?

In mento: Keep the tongue toward the front and sustain a single /e/ vowel. Listen for its exact height in the recording. Start at 0.75×, then return to 1.00× to hear the natural rhythm.

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