S s

This letter represents two different sounds, corresponding to the initial sounds of Eng. "seal, zeal" - using phonetic symbols, voiceless [s] and voiced [z]. Voiced [z], always spelled "s" in It. words, must not be confused with the sounds represented by the It. letter "z" - for which see .

"S" is regularly pronounced [s]:
- in initial position, followed by a vowel - an easy example is It. "sole" that means "sun" and begins with the same consonant sound;
- in initial position, followed by a voiceless consonant sound like [p, t, k]: "specie, studio, schema"... ( species, study, scheme...);
- in final position, in the few words ending with "s": "gas, caos, ficus, rebus"...
- "ss" always represents a longer, voiceless [s].

"S" is regularly pronounced [z] in initial position when it is followed by a voiced consonant sound like [b, d, g, l, m, n, r, v]: "sbattere, sdegno, sgolarsi, slegare, smettere, snello, sregolato, svelto"... ( hit, disdain, shout, untie, cease, slender, unruly, quick...).
Notice that in words like "slow, smell, snow" Eng. has [s] and this is a major difference with It. pronunciation.

Inside words, if "s" is followed by another consonant it is pronounced according to the rules above: "rispetto" ( respect ) contains an [s] sound whereas "risveglio" ( awakening ) contains a [z] sound.
- Also inside words, "s" is pronounced [s] if it is preceded by another consonant: "falso, corso, pensione"... ( false, course, pension...)

An "s" between two vowels (or "intervocalic s", if you enjoy this kind of terminology) is problematic because its pronunciation is unpredictable: "casa" contains [s] while "rosa" contains [z]. In this case, there are similarities with Eng. "house, rose" but this is by no means regular. If you hate the idea of making sure how each of such words should be spoken, you can imitate those speakers who always use intervocalic [z] and say "casa" with the same "s sound" as "rosa". Speakers of this kind are numerous, especially in some areas of Northern Italy.