Stress / Accento Tonico

Usually, Italian words are stressed on the next–to–the–last syllable.

amico friend

foglia leaf

Milano Milan

nipote nephew

padre father

parlare to speak

signorina Miss

studiare to study

telefonare to telephone

uomo 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.

dottore doctor

dottor Nardi Doctor Nardi

professore professor

professor Pace professor Pace

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