Updated on April 11, 2024
How to say the months of the year in Italian
Carnival, the Festa della Repubblica (Day of the Republic), Ferragosto and la vendemmia (harvest season) are all important events on the Italian calendar. If you don’t learn how to say the months of the year in Italian, you might just miss them! So, to keep the festivities going all year round, it’s best to get these months down pat.
In this guide, we’ll cover the names of the months in Italian and share some grammatical tips to apply when using them. We’ll also review some related terminology as well as a short limerick to help with memorization.
Let’s tackle the basics first. Below, you’ll find a list of the months of the year in Italian, plus guidance on how to pronounce them.
| English | Italian | Pronunciation |
| January | gennaio | jen-nah-yo |
| February | febbraio | feb-brah-yo |
| March | marzo | mar-tsoh |
| April | aprile | ah-pree-leh |
| May | maggio | maj-joh |
| June | giugno | joo-ñyoh |
| July | luglio | loo-lyoh |
| August | agosto | ah-gos-toh |
| September | settembre | set-tehm-breh |
| October | ottobre | ot-toh-breh |
| November | novembre | noh-vem-breh |
| December | dicembre | dee-chem-breh |
Note that, in Italian, the months of the year are considered common nouns rather than proper nouns. As such, they are never capitalized unless starting a sentence.
In Italian, the months of the year are all masculine. Knowing this will be handy when you need to ensure noun-adjective agreement.
See two examples below:
In both instances, the adjective agrees with the noun and is declined in its masculine forms.
Months in Italian tend to go along with a few prepositions:
To describe something happening during a specific month, you can use the Italian prepositions “in” and “a”:
These prepositions are interchangeable and the above sentences would also work as:
Another preposition you can use is “nel.” However, it will only work in the context of the phrase “ nel mese di,” meaning “in the month of.”
They say every little bit helps when learning a new language. And that’s true of memorization techniques, too. Fortunately, there’s a short limerick designed to help you remember not only the name of the months in Italian but also their duration.
Trenta giorni ha novembre
con april, giugno e settembre.
Di ventotto ce n’è uno,
tutti gli altri ne han trentuno.
Translation:
November has 30 days,
along with April, June and September.
Only one month has 28 days.
All the others have 31 days.
We’ve nearly reached the end of this vocabulary guide on the months of the year in Italian. Before you go, though, here’s an additional gift: some related vocabulary that will prove useful in situations when you need to speak about this topic:
Knowing the months of the year will surely help you progress when learning Italian. While these names are usually used in particular situations, mastering their pronunciation and use will boost your confidence. With this terminology, you will for sure not miss out on any celebration or important event in the Italian calendar!
