The Venetan dialects cover a large area of Northeastern Italy, and are primarily spoken in the Veneto region, as well as large areas of Trentino and Friuli. Due to large-scale emigration from the regions in the 19th and 20th century, they also have a strong presence in the overseas Italian diasporas.

In the traditional dialectological classification they form a first-order grouping between Gallo-Italic in the west and south (Emilia and Lombard dialects), Ladin in the north and Friulan in the east. The internal differences are considerable, but usually the dialects are divided into (1) Venetian of Venice, (2) Central Venetan, (3) Western Venetan (Verona), (4) Northeastern Venetan and (5) Venetan Trentino.

For example, there are many different pronunciations of the <l> and <z> across the area.