Essential Italian Phrases

By: Tahiti Beaupre, FFE, 2016-17

Planning on studying in Florence and have no previous experience with Italian? Don’t worry, we got you covered. Here are a few basic words and phrases that will help you fit right in!

Greetings

• Buongiorno (Good Morning)
• Buonasera (Good Afternoon/Evening-Formal)
• Buonanotte (Good Night-Informal)
• Arrivederci (Goodbye-Formal)
• Ciao (Hello & Goodbye-Informal)
• Salve (Hello & Goodbye-Neutral)
• Come si chiama? (What is your name-Formal)
• Come ti chiami? (What is your name-Informal)
• Mi Chiamo (My name is)
• Di dov’è (Where are you from-Formal)
• Di dove sei? (Where are you from-Informal)
• Sono di (I am from)
• Come sta? (How are you-Formal)
• Come stai? (How are you-Informal)
• Bene, grazie (Fine, thank you)

Courtesy Phrases

• Per favore (Please)
• Grazie (Thank you)
• Prego (You’re welcome)
• Mi dispiace (I’m sorry)
• Mi scusi (Excuse me-Formal)
• Scusa (Excuse me, I’m sorry-Informal)
• Permesso (Excuse me-When walking through crowds)
• Sì (Yes)
• No (No)

Basic Question Words

• Chi? (Who)
• Cosa? (What)
• Quando? (When)
• Dove? (Where)
• Perché? (Why)
• Come? (How)
• Quanto (How much)

Emergencies

• Aiuto (Help)
• Emergenza (Emergency)
• Chiamate la polizia (Call the police)
• Chiamate un’ambulanza (Call an ambulance)
• Dov’è l’ospedale? (Where is the hospital)

Common Phrases

• Non parlo italiano (I don’t speak Italian)
• Parla inglese? (Do you speak english)
• Non capisco (I don’t understand)
• Vorrei qualcosa da mangiare (I would like something to eat)
• Vorrei un cappuccino (I would like a cappuccino)
• Il conto, per favore (Check please)
• Che ore sono? (What time is it)

At the market, cafe, or stores

• Quanto costa? (How much does it cost)
• Vorrei pagare in contanti (I’d like to pay in cash)
• Vorrei pagare con la carta di credito (I’d like to pay by credit card)
• Accettate carte di credito? (Do you (all) accept credit cards)
• Sto cercando (I’m looking for…)
• Prendo (I’ll take…)
• Da portare via (To go)
• Questo (This)
• Quello (That)
• Lo scontrino (The receipt)
• Il resto (The change)

Spoken like a true Italian

• Allora (And then) – You’ll quickly learn that every Italian will start their conversations with this phrase.
• Va bene (Alright or okay sometimes used as it’s alright or it’s okay)
• Una busta? (A bag) – You’ll get asked this almost every time you’re at a grocery store, just reply with sì or no.
• Piano Piano (Slowly slowly) – Once orientation comes, you’ll learn this phrase, but it basically means just to slow down.
• Prego avanti (Welcome, next) – You will here this whenever you’re waiting in line at the grocery store or other shops. This means that it is the next persons turn in line.
• Basta (Enough) – My all time favorite, you can use this when someone keeps serving your mounds and mounds of pasta and you want to let them know that’s enough. Basta to the pasta!
• Meno male (Less bad) -This phrase is used like “thank God”. So when you find out you passed your Italian midterm you can say “meno male!”.
• Dai (Come on) – You can use this when one of your friends is refusing to go with you somewhere, just say dai!
• Che figata (Cool) – You can say this when something awesome happened. Hey, I just found a euro on the street, che figata!