“Ciao” & Other Essential Italian Phrases To Learn

A little birdie just tweeted that you’ve now mastered your Italian alphabet or L’alfabeto Italiano, so hooray and congratulations! And just as Kris Jenner would say “You’re doing amazing sweetie.”

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Memorizing your Italian alphabet is a great start to your Italian lessons. After all, this helps you read the Italian words you’ll be learning, speaking, even singing throughout your Italian language learning journey. Oh, and you can practice your pronunciation with this snappy Italian song called Baciami Piccina by Quarteto Cetra. I promise you, this song will have you merrily dancing while practicing your Italian.

Now that you’ve danced and exercised your Italian with an Italian classic, it’s time to learn some essential phrases. You can practice these basic phrases with a friend, a family member, or a stranger. Or if you are in Italy, you can definitely practice with an Italian, as surely these phrases will help you talk the talk with the locals.

Basic Italian Greetings

• Hello – Ciao
• Goodbye – Ciao
• Good morning – Buongiorno
• Good evening – Buonasera
• Goodnight – Buonanotte (used when going to bed)
• Pleased to meet you – Piacere
• Please – Per favore
• Thank you – Grazie
• Thank you very much – Grazie mille
• You’re welcome – Prego
• Yes – Sì
• No – No

  
  Common Italian Phrases

• How much? – Quanto?
• How’s it going? – Come va?
• How are you? – Come sta?
• I don’t know – Non lo so
• I’m sorry – Mi dispiace
• What’s your name? – Come si chiama?
• Excuse me – Mi scusi
• Excuse me (to pass by) – Permesso
• Okay – Va bene
• Of course – Avoglia
• See you later! – Ci becchiamo dopo!
• Cheers! – Salute!

  
  Italian Phrases In The Restaurant

• Can I see the menu, please? – Il menu, per favore?
• Can I pay by card? – Posso pagare con la carta?
• The bill, please. – Il conto, per favore.
• What do you recommend? – Che cosa ci consiglia?
• Delicious! – Buono!
• Another one, please. – Un altro, per favore.
• Could you help me? – Potresti aiutarmi?
• What’s this? – Che cos'è questo?
• I’ll take this one – Mi piacerebbe questo