Buongiorno! Greetings in Italian

What is the most important thing you should learn before you go to Italy? Of course to greet and say goodbye! You don’t want to be rude, do you? Learn useful greetings in Italian.

persone salutano | Buongiorno! Greetings in Italian

Greetings in Italian

1. Greeting formulas

Meeting greetings Formality When?
Ciao! informal anytime Hi! Hello!
Salve! formal anytime Hello!
Buon giorno! formal | informal morning, afternoon,
after waking up
Good morning! | Hello!
Buona sera! formal afternoon, evening Good evening!
Buona notte! formal | informal Night before bedtime Good night!

The time at which you start saying buona sera depends on the region. The further south, the earlier. In the north, for example, buona sera is heard from about 5 p.m., in the south already after lunch.

The buon greetings can be written as one word or separately: buongiorno or buon giorno; buonasera or buona sera; buonanotte or buona notte.

2. Nice to meet you

– Piacere, Valentina.
– Piacere, Federico.

Piacere is what you say when you meet someone for the first time, usually while shaking hands. You could also add a few words:

Piacere formal | informal It’s a pleasure
Piacere di conoscerti informell Pleased to meet you.
Piacere di conoscerla formal Pleased to meet you

If you just met someone and then leave, you can say:

– È stato un piacere conoscerti.
– Anche per me!

È stato un piacere conoscerti informal It was a pleasure meeting you
È stato un piacere conoscerla formal It was a pleasure meeting you
Anche per me formal | informal For me, too

3. How are you?

– Ciao Emma, come stai?
– Bene, grazie! E tu?

There are a few ways to ask how someone is doing and respond. Let’s get to know some of the most common ones:

Come stai? informal How are you?
Come sta? formal How are you?
Come va? formal | informal How’s it going?

Answers

Bene, grazie! Good, thank you!
Benissimo
Molto bene
Very good
Tutto a posto Everything good
Non male
Non c’è male
Not bad
Così così So so
Male
Molto male
Bad
Really bad

4. Goodbye!

– Arrivederci, signor Rossi!
– Arrivederci, signora Bianchi!

The most common expressions for goodbye are:

Ciao!
Ciao ciao!
informal Bye!
Arrivederci! formal Goodbye!
Arrivederla! more formal Goodbye!

5. See you soon

– Ciao Emma, a presto!
– Ci vediamo!

When you say goodbye, you could also say something other than goodbye. Here you can find some common expressions:

Buona giornata! Have a nice day!
Buona serata! Have a nice evening!
A presto! See you soon!
A dopo!
A più tardi!
See you later!
A domani! See you tomorrow!
Ci vediamo! See you around!

Answers

Grazie, altrettanto! formal | informal Thank you likewise!
Grazie, anche a te! informal Thank you, you too!
Grazie, anche a Lei! formal Thank you, you too!

ESERCIZI

1. Combine the sentences with the corresponding answer.

2. What can you say when you leave? Choose all possible answers.

Learn more

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3 thoughts on “Buongiorno! Greetings in Italian

  1. steel kelly says:

    first try

  2. Keaton says:

    This a very handy website…👍❤👌

  3. Lilly O'Connell says:

    👌👍❤fun

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