An appropriate Italian greeting is a respectful way to show you’ve made an effort to understand Italian culture. All languages have informal and formal ways of addressing people. In English, we mostly do this with vocabulary. We might say, “Hey, wassup?” to a good friend, but we probably wouldn’t address a college professor like that. Instead, we might say, “Good afternoon, Professor Calvino.”
However, Italian, like most Romance languages, has completely different verb conjugations for informal and formal speech. We won’t get into conjugations now, but we will provide simple greetings in Italian along with when and how to use them.
Ed ora, andiamo! (And now, let’s get going!)
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Common Italian greetings
In English, “hello” is a fairly standard greeting for anyone. These short greetings in Italian are similar, and they can be used in informal or formal situations.
Buondì
Buondí is a casual way to say, “Good day.” It’s a perfectly fine way of greeting people you’re familiar with in everyday conversations.
Salve
This is a good all-purpose greeting that can be used with friends and strangers to say “hello” and “good-bye.” Salve can also be used as a greeting for casual correspondence like an email.
Pronto?
You may know that pronto means “ready” in Italian, but it’s also used with an inflection as a greeting to answer the phone. That means you’ll hear it or say it as a question when making or answering calls.
Benvenuto/Benvenuta/Benvenuti/Benvenute
All of these words mean “welcome,” so you might hear one of them as you walk into shop or restaurant. Or, if you’re lucky enough to meet some Italians and invite them to your place, you’ll be able to impress them by using this expression when you answer the door.
Here’s the breakdown of the different uses of these words, but if you get mixed up, benvenuto will do in a pinch:
- Benvenuto: for a single man
- Benvenuta: for a single woman
- Benvenuti: for a group of men or a group of men and women
- Benvenute: for a group of women
Casual greetings in Italian
All of these Italian greetings can work in informal situations. Many of these basic Italian sayings are followed by a question or another short phrase, so it’s good to mix and match them. Use these Italian expressions with people you know, people your age in informal settings, or with children.
Ciao
Many native English speakers have probably heard this word for saying “good-bye”—Ciao, bella! (“Good-bye, beautiful!”). However, this versatile word is also used to say “hello.” It’s a friendly way to greet someone, and it’s often used with a term of endearment like bella or bello (beautiful one or handsome one).
It’s also possible to reverse the order of these words, and some of you might know this expression as the nineteenth-century workers’ protest song, which has a strong political meaning and was an important part of WWII history. It was recently turned into more of a catchy pop song in a cover by Becky G in Money Heist called Bella Ciao. No matter who sings it, once you hear it, you’ll never get out of your head, so it’s a way to learn some Italian.
And ciao is sometimes repeated twice in an upbeat friendly way to mean either “hello” or “good-bye”—Ciao, ciao!
Piacere di conoscerti
This means “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” so it can be used in a friendly yet slightly formal situation. You’d use it if you’re meeting a friend of a friend for the first time or if you’re meeting someone your age in a casual setting like a classroom. You can also just say piacere, which would be slightly more casual.
Che piacere vederti!
Che piacere vederti! means “It’s nice to see you.” You can use this when you see someone after an initial meeting. Sometimes you’ll hear che piacere rivederti!, which simply emphasizes how nice it is to see someone again.
Felice di vederti
Another variation on Che piacere vederti! is this phrase, which means “nice to see you” or “I’m happy to see you.”
Come stai?
This informal but meaningful greeting means “How are you?” It usually comes after a version of “hello” and typically is used with someone you haven’t seen in a while. While asking, “How are you?” in English doesn’t usually come with the expectation of a response, in Italian, it does. If you ask someone, “Come stai?” they will tell you how they are and ask the same of you.
Come va?
Come va? means “How’s it going?” This would be a bit more casual than many other phrases on this list.
Come va la tua giornata?
This asks “How is your day going?” It’s a friendly way of asking a question that shows you care.
Da quanto tempo!
This means “How long has it been (since we’ve seen each other)!” So, you’ll only use it with someone you’ve already established a friendship with.
Formal greetings in Italian
Using proper forms to greet someone is important in Italian culture. Formal greetings are a form of respect for people you don’t know, people older than you, teachers, doctors, and police officers, even if you know them.
You can start with signora (“ma’am”) or signore (“sir”) then add a formal greeting. When in doubt, use a formal greeting. Practice using these with a native Italian speaker in a Rosetta Stone tutoring session. They’ll provide you with real-time feedback and tips for saying “hello” in formal situations.
Buon giorno
Use this to say “good morning” and “good afternoon,” but afternoon can mean up to 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. in Italy. You may see this written as one word, buongiorno, and that’s correct, too.
Buon pomeriggio
Buon pomeriggio means “good afternoon,” but it’s not used much. Most Italians use buon giorno.
Buona sera
This has the same tone as “good afternoon” or “good evening.” These expressions can be used to say “hello,” but you’ll sometimes hear them used to say “good-bye,” too. Buona notte is the term for “good night,” but it’s generally only used to say “good-bye” when it’s late.
Mi scusi
Again, while technically not a greeting, it’s a great way to say “excuse me” to someone you don’t know when you need to ask something. Combine it with signora or signore to be even more polite.
Piacere di conoscerLa
This would be the formal way to say “Nice to meet you.” You can also simply say piacere, but that will have a slightly more casual feel.
Come sta?
This is the formal way to say, “How are you?”
Ha passato una bella giornata?
This phrase has a similar tone to “Have you had a nice day?” You might use this with someone you’re starting to get to know.
Regional greetings in Italy
Aside from Italian, there are about 30 other languages spoken in Italy. If you’re in these regions, using one of these phrases will demonstrate your politeness, which translates to respect.
- Neapolitan: This language is spoken in the southern region of Italy called Campania. Say cia’ or uè to greet someone.
- Sicilian: This is spoken on the island of Sicily on the southern tip of Italy. Use sabbinidica to greet formally and ciau to greet informally.
- Venetian: Venetian is used in the northeastern part of Italy. Say ciao in informal situations, bondì for morning and early afternoon greetings, and bona sera for late afternoon and evening greetings.
- Lombard: This language is spoken in the northern part of Italy where several dialects of Lombard exist. If you use ciào or bon dì similar to how they’re used in Italian, that will cover you. But you can also say: salüde, saludi, reverissi or bondesiorìa.
- Sardinian: Sardinian is spoken on the island of Sardinia off the western coast of Italy. They say salude as a greeting.
- Friulian: This little-known language is used in the far northeastern part of Italy where people say mandi to greet each other.
Cultural tips for Italian greetings
Language isn’t just about words; it’s also about culture, including body language. Use these tips to ensure your greetings in Italian use the appropriate tone:
- Look people directly in the eye when speaking. It’s usually expected in Italy.
- Italians tend to “talk with their hands,” so feel free to use friendly hand gestures with greetings.
- People in Italy are physical, so don’t be surprised if someone gives you a little peck on both cheeks as a greeting or pats you on the back.
Perfect your Italian with Rosetta Stone
Greetings are an important part of most conversations in Italian. But don’t rely on memorization to ensure you pick the appropriate Italian greeting. Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion method helps you learn a new language by putting words in context with images. You can become proficient in Italian in un batter d’occhio (in the blink of an eye) to take your conversations beyond “hello.”
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