Saying Hello in Italian: Conversation Basics

Even if you are at a lower level of Italian (A1 or A2), you can still make a start in holding a simple conversation. In fact, the sooner you get started practicing in conversation, the faster and easier it will be to learn and understand how the various grammatical structures work together. In the below article, we’ve put together a little guide and some conversation-starters to help you initiate this journey.

How do you start off a conversation in Italian?

There are a number of ways to greet (and say goodbye to) someone, both formally and informally, in Italian. Below is a short list of the most common, listed in order of the most formal to least formal:

• Salve (Hello)
• Buongiorno (Good morning) ; buonasera (Good afternoon/Good evening)
• Arrivederci (Goodbye)
• Buona giornata (Have a good day) ; buona serata (Have a good evening). Both of these are used to say goodbye.
• Ciao (Hi, hey)

If you are meeting someone for the first time, it is also common to say “piacere”, which means nice to meet you.

To introduce yourself and give your name, say, “mi chiamo…” which means my name is…, or literally, I call myself…

Then there are three ways to ask how someone is. In order from most formal to least formal, they are:

• Come sta? (How are you?)
• Come stai? (How are you?)
• Come va? (How’s it going?)

What sorts of questions can you ask?

In this section, we’ll present a few different scenarios, based on who you might be talking to, to anticipate what sort of questions you might be asked (or could ask yourself), along with possible answers.

Scenario #1: Meeting a friend

Come va? (How’s it going?)  Sto bene, grazie. (I’m well, thanks.)

Che fai questo fine settimana? (What are you doing this weekend?)  Vado al concerto in città. (I’m going to the concert in the city.)

Come vanno gli studi? / Come va il lavoro? (How are studies/work going?)  Abbastanza bene, ma sono stanco/a in questi giorni. (Well enough, but I’m tired these days.)

Vuoi fare qualcosa insieme per le vacanze? (Do you want to do something together for vacation?)  Certo! Cosa ne pensi di andare a Roma? (Certainly! What do you think about going to Rome?)

Scenario #2: Meeting someone for the first time

Buongiorno, mi chiamo… (Good day, my name is…)

Piacere. (Nice to meet you.)

Che lavoro fa/fai? (What work do you do?) *the use of the formal or informal will depend on if one of you is older/superior in rank to the other or not

Da dove viene/vieni? (Where do you come from?) *see above note for formal vs. informal

Scenario #3: Talking to your boss

*the formal will be used here, but depending on the relationship and how long you’ve worked together, you might use the informal

Salve, come sta? (Hello, how are you?)  Sto bene, grazie. E Lei? (I’m well, thank you. And you?)

Ha finito il documento con dati? (Have you finished the report?)  Ancora no, ma entro domani sera glielo mando. (Not yet, but by tomorrow evening I’ll send it to you.)

A che ora inizio lavoro domani? (What time do I start work tomorrow?)  Alle 9.00.

Reactions

When you’re in the middle of a conversation with someone, it’s natural to include little interjections and reactions to what the person is saying. In your native language, you probably don’t even think about these until suddenly you’re communicating in Italian and realize you don’t have a word to express, “Oh, really?” Below are some common reaction words you can use:

Davvero? (Really?)

Stai scherzando? (Are you joking?)

E poi? (And then?)

Non ci credo! (I don’t believe it!)

Che peccato! (What a shame!)

Fammi sapere! (Let me know!)

Che bello! (How nice!)

Other useful words and phrases

To close, here is a final list of some words and phrases that you might find useful in basic, everyday conversations:

Che bella giornata. (What a beautiful day.)

Va bene. (All right/okay.)

Sono americana/[insert nationality]. (I’m American/[other nationality].)

Non capisco. (I don’t understand.)

Non parlo italiano molto bene. (I don’t speak Italian very well.)

Mi scusi. (Excuse me—formal)

Prego. (You’re welcome.)

Conclusion

Holding a basic conversation in Italian doesn’t have to be that difficult or complicated, especially if you prepare ahead of time with some key phrases and perhaps an introduction for yourself. We hope this little guide has been useful, but if you’d like more structured assistance on your Italian language journey, don’t hesitate to contact us at info@italiancitizenshiplanguageschool.com.