Say Hello in Italian

The most direct way to say “hello” in Italian is “ciao” but there are actually multiple ways to greet someone in Italian. Depending on the circumstances of your greeting, some of these other ways might actually be more suitable. Here are a few of the most helpful “hello” phrases to know.

Steps

Standard Hello

  1. Say "ciao" in casual situations.[1] This is one of the two most common ways to say “hello” or “hi” in Italian.
    • Note that “ciao” can also be translated as “good-bye” depending on the context it is said in.
    • While it is a common greeting, ciao is considered fairly informal and is usually used in casual situations or among friends and family.
    • Pronounce ciao as chow.
  2. Switch to "salve" for neutral situations.[2] This is the second most common way to say “hello” in Italian, but is still not very common.
    • While not quite as common as “ciao,” the term “salve” is more appropriate to use amongst people you are not on familiar terms with. The most formal way to greet someone is with a time-specific greeting, but salve is still appropriate to use with most people.
    • To put it in the perspective of a native English speaker, “ciao” is like “hi” while “salve” is closer to “hello.”
    • Salve is borrowed from Latin and was used frequently by the Romans during Caesar's time.[3]
    • Like ciao, salve can also be used to say "good-bye" depending on the context.
    • Pronounce salve as sahl-veh.

Time-Specific Greetings

  1. State "buongiorno" in the morning. This phrase translates into “good morning” or “good day.”
    • Buon is derived from the Italian adjective "buono," meaning "good."
    • Giorno is an Italian noun meaning "day."
    • As with many other Italian greetings, buongiorno can also mean "good-bye" depending on the context.
    • Buongiorno and other time-based greetings are considered the most formal way of greeting someone. That said, you can still use these phrases among friends and family.
    • Pronounce buongiorno as bwohn jor-noh.[4]
  2. Greet someone with "buon pomeriggio" in the afternoon.[5] This phrase can be used to say “good afternoon” as a greeting or farewell after noon.
    • Note that you may still hear buongiorno in the afternoon, but buon pomeriggio is slightly more common and more accurate. "Buon pomeriggio" is a lot more formal than "buongiorno".
    • Buon means “good” and pomeriggio is a noun meaning “afternoon.”
    • Pronounce the greeting as bwohn poh-meh-ree-joh.
  3. Tell someone "buonasera" in the evening. After roughly 4 PM, the polite way to greet or bid farewell to someone is with buonasera.
    • Buona means "good" while sera is an Italian noun meaning "evening." Since sera is feminine, the masculine adjective "buon" takes on the feminine form "buona."
    • Pronounce buonasera as bwoh-nah seh-rah.

Additional Greetings

  1. Answer the phone with "pronto?"[6] This is another term used to say “hello” in Italian, but it is only used for telephone conversations.
    • You can use pronto when receiving a phone call or making a phone call.
    • As an adjective, pronto actually means "ready" in English. By answering the phone with this term, the implication is that you are ready to hear what the speaker wishes to say or asking if the speaker is ready to speak.
    • Pronounce pronto as prohn-toh.
  2. Tell a group of people "ciao a tutti." If greeting a group of friends, you might opt to use this phrase instead of greeting everyone individually.
    • Remember that the term “ciao” is an informal or casual way of saying “hi.”
    • A tutti means "to all." The word "a" means "to" and the word "tutti" means "all" or "everyone."
    • Translated literally, the phrase means "hi to everyone."
    • Pronounce this phrase as chow ah too-tee.
  3. Greet someone new with "piacere di conoscerti."[7] In English, this phrase means “pleased to meet you.”
    • Piacere is taken from an Italian verb meaning "to please" or "to be fond of." It can also be used on its own as an interjection to say "hello," but it is not commonly used as such.
    • Di is a preposition that can mean "of," "to," or "for," among other things.
    • Conoscerti is an informal conjugation of the Italian verb "conoscere," meaning "to know" or "to meet." Note that a more formal way to conjugate this verb would be "conoscerla."
    • Pronounce piacere di conoscerti as pee-ah-cheh-reh dee koh-noh-shehr-tee.
    • Pronounce piacere di conoscerla as pee-ah-cheh-reh dee koh-no-shehr-lah.
  4. Switch to "incantato."[8] This is a slang term used informally to express great pleasure at meeting someone. It is often a greeting meaning a guy will be flirting (or a girl, "incantata").
    • The English equivalent of this phrase would be “spellbound” or “enchanted.”
    • Pronounce this greeting as een-kahn-tah-toh.
  5. Welcome someone with "benvenuto.” If greeting someone as a host, use this phrase to tell that person "welcome."
    • Ben is derived from the Italian word "buon," meaning "well."
    • Venuto is derived from the Italian verb "venire," meaning "to come."
    • Translated more directly, benvenuto means "well coming."
    • Pronounce benvenuto as behn-veh-noo-toh.

Cheat Sheet

Doc:Ways to Say Hello in Italian

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.uwosh.edu/home_pages/faculty_staff/minniear/pages/LanguageAids.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.smartphrase.com/Italian/it_general_words_phr.shtml
  3. ↑ http://www.italianlakes.com/questo/questo_greetings.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.ipl.org/div/hello/italian.html
  5. ↑ http://www.learnalanguage.com/learn-italian/italian-phrases/italian-greetings.php
  6. ↑ http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm
  7. ↑ http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/meet.htm
  8. ↑ http://www.moltobeneitalian.com/phrase/12715/incantato

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