{"id":176591791,"date":"2018-10-29T10:44:21","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T17:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog-new\/?p=176591791"},"modified":"2025-05-19T11:27:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T18:27:52","slug":"italian-greetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/italian-greetings\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Greetings for the Most Common Situations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Italian greetings are used for welcoming and acknowledging others in a variety of situations. This post will give you an overview of greetings so that you can learn what to say and write, depending on the context.<\/p>\n

\"Handshake<\/p>\n

Just Say Hello… in Italian<\/h2>\n

The most popular way of saying \u201cHello\u201d in Italy is \u201cBuongiorno\u201d (\u201cGood Day\u201d, you\u2019ll also encounter the spelling \u201cBuon giorno\u201d). You can\u2019t go wrong with it as it will work well in both formal and informal contexts.<\/p>\n

You can add \u201cMadam\u201d to it and say \u201cBuongiorno, Signora\u201d or \u201cSir\u201d and make it \u201cBuongiorno, Signore\u201d. If you use a surname, let\u2019s take Rossi as an example, you\u2019d say \u201cBuongiorno, Signora Rossi\u201d to a woman and (attention!) \u201cBuongiorno, Signor Rossi\u201d to a man. As you can see \u201ce\u201d from \u201cSignore\u201d disappears if the word precedes a surname.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Another, less formal way of greeting people is \u201cCiao\u201d. The word translates as \u201cHi!\u201d but some Italians use it even with people they don\u2019t know (others consider it rude). As you\u2019re not a native speaker, it\u2019s more difficult for you to feel when to use \u201cCiao\u201d and when \u201cBuongiorno\u201d is more appropriate. I\u2019d say that as a rule of thumb you should use the greeting that a person has chosen when addressing you. In other words, if they say \u201cBuongiorno\u201d reply in the same manner and if the say \u201cCiao\u201d follow their lead too. When you have to greet someone first rather be too formal than too casual.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The good thing about \u201cCiao\u201d is that you can use it all day long and it\u2019s also a way of saying \u201cGoodbye\u201d. \u201cBuongiorno\u201d, on the other hand,\u00a0becomes outdated later during the day and should be replaced with \u201cBuonasera\u201d (\u201cGood evening\u201d, you can also encounter the spelling \u201cBuona sera\u201d). The Italian \u201cGood evening\u201d has variations just like \u201cBuongiorno\u201d so if you\u2019re talking to a man you could greet him with \u201cBuonasera, Signore\u201d, while when addressing a woman you should use \u201cBuonasera, Signora\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last but not least, there\u2019s a handy greeting \u201cSalve\u201d. Most Italians save it for the formal context but sometimes you can hear it used informally too. This word is an easy way out when you\u2019re not sure how to address someone.<\/p>\n

How Are You?<\/h2>\n

Saying hello is enough to greet someone but it\u2019s even more polite if you add something more. As an English speaker you\u2019ll know that I\u2019m talking about asking someone how they\u2019re doing. Yet again, just like in English, you\u2019ll reply that you\u2019re doing well in most cases, whether it\u2019s true or not. The question has to do with politeness more than with someone actually being interested in your personal life.
\nHere are a few examples of how to ask people how they\u2019re doing (and respond to such a question) in Italian:<\/p>\n

Informal
\n– Ciao! Come stai? (Hi! How are you?)
\n– Bene, grazie. E tu? (Good, thank you. And you?)<\/p>\n

– Ciao! Come va? (Hi! How are things?)
\n– Tutto bene. (All good.)<\/p>\n

Formal<\/p>\n

– Buongiorno. Come sta? (Good day. How are you?)
\n– Molto bene, grazie. E Lei? (Very well, thank you. And you?)<\/p>\n

– Buona sera. Come sta, Signora Bianchi? (Good evening. How are you, Mrs. Bianchi?)
\n– Molto bene, grazie. E Lei? (Very well, thank you. And you?)<\/p>\n

\"Learn<\/a><\/p>\n

Correspondence and Phone Calls<\/h2>\n

You\u2019ve learnt how to greet someone and ask them how they\u2019re doing. What expressions to use, however, when you\u2019re writing an email? As always it depends on the context.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re friendly with someone you can start a letter by simply saying \u201cCiao\u201d, just like you would in a face-to-face conversation. You should just add the name of the person you\u2019re writing to e.g. \u201cCiao Francesca,\u201d. As you can see the name is followed by a comma. This is why you\u2019ll often see the first line of a letter\/email starting with a lowercase letter as if it was a continuation of a sentence. Nevertheless, some people prefer to use a capital letter. You can compare both choices here:<\/p>\n

Ciao Paula, (Hi Paula,)
\nspero che tu stia bene. (I trust you are doing well.)<\/p>\n

and<\/p>\n

Ciao Lorenzo,
\nSpero che tu stia bene.<\/p>\n

You can also start an email to someone you\u2019re familiar with by \u201cCaro\u201d (\u201cDear\u201d) if it\u2019s addressed to a man (e.g \u201cCaro Marco,\u201d) or \u201cCara\u201d when the addressee is a woman. An even more affectionate term is \u201cCarissimo\u201d (\u201cDearest\u201d) to a man and \u201cCarissima\u201d to a woman.<\/p>\n

In a somewhat formal context Italians start their emails with \u201cBuongiorno\u201d if it\u2019s sent early during the day and \u201cBuonasera\u201d if it\u2019s written a bit later. These expressions, however, are not the most polite ones that you can use.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re communicating with someone and you want to express your respect for them, there\u2019s a number of opening Italian greetings that would work better:<\/p>\n