Ciao is used as bye in spanish even though its

Learning Spanish Forum - Ask a Tutor
1

Ciao is used as bye in spanish even though its italian, i think?

2

Yes, it’s an interjection and mostly used as a farewell by Spanish and French speakers, as well as Italians. Much the same way “gesundheit” is used in English for sneezing, even though it’s German; “Halo?” for answering the one in certain Latin American countries even though “Hello” is English, etc.

I personally never use it and very rarely hear it from Spanish speakers, but it does happen.

3

It’s used in various languages, French, Portuguese, and others…

In Spain at least I’ve never heard it a lot compared to France or Portuguese speaking countries.

1 Like
4

LILingquist and Jorgis’s answers are correct. Only a couple points:

  • In Italian, “ciao” means both “hi” and “bye”. The word, as imported by other languages, including Spanish, only means “bye”.
  • In Spanish it would be spelled “chao”
  • It was more popular in Spain in the 60’s or thereabouts, it’s not frequent nowadays.
  • It’s more usual in some Spanish-speaking countries than in others.
  • You can also hear the diminutive version: “chaíto”.
5

Good additions. I didn’t know about it being more frequent in the '60s and I do hear it more from certain Latin Americans than Spaniards.

6

It’s very common in Argentina for people to say goodbye with “chao.” You almost never hear “adiós”, “hasta luego” or some of the more stereotypically Spanish ways of saying goodbye. Chao and “Nos vemos” are the most used there.

7

you will hear that in argentina where a good percentage of people are of italian descent and some other italianisms

8

I thought ‘ciao’ was pretty much universal, or at least understood anywhere Italians have made a significant impact. In the US it is a commonly used alternative to “see ya,” and I know it’s sometimes used in Dutch.

9

When I lived in Argentina I use often “chao”. Actually, I live in Barcelona. Here is very rare to hear “chao”. If some of you want to know more: Ciao - Wikipedia

10

In Chile, “chao” is also the most common way to say goodbye. It’s always caught my attention that in Italian “ciao” means “hello” as well as “goodbye”.