In this article you will find a practical guide to using the most important Italian greetings. It’s really nice to know when certain greetings might be inappropriate or imprecise, even if they sound familiar. Although some greetings have crossed national borders and become household names, there are still some little secrets that can be kept hidden. Let’s find out!
goodbye
goodbye is by far the most used and well-known Italian greeting. It comes from an old Venetian polite expression: yes helloliterally your slavebut understood as Willing to help.
Due to the popularity gained over the past two centuries, goodbye Now for a spontaneous and informal greeting. A unique thing about this word is that it is used both when you meet someone and when you part.This often raises the curiosity of many non-Italian speakers, but don’t worry, the double use goodbye Never cause real life mess. Also, when you meet your friends, you usually say things like: how are you (bye how are you) and when you leave: goodbye! (Goodbye, see you later!)
good morning/good evening
If you have any doubts about how to say hello in Italian, know that you can always rely on these two expressions. They are suitable for almost any occasion when you meet someone, and the start of any kind of spoken or written conversation.
Good morning (literally “good day”) can be used from early morning to early afternoon.In fact, for when it is possible to Good morning to good evening (literally “good evening”).older people tend to use good evening It was just after 12 noon, but that seems odd in modern Italian.Personally, I recommend saying good evening When you feel the daylight starting to fade.
A more specific greeting such as Good morningliterally Good morning and good afternoon, good afternoon, exist, but they’re not really used. You might hear them on TV shows that air at that time of day.
An interesting fact about the spelling of these two greetings is that they can be written either as one word or as two separate words: Good morning / Good morning, good evening / good evening. However, word versions tend to be more frequent.
Good morning(or goodbye)
Here is a more colloquial variant Good morning. the word Say is a synonym skyexcept it sounds like sky. Interestingly though, Say and sky Different origins: the former is of Latin origin diewhile the latter comes from old english dough.
ointment
ointment is a popular greeting that comes directly from the Latin verb ointment significance Healthy body. it becomes a greeting in the form of a wish I wish you good health / I wish you good healthBut this literal meaning has disappeared in modern Italian.
particularity ointment It is the older generation who consider it informal and the younger generation who consider it formal. To avoid mistakes, I recommend using it in a semi-informal context. On the one hand, if it is rarely used with people you know very well, on the other hand, it may be inappropriate if used with professors, doctors, or other professionals.
ointment It is mainly used when meeting each other, and also used when saying goodbye. It is a bit like goodbye.
good day / good evening
goodbye and good evening obey the rules Good morning and good evening, but they are used when leaving rather than meeting someone, as they express a wish for a good rest, day or night. (See our blog post on the difference between the two day/day).
until we meet again
until we meet again is a relatively formal greeting used to part ways with someone we wish to meet again in the future. If we take a closer look at it, we see that it is caused by ‘to-re-see-there‘literally see us again (as in ’till we meet again’). It has a more formal variant, goodbyeYou can use it on someone you call with a formal pronoun Lei.
In addition to this, there is also a “telephone” variant resentmentwhich is consistent with the fact that the two interlocutors have not actually seen each other, but only heard each other’s voices.
goodbye
this greeting is like until we meet again but more friendly and informal, it is translated into English see you later.
we will discuss
It’s a greeting that expresses a desire to stay in touch, even if only through text.not like resentmentis also often said after meeting, corresponding to English tell you soon.
goodbye
If we take a closer look at this greeting, we can clearly see that the words to godmeaning to god. You may be a little familiar with the French expression goodbye or spanish goodbyebut not like these in italian goodbye Very strong, with a definite goodbye. It is so strange and unusual to hear it in everyday life that it is somehow connected to the world of movies, plays and novels.
In real life, we may hear people say goodbye At a funeral, or at the end of a relationship. It can also be said in a sarcastic tone and used in somewhat paradoxical situations, as is often the case with emotionally charged words. Goodbye dieting if we go to grandma’s for dinner! / If we go to grandma’s for dinner, the ADDIO diet!
Bella
almost everyone knows what this word means beautifulbut probably outside Italy, not known for many years Bella is also used instead of goodbye by the younger generation. This is especially true for the very informal way of speaking of the younger generation in metropolitan areas such as Rome and Milan. Bella Possibly from older expressions such as What’s up guys! This emphasizes the positivity of a situation, more or less like Well done guys! in English.
Armed with these expressions, you should be able to easily greet someone in Italian in a variety of situations, from informal conversations to more formal interactions.
Finally, here are some colloquial parting expressions that begin with “a”.This preposition can sometimes be included in a word, e.g. until we meet again and goodbyeor separated, such as resentment. Its function is to express the passage of time being filled, more or less like until or to.
see you later / goodbye = see you later (literally: to/until later/to after)
soon = goodbye (literally: soon)
until tomorrow = secondsSee you tomorrow
until next time = literally: to/until next time
Author Nico Curinia certified Italian teacher since 2016 and working online since 2019.
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