<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019re probably already know \u201cCiao\u201d<\/strong>, the most common and frequent way to say hello Italian! Ciao is used in many situations, meaning both \u201chello\u201d and \u201cgoodbye\u201d, but mainly in informal situations, i.e., among family members, relatives, and friends. It sounds inappropriate in formal contexts, for instance when greeting elder people, your boss at work or someone you don\u2019t know very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut it\u2019s not the only way to greet in Italian. In fact, some situations call for other more appropriate ways of saying hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Let\u2019s take a look at the different ways to say hello!<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Ehil\u00e0, Ueil\u00e0 or Ehi – \u201cHey\u201d <\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe definition of ehil\u00e0 in the dictionary is to strongly recall someone’s attention. Italians usually use these words to greet friends and family expressing a positive surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, Ehil\u00e0, chi si rivede!<\/em> \u2013 \u201cHey, look who\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut they also can serve as a warning: Ehi, chi \u00e8 entrato in casa mia? \u2013 \u201cHey, who entered my home?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Come va? – <\/strong>\u201cHow\u2019s it Going?\u201d <\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhen you run into a friend, you can say come va?<\/em>, but be prepared. In Italian it often entails a detailed answer and perhaps several long minutes of storytelling with an espresso coffee at the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you don’t have time to chat, just stick to ciao<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Salve!<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis is a conventional, formal greeting which comes from the Latin word \u201csalvus\u201d, meaning healthy, safe. The tone of this greeting is neutral. It was once used as a way to wish someone good health, while today it is mostly used when the speaker is uncertain about which register to use, formal or informal. It is definitely more formal and can be used at all times of the day with people you don\u2019t know well or you don\u2019t know at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Italian greetings for different times of the day<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Buongiorno (Good Morning)<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs a very good way to greet someone, because it\u2019s appropriate in both friendly situations and formal contexts. Buongiorno is equivalent to \u201dgood morning\u201d in English, but it’s also commonly used throughout the day to say \u201dgood day\u201d as a formal alternative to ciao.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Buon pomeriggio (Good Afternoon)<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhen it\u2019s past noon, you can still hear Italians say buongiorno, but the more accurate greeting would be buon pomeriggio which you\u2019re likely to encounter in places like Bologna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Buon pomeriggio is a formal greeting for the afternoon time. It is not as commonly used as buongiorno<\/strong> and buonasera<\/strong>, many people in fact don\u2019t say it at all and replace it with one of those two greetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Buonasera (Good evening)<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhen the evening comes around you say Buona sera (\u201dgood evening\u201d). You can use this greeting as early as 5 p.m and as late as 10 p.m. in formal and informal settings, but only when you\u2019re arriving, not when leaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Buona notte (Good Nigth)<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe last one is buonanotte<\/strong> (good night): a formal and informal greeting, used to say goodbye before going to sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>How to say Goodbye in Italian <\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Arrivederci ( Goodbye)<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is a formal way to say goodbye, only used when you leave (and not when you meet a person). Its meaning is that you wish to see someone again soon. You use it with people you are not quite familiar with, or elder people. A variant is \u201carrivederla<\/strong>\u201d, which is even more formal and expresses a tone of respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Ti saluto<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt literally means \u201cI salute you\u201d and it\u2019s a quick and informal way to say goodbye to a person you know well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Ci vediamo<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s an informal greeting used mostly among young people, which means \u201csee you around\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Buona giornata<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nanother common way to tell someone goodbye is by saying buona giornata<\/em>, which literally means \u201cgood day\u201d and is the equivalent of the English \u201chave a good day\u201d. You can use it in both formal and informal contexts to sound polite and friendly with anyone you meet. After 4\/5 pm, however, the day is almost over so you should use buona serata<\/strong>, which means \u201chave a good evening\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Alla prossima<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt means \u201csee you next time\u201d and is a friendly and casual way to say goodbye to friends, and even to people you\u2019re not familiar with. it means \u201csee you next time\u201d and is a friendly and casual way to say goodbye to friends, and even to people you’re not familiar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Addio<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nhas a negative meaning, because it used to greet someone that you know you will never see again. In fact, it means something like \u201cI recommend you to God\u201d. You will probably hardly hear it, as Italian people don\u2019t like to highlight that it\u2019s the last time they see someone for a very long time, perhaps forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Asking and replying to \u201cHow are you?\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHow are you? How\u2019s it going? How many times a day do we hear or say these brief greetings at the beginning of our conversations? So many times, in fact, that half the time, we don\u2019t even pay attention. These pleasantries are common in Italy as well. The most common ways to ask how someone is doing are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nCome stai?<\/b> (How are you? [Informal])<\/li>\n\n\n\nCome sta?<\/b> (How are you? [Formal])<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n As you\u2019d expect, when someone asks you how you\u2019re doing, there are many responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nSto bene!<\/b> (I\u2019m well!)<\/li>\n\n\n\nMolto bene, grazie.<\/b> (Very well, thanks.)<\/li>\n\n\n\nAbbastanza bene, grazie.<\/b> (Pretty well, thanks.)<\/li>\n\n\n\nNon c\u2019\u00e8 male.<\/b> (Pretty well, thanks.)<\/li>\n\n\n\nSto bene grazie, e tu?<\/b> (I\u2019m well, thanks, and you? [Informal])<\/li>\n\n\n\nSto bene, grazie, e Lei?<\/b> (I\u2019m well, thanks, and you? [Formal])<\/li>\n\n\n\nNon sto bene.; Sto male.<\/b> (I\u2019m not well.)<\/li>\n\n\n\nMalissimo!<\/b> (Not well at all!)<\/li>\n\n\n\nVa bene.<\/b> (Things are going well.)<\/li>\n\n\n\nVa tutto bene.<\/b> (Everything\u2019s going well.)<\/li>\n\n\n\nVa benissimo!<\/b> (Things are going great!)<\/li>\n\n\n\nVa male.<\/b> (Things aren\u2019t going well.)<\/li>\n\n\n\nCos\u00ec cos\u00ec.<\/b> (So so.)<\/li>\n\n\n\nNon mi posso lamentare.<\/b> (I can\u2019t complain.)<\/li>\n\n\n\nBenissimo!<\/b> (Great!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/span>How to address people<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nItalians like titles and tend to use them whenever possible. When addressing someone without using his or her last name, use the entire title as it\u2019s listed here. But when you add the person\u2019s last name to the title, you drop the final -e in the title. Use the Lei<\/b> form when using any of the following titles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nMiss<\/b> (Signorina)<\/li>\n\n\n\nMrs.; Madam<\/b> (Signora)<\/li>\n\n\n\nMister; Sir<\/b> (Signore)<\/li>\n\n\n\nprofessore<\/b> [M]; professoressa<\/b> [F] (professor)<\/li>\n\n\n\ningegnere<\/b> (engineer)<\/li>\n\n\n\ndottore<\/b> [M]; dottoressa<\/b> [F] (doctor)In Italian, dottore<\/b> is used if the person has a university degree even though it<\/i>\u2018<\/i>s not a medical degree.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n So there you go, now you\u2019ve got lots of Italian greetings, and ways of saying \u201chello\u201d, \u201cgoodbye\u201d and \u00abhow are you\u00bb in Italian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re feeling creative you can use a combination of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s Your Favorite Italian Greeting?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Greetings are the very first words we utter when we meet someone. Is the most effective way to introduce one person into the circle of another, in the case of presenting someone else, either momentarily and sporadically, or in a more permanent way, by establishing a closer link with that person. The most used greeting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danteinlinea.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danteinlinea.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danteinlinea.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danteinlinea.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danteinlinea.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1014"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/danteinlinea.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22386,"href":"https:\/\/danteinlinea.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions\/22386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danteinlinea.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danteinlinea.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danteinlinea.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danteinlinea.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}