★ Free & Quick ITALIAN Lessons | Common Words & Phrases for Beginners ★
Learn Italian Fast Online - For Work or Pleasure
Italian is a beautiful language, and along with learning French, has always been on my list of 'things to do before I die'. Like many people though, I've never made the first move in learning the language, but whilst looking through common phrases to learn for an Italian holiday, I decided that it was time to tick that particular goal off my bucket list. So, I did some research and collected it all on this page, plus I bought an Italian Linguaphone course - which is brilliant!
If you are serious about learning Italian, I would definitely suggest you buy a CD/audio course, because pronunciation is key and this is an extremely hard thing to learn from just books (although owning a relevant book or 2 is necessary for learning spelling and the more technical aspects).
However, if you just want to learn the most useful Italian words and phrases to get by on your holiday in Italy, then this page should be all you need! I hope it proves useful :-)
Venice Canal
Common Italian Phrases
Sì = yes
"see"
No = no
"noh"
Per favore = please (when asking for something)
"pehr fah-voh-reh"
Prego = you're welcome/please (when inviting someone to do something or offering them something)
"preh-goh"
Grazie = thanks
"graht-zee-eh"
Grazie mille = thanks very much
"graht-zee-eh mee-leh"
Ciao = hi/bye (quite informal)
"chow"
Salve = hello (formal)
"sal-vay"
Buon giorno = good morning (used until 3pm)
"bwon zhor-no"
Buon pomeriggio = good afternoon (used between 3pm and 6pm)
"bwon po-mer-i-jo"
Buona sera = good evening (used after 6pm)
"bwoh-nah seh-rah"
Buona notte = good night
"bwoh-nah noht-teh"
Arrivederci = goodbye
"ah-ree-vuh-dehr-chee"
A presto = See you soon
"ah press-toh"
Benvenuti! = Welcome!
"behn-veh-noo-tee"
Scusa = excuse me/sorry (informal)
"skoo-zah"
Scusi = excuse me/sorry (formal)
"skoo-zee"
Non c'è problema = no problem
"non cheh proh-bleh-mah"
Di niente = It doesn't matter
"dee nee-ehn-teh"
Mi dispiace = sorry
"mee dee-spyah-cheh"
Non parlo italiano = I don't speak Italian
"nohn par-lo ee-tah-lee-ah-noh"
Parlo poco italiano = I speak a little Italian
"par-lo poe-co ee-tah-lee-ah-noh"
Non parlo molto bene italiano = I don't speak Italian very well
"nohn par-lo mole-toe ben-ey ee-tah-lee-ah-noh"
Può ripetere per favore? = could you please repeat that?
"pwoh ree-peh-teh-ray pehr fah-voh-ray "
Parla inglese? = Do you speak English?
"par-lah een-gleh-zeh"
Capisco = I understand
"kah-pees-koh"
Non capisco = I don't understand
"nohn kah-pees-koh"
Non lo so = I don't know
"nohn low so"
Scusi, dov'è il bagno? = excuse me, where's the toilet? (polite)
"skoo-zee doh-vay eel bahn-yo"
Vietato fumare = No smoking
"vee-eh-tah-toe foo-mahr-ray"
Non importa = It doesn't matter
"nohn eem-por-tah"
"Vorrei un'acqua" = I'd like water
"Vorrei una birra" = I'd like a beer
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Italian Vocabulary
Come sta? - how are you? (polite)
Bene, grazie - fine, thanks
More Useful Phrases
Come stai? = how are you? (informal)
"koh-meh sty"
Come sta? = how are you? (formal)
"koh-meh stah"
Bene, grazie = fine, thanks
"beh-neh graht-zee-eh"
Sto bene, grazie = I'm fine, thanks
"stoh beh-neh graht-zee-eh"
Abbastanza bene = quite well
"abba-stan-sah beh-neh"
Non molto bene = not so well
"nohn mohl-toh beh-neh"
Non sto bene = I'm not well
"nohn stoh beh-neh"
E tu? - how about you? (informal)
"eh too"
E lei? - how about you? (formal)
"eh lay"
Come ti chiami? = what's your name? (informal)
"koh-meh tee kee-ah-mee"
Come si chiama? = what's your name? (formal)
"koh-meh see kee-ah-mah"
Mi chiamo ... = my name is ...
"mee kee-ah-mo"
Io sono ... = I'm ...
"ee-oh soh-noh"
Piacere = pleased to meet you
"pee-ah-cheh-reh"
Molto piacere = very pleased to meet you
"mole-toe pee-ah-cheh-reh"
Quanti anni hai? = how old are you? (informal)
"kwahn-tee ahn-nee ah-ee"
Quanti anni ha? = how old are you? (formal)
"kwahn-tee ahn-nee ah"
Ho ... anni = I'm ... years old
"oh...ahn-nee"
Ho venticinque anni = I'm 25
"oh vehn-tee-cheen-koo-eh ahn-nee"
Dove vivi? = where do you live? (informal)
"doh-vay vee-vee"
Dove vive? = where do you live? (formal)
"doh-vay vee-vay"
Io vivo a Roma / Milano / Napoli / Londra = I live in Rome / Milan / Naples / London
"ee-oh vee-voh ah..."
Può aiutarmi?/ Puoi aiutarmi? = Can you help me? (formal/informal)
"pwoh ah-yoo-tar-mee / pwoh-ee ah-yoo-tar-mee"
Mi sono perso (masculine) / persa (feminine) = I'm lost
"mee soh-noh pehr-soh/sah"
Un tavolo per due, per favore. = A table for 2, please.
"oon tah-voh-loh pehr dweh, pehr fah-voh-reh"
Potrei vedere il menù? = May I see the menu?
"poh-tray veh-deh-reh eel meh-noo, pehr fah-voh-reh"
Cosa ci consiglia? = What would you recommend?
"co-sah see con-see-geel-ha"
Sono vegetariano / vegetariana. = I'm vegetarian. (masculine/feminine)
"soh-noh veh-jeh-tah-ryah-noh/soh-noh veh-jeh-tah-ryah-nah"
Può portarci il conto, per favore? = May we have the bill, please?
"pwoh por-tahr-chee eel con-toh, pehr fah-voh-reh"
Ho prenotato un tavolo. = I have a table reserved.
"oh preh-noh-tah-toh oon tah-voh-loh"
Vorrei vedere il menu, per favore. = I would like to see the menu please.
"vohr-ray veh-deh-reh eel meh-noo, pehr fah-voh-reh"
Vorrei ordinare ora. = I would like to order now.
"vohr-ray ohr-dee-nahr-aye oh-rah"
Vorrei degli come antipasto. = To start, I would like the ...
"vohr-ray deh-lyee koh-meh ahn-tee-pah-stoh"