Basic greetings: Common greetings

🇮🇹 [Ciao] is friendly and informal, so use it with friends, family, classmates, and people who clearly want a relaxed tone. With strangers or in more formal situations, Italians often start with [buongiorno] or [buonasera] instead.

💬 [Come stai?] uses the [tu] form, so it's for one person you speak to informally. For a formal version, you'll often hear [Come sta?].

🇮🇹 [Arrivederci] works in both formal and informal situations, so it's a safe goodbye with almost anyone. It sounds more neutral and complete than a casual [ciao].

💬 [È] means [is] and must be written with the accent; plain [e] means [and]. [Qual è] keeps the full [è], so don't add an apostrophe there.

💬 [Mi chiamo] literally works like [I call myself], and Italians use it very often to give their name. You can swap in any first name after it: [Mi chiamo Marco].

💬 The ending [‑ti] in [conoscerti] shows this is informal, for one person you address as [tu]. With a formal [Lei], it becomes [Piacere di conoscerLa].

🇮🇹 [Buongiorno] is a standard greeting with strangers, shop staff, hotel staff, or anyone you want to address politely. In Italy, greeting people when you enter a small shop or bar is normal and expected.

🇮🇹 [Buon pomeriggio] exists, but many Italians simply keep using [buongiorno] through much of the afternoon. You'll hear [buonasera] later in the day more often than [buon pomeriggio].