Hello in Italian - Goodbye in Italian
Want to learn how to say hello in Italian? After this free audio lesson for beginners you’ll know more than just a simple buon giorno!
Listen to the Rocket Italian teachers greeting each other, and then go ahead and practice saying each Italian phrase aloud. Once you’re feeling confident with Italian greetings you’ll learn how to say goodbye in Italian as well.
It’s important to get the basics right, and the Italian people you meet will really appreciate your efforts. You know you’re saying it right if they continue the conversation, expecting you to keep up!
How to say Hello and Goodbye in Italian
Greetings like "good morning" or "good afternoon" are incredibly important in Italy. As the Italian culture is friendly, going through the ritual of greeting another person is an important way of showing respect. Italians shake hands while saying "Buon giorno" or "Buona sera" depending on the time of the day. You are expected to greet every person individually, even if they're in a group. That means that if you're walking along the road and pass a group of five people, you'll have to say, "Buon giorno," and shake hands with enthusiasm!
As you have learned before, there are two ways of addressing someone in Italian: a polite or a formal way using "Lei" and a more casual way using "tu". The same concept applies to greetings. Listen to the link below to hear formal Italian greetings…
Nowadays it is quite common to use English greetings, like "hi" and "bye bye", but these are considered to be casual. Listen to the link below to hear some informal Italian greetings…
You have probably heard "ArrivederLa" before. It literally means "until we see each other again" and is a formal way of saying good-bye. Friends very often use the expression "Alla prossima" which literally means "Until next time" or "Arrivederci" which means "until we see each other again"
Let's listen to some casual farewells…
Using different greetings will make you sound more fluent, so try to remember as many as you can.
A presto!
Maria DiLorenzi and the Rocket Italian Team
P.S. Here is a little exercise for you to test your Italian skills.
Exercise - Match the Italian word with its English translation.
