Common Italian Words

Learning the most common Italian words helps you understand a great deal of everyday sentences, because the casual, spoken Italian language often uses a limited vocabulary. In this free lesson, we will see the 300 most common words in the Italian language.

lo Zingarelli, one of the biggest and most renowned dictionaries of the Italian language contains about 145,000 words and over 380,000 definitions. Do you need to know them all? Of course not. Don’t waste your time learning words and phrases that you'll never use.

The experts say that you only need a vocabulary of the 300 most common Italian words to be able to communicate well in Italian. Why not check them out today?

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How to pronounce the 300 most common Italian words

Here are some of the most common Italian words to get you started. Further on in this lesson we will look at the pronunciation of these and many more Italian words.

  • Il - The (for masculine nouns)
  • Essere - To be
  • Questo - This
  • Cosa - What
  • Di - Of
  • Avere - To have
  • Quello - That
  • Anno - Tear
  • E - And
  • Dire - To say

Let’s begin!

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Il

The (for masculine nouns)

Essere

To be

Questo

This

Cosa

What

Di

Of

Avere

To have

Quello

That

Anno

Tear

E

And

Dire

To say

Più

More

Uomo

Man

A

To

Potere

Can

Tutto

Everything, all

Giorno

Day

Un

A

Volere

Want

Suo

His

Volta

Time, occurrence

In

In, inside

Sapere

To know

Altro

Other

Casa

House, home

Che

That

Stare

Stay

Mio

My, mine

Parte

Part

Non

Not

Dovere

Must

Quale

Which

Vita

Life

Si

Self, himself, herself

Vedere

To see

Tanto

Much, very

Tempo

Time, weather

Da

From, since

Andare

To go

Grande

Big

Donna

Woman

Lo

The (for masculine nouns)

Venire

To come

Poco

A bit, a little

Mano

Hand

Per

For

Dare

To give

Molto

Much, very

Occhio

Eye

Con

With

Parlare

To speak, to talk

Nostro

Our, ours

Ora

Hour, now

Ma

But

Trovare

To find

Stesso

Same

Signore

Sir

Come

How

Sentire

To hear, to feel

Primo

First

Paese

Town, village

Su

On, over

Lasciare

To leave

Loro

They, them, their, theirs

Momento

Moment, while

Mi

To me

Prendere

To take

Ogni

Every, all, any

Modo

Way, means

Anche

Too, as well

Guardare

To watch

Proprio

Exactly, really, your own

Mondo

World

O

Or

Mettere

To put

Solo

Only, alone

Parola

Word

Io

I

Pensare

To think

Quanto

How much

Padre

Father

Se

If

Passare

To pass by, to hand

Bello

Nice, good

Punto

Spot, point, dot

Perché

Why, because

Credere

To believe

Qualche

A few, some

Lavoro

Work, job

Li

Them

Portare

To bring, to wear

Nuovo

New

Stato

State, country, been

Ci

We, ourselves

Parere

To seem; opinion

Certo

Certain, certainly

Caso

Case, coincidence

Ne

About it, of it

Tornare

To come back

Vero

True

Città

City

Lei

She, you (formal)

Sembrare

To seem, to look like

Buono

Good

Guerra

War

Ancora

Still, again

Tenere

To keep

Tuo

Your, yours

Strada

Street

Tu

You (informal)

Capire

To understand

Nessuno

Nobody

Figlio

Son

Lui

He

Morire

To die

Alcuno

Nobody, any

Notte

Night

Senza

Without

Chiamare

To call

Italiano

Italian

Voce

Voice

Bene

Good, well

Conoscere

To know

Ultimo

Last

Nome

Name

Cui

Whom, which

Rimanere

To stay, to remain

Vecchio

Old

Sera

Evening

Chi

Who

Chiedere

To ask

Piccolo

Small

Acqua

Water

Già

Already, yeah

Cercare

To search

Troppo

Too much

Amico

Friend

Dopo

After

Entrare

To go in, to enter

Tale

So (that)

Fatto

Done

Uno

One

Vivere

To live

Giovane

Young

Gente

People

Noi

We

Aprire

To open

Alto

High, tall

Amore

Love

Dove

Where

Uscire

To go out

Vostro

Your, yours (plural)

Storia

History, tale

Qui

Here

Ricordare

To remember

Diverso

Different

Aria

Air

No

No

Bisognare

To need

Meglio

Better

Forza

Strength

Allora

Then

Cominciare

To begin

Lungo

Long

Testa

Head

Tra

In, after, between

Rispondere

To answer

Povero

Poor

Ragione

Reason

Vi

To you (plural), there (formal language)

Aspettare

To wait

Maggiore

Major

Mare

Sea

Riuscire

To manage

Mezzo

Half

Mese

Month

Fra

In, after, between

Chiudere

To close

Secondo

Second

Capo

Boss, head

Prima

Before

Finire

To finish

Lontano

Far

Luce

Light

Forse

Maybe, perhaps

Arrivare

To arrive

Vicino

Near

Sole

Sun

Yes

Scrivere

To write

Possibile

Possible

Famiglia

Family

Sotto

Under

Diventare

To become

Caro

Dear, expensive

Piede

Foot

Voi

You (plural)

Restare

To stay, to remain, to keep

Pieno

Full

Persona

Person

Fino

Until, to

Seguire

To follow

Nero

Black

Via

Way, street

Oggi

Today

Bastare

To be enough

Particolare

Particular, strange

Signora

Lady

Quasi

Almost

Perdere

To lose

Bianco

White

Governo

Government

Pure

As well, too

Rendere

To make, to yield

Forte

Strong

Senso

Sense

Egli

He

Correre

To run

Politico

Politician, politic

Opera

Opera, work

Mentre

While, in the meantime

Salvare

To save

Attuale

Current, present

Prodotto

Product

Contro

Against

Vestire

To dress

Latino

Latin

Festa

Party

Invece

Conversely, however

Costruire

To build

Impossibile

Impossible

Gioco

Game

Esso

It

Camminare

To walk

Sereno

Serene, calm

Prova

Try

There

Ritrovare

To find again

Puro

Pure, authentic

Campagna

Country

Però

But

Durante

While

Normale

Normal

Fiore

Flower

Neither, nor

Accendere

To light

Perfetto

Perfect

Sala

Hall, room

Subito

At once, immediately

Evitare

To avoid

Piano

Low, slowly, piano

Misura

Measure, size

Verso

Verse, animal sound

Immaginare

To imagine

Caratteristico

Characteristic, distinctive

Posizione

Position

Ciò

That

Ridurre

To reduce

Russo

Russian

Natura

Nature

Ecco

Here it is

Contenere

To contain

Continuo

Continued

Ufficio

Office

Fissare

To stare at, to secure, to fix

Stupido

Stupid

Specie

Species, sort

Essa

She

Costringere

To force

Estremo

Extreme

Successo

Success

Fuori

Outside

Abbandonare

To abandon

Grigio

Grey

Zona

Zone, area

Meno

Less, minus

Attendere

To wait

Reale

Real, royal

Fuoco

Fire

Adesso

Now

Preferire

To prefer

Interessante

Interesting

Soldato

Soldier

Niente

Nothing

Scegliere

To choose

Medesimo

Same

Vista

View, sight

Cioè

Namely, that is

Avvertire

To warn, to feel

Religioso

Religious

Libertà

Freedom

Male

Evil, bad, pain