Italian Phrases


Welcome to Aderalingua Italian Phrases. In this lesson you'll learn useful Italian phrases for introducing yourself, greeting people, and other everyday situations. Italian vocabulary for people, colors, numbers, adjectives, clothes, the house, and household items is also included.

Online flashcards are included to help you learn the words and phrases introduced in this lesson.

Let's get started learning Italian.


Like English, the Italian alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. The following table shows the pronunciation of some of the letters in Italian that may be a bit tricky for English speakers.

A a Pronounced like the a in father.
E e Pronounced like the e in pen or the a in late.
I i Pronounced like i in police. Silent in the combinations gio, gia, cio, and cia.
O o Pronounced like the o in no.
U u Pronounced like the oo in moon.
Ai ai Pronounced like i in mine.
Eu eu Pronounced like the ay in play.
Ia ia Pronounced like the ya in yarn.
Oi oi Pronounced like the oy in boy.
Io io Pronounced like the eo in Leo.
Uo uo Pronounced like the wo in won't.
À, È à, è Indicates that the letter is stressed
C c pronounced like ch before e and i, otherwise like k.
Ch ch Pronounced like the c in cat.
G g Pronounced like the j before e and i, otherwise like the g in go.
Gh gh Pronounced like the gh spaghetti.
Gl gl Pronounced like the li in stallion.
Gn gn Pronounced like the ny in canyon.
H h Silent.
Sc sc Pronounced like the sh in ship before e and i, otherwise like the sc in scout.
Z z Pronounced like ts in pits.

Introduction and Greeting Phrases

In this section you'll learn some Italian phrases that are used for introducing yourself and greeting others. The pronunciation of the phrases is given in parentheses. Stressed syllables are in bold.

Salve. (salveh) Hello.
Ciao. (chow) Hi. / Bye.
Arrivederci. (ahreevehderchee) Goodbye.
Buon giorno. (bwohn johrno) Good morning.
Buona sera. (bwonah sehrah.) Good evening.
Buona notte. (bwonah noteh) Good night.
Come si chiama?
(komeh see keeahmah)
What is your name? (formal)
Come ti chiama?
(komeh tee keeahmah)
What is your name? (informal)
Mi chiamo ___. (mi keeahmo ___.) My name is ___.
Piacere di conoscerla.
(pyahchehreh dee konoshehrlah)
Nice to meet you.
Come stai? (komeh sty) How are you? (informal)
Come sta? (komeh stah) How are you? (formal)
Come va? How's it going?
Bene, grazie. (bayneh grahtsyeh) Good, thanks.
Parla inglese? (pahrla inglayzeh) Do you speak English?
No, mi dispiace, ma non lo parlo.
(no mee deespyache, mah nohn lo pahrlo)
I'm sorry, I don't speak it.
Non parlo italiano. I don't speak Italian.
Ci vediamo! (chee vehdiamo) See you later!
A presto! (ah prehstoe) See you soon!
Dove abiti?
(dohveh ahbeetee)
Where do you live? (to one person)
Dove abitate?
(dohveh ahbeetahteh)
Where do you live? (more than one person)
Abito a ___. (ahbeetoh ah) I live in ___.
Ti presento il mio amico.
(tee prehsayntoh eel myo ahmeeko)
This is my friend (male)
Ti presento la mia amica.
(tee prehsayntoe lah myah ahmeekah)
This is my friend. (female)
Questo è il mio marito. This is my husband.
Questo è la mia moglie. This is my wife.

Here are some flashcards to help you learn these useful Italian phrases for greeting people and introducing yourself to others.



Common Phrases

In this section you'll learn some useful Italian phrases that are used in everyday life. The pronunciation of the phrases is given in parentheses.

Sì. (see) Yes.
No. (no) No.
Per favore. (per favoray.) Please.
Grazie. (grahtsyeh) Thank you.
Grazie tante. (grahtseh tahntoh) Thank you very much.
Prego. (praygo) You're welcome.
Mi scusi. (me skoozee) Excuse me. (formal)
Scusa (skoozah) Excuse me. (informal)
Aiuto! (eyeootoh Help!
Mi dispiace. (me deespiache) I'm sorry.
Che cos'è? (kay kohsay) What's that?
Che cosa significa?
(kay kohsah seenyeefeekah)
What does it mean?
Mi sono dimenticato.
(Me sono deemehnteekahtoh)
I forgot.
Non capisco.
(nohn cahpeescoh)
I don't understand.
Può parlare lentamente? Could you speak more slowly?
Buono giornata!
(bwohnoh giornahtah)
Have a nice day!
Mi può aiutare?
(mi poooh aiootahreh)
Can you help me?
Posso aiutarti? Can I help you?
Dov’è la toilette? Where is the washroom?
Mi sono divertito.(m)
Mi sono divertita.(f)
I had a great time.

Here are some flashcards to help you learn these useful Italian phrases.


Italian Landscape


Restaurants and Cafés

In this section you'll learn some Italian phrases that are useful when you are in a restaurant or a café.

Vorrei prenotare. I'd like to make a reservation.
Per che ora? For what time?
Per quante persone? For how many people?
Una tavola per due, per favore. A table for two, please.
Il menu, per favore. A menu, please.
Una bottiglia d’acqua, per favore. A glass of water please.
Un caffè, per favore. A coffee, please.
Vorrei una tazza di tè. I'd like a cup of tea.
Vorrei una birra. I'd like a beer.
Un litro di vino della casa, per favore. A litre of the house wine, please.
Vorrei le lasagne. I'd like the lasagne.
Il conto per favore. The bill, please.
Vorrei pagare, per favore. I would like to pay, please.
Il ristorante


In this section you'll learn some Italian phrases that are useful when shopping.

Quant’è? How much is it?
Quanto costa? How much does that cost?
Quanto costana? How much do they cost?
Cerca qualcosa? What would you like?
Posso aiutarti? Can I help you?
Sto solo guardando. I'm just looking.
Vorrei questo. I would like that.
Vuolo provarlo? Do you want to try it on?
Vorrei pagare con la carta di credito. I’d like to pay by credit card.


In this section you'll learn some useful Italian words and phrases that are used when asking for and giving directions.

Cerco ___. I'm looking for ___.
Cerco la stazione. I'm looking for the train station.
Cerco un supermercato. I'm looking for a supermarket.
Mi scusi, dov’è ___? Excuse me, where is ___?
Come arrivo al teatro? How do I get to the theater?
All'angola con On the corner of
Accanto a Next to
È vicino? Is it near?
È lontano? Is it far?
Dista un chilometro. It's a kilometer from here.
Va sempre dirirro. Go straight ahead.
Giri a destro. Turn left.
Giri a sinistra. Turn right.


In this section you'll learn the Italian words for common colors.

giallo (yellow)
blu (blue)
blu scuro (dark blue)
bianco (white)
grigio (grey)
marrone (brown)
arancione (orange)
nero (black)
viola (purple)
rosso (red)
rosso scuro (dark red)
rosa (pink)
verde (green)
verde chiaro (light green)
magenta (magenta)
ciano (cyan)

Here are some flashcards to help you learn the Italian words for colors.



In this section you'll learn the Italian words for numbers.

0 zero
1 uno
2 due
3 tre
4 quattro
5 cinque
6 sei
7 sette
8 otto
9 nove
10 dieci
11 undici
12 dodici
13 tredici
14 quattordici
15 quindici
16 sedici
17 diciassette
18 diciotto
19 diciannove
20 venti
21 ventuno
30 trenta
100 cento
101 centouno
1,000 mille


In this section you'll learn Italian vocabulary for people and family.

la persona the person
la gente the people
la madre the mother
il padre the father
la figlia the daughter
il figlio the son
il bambino the child
i bambini the children
il ragazzo the boy
la ragazza the girl
il fratello the brother
la sorella the sister
il marito the husband
la moglie the wife
La famiglia

The Body

In this section you'll learn the Italian vocabulary for parts of the body.

il corpo the body
la testa the head
la pelle the skin
la faccia the face
i capelli the hair
l'occhio the eye
gli occhi the eyes
l'orecchio the ear
le orecchie the ears
il naso the nose
la bocca the mouth
la lingua the tongue
il dente the tooth
i denti the teeth
il collo the neck
il braccio the arm
la mano the hand
il dito the finger
il pollice the thumb
la gamba the leg
le gambe the legs
il ginocchio the knee
il piede the foot
i piedi the feet
il dito del piede the toe
l'osso the bone


In this section you'll learn some common Italian adjectives. You'll also learn some useful sentence forms that are used with adjectives.

Adjectives are words that describe people, places, and things. Adjectives in Italian have different endings depending on the noun they modify.

Nouns in Italian are classified as either masculine or feminine. Adjectives in Italian have different endings depending on whether the noun they modify is masculine or feminine, and whether the noun is singular or plural. Some adjectives end in e for both masculine and feminine nouns. Most adjectives end in o for singular masculine nouns and a for feminine nouns. The following table shows the different adjective endings.

Gender Number Type 1 Type 2
Masculine Singular o e
Plural i i
Feminine Singular a e
Plural e i


Il libro costoso. the expensive book.
I libri costosi. The expensive books.
La casa costosa. The abandoned house.
Le case costose. The abandoned houses.
La casa interessante. The interesting house.
Le case interessanti. The interesting houses.

Here are some common sentence forms that you can use with adjectives.

I am [adjective]. Sono [adjective].
I am not [adjective]. Non sono [adjective].
Are you [adjective]? Sei [adjective]? (to one person informal)
Lei è [adjective]
Siete [adjective]? (plural)
She is [adjective]. Lei è [adjective].
He is too [adjective]. Lui è troppo [adjective].
It is very [adjective]. È molto [adjective].
It is so [adjective]. È così [adjective].

Here are some common Italian adjectives. Writing out these adjectives with the different sentences forms shown above, will not only help you learn the adjectives, but also increase your ability to communicate in Italian.

arrabbiato angry
cattivo bad
grande great, large, big
bello beautiful, nice
luminoso bright
freddo cold
scuro dark
buio dark
secco dry
veloce fast
buono good
feliche happy
duro hard
difficile hard, difficult
alto high, tall, loud
caldo hot
interessante interesting
leggero light, mild
luminoso light, bright, luminous
chiaro clear, light (color)
lungo long
forte strong, loud
basso low
stretto narrow, tight
nuovo new
piacevole pleasant, nice, enjoyable
simpatico nice, pleasant, sympathetic
rumoroso noisy
vecchio old
tranquillo quiet, peaceful
ruvido rough
corretto correct, right, proper
triste sad
semplice simple
facile easy
lento slow
morbido soft
piccolo small
breve short, brief
liscio smooth
stanco tired
bagnato wet
largo wide, broad, large
sbagliato wrong
giovane young

Here are some flashcards to help you learn these Italian adjectives.


Clothing Items

In this section you'll learn some Italian vocabulary for clothing items.

Leather Jacket
la giacca di pelle
Rain Jacket
la giacca
il cappotto
la maglietta
Dress Shirt
la camicia
la camicetta
il maglione
i jeans
Pants, Trousers
i pantaloni
i pantaloncini
la gonna
il vestito
lo stivale
Dress Shoe
le scarpe
il sandalo
la cintura
la cravatta
il tasto
i calzini
il cappello
i guanti

House and Household Items

In this section you'll learn some Italian vocabulary for the house and household items, including items found in the kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom.

la casa
il tetto
la finestra
il pavimento
la porta
la chiave
la serratura
il prato
il fiore
la recinzione
le scale
il telefono
la lampada
il divano
le tende
il pendolo
il letto
il cuscino
il materasso
il bicchiere
la tazza
la ciotola
il piatto
il coltello
il cucchiaio
la forchetta
il frullatore
le forbici
il tostapane
la telera
il lavello
la sedia
la tavola
il frigorifero
la lavastoviglie
il fornello
il forno
il forno a microonde
la spazzola per capelli
il pettine
il sapone
lo shampoo
la doccia
la vasca da bagno
lo specchio
lo spazzolino
il dentifricio

More Learning Resources

This section contains a list of resources to help you learn to speak the Italian language.

Wikipedia has an overview of Italian grammar. Italian grammar is a bit complicated and will take a bit of time to learn. Concentrate on mastering the common phrases and work on understanding the grammar at a pace you're comfortable with.

Google Translate provides Italian to English and English to Italian translations.

Project Gutenberg has some free Italian ebooks.

Italy has a few online newspapers.