Hello and goodbye are the first and most important words you learn in a language, including when studying Italian. Phrases like excuse me and how are you in Italian are also key to understanding Italian greetings. It may sound simple, but there are many different Italian greetings based on how formal you need to be or what time of the day it is. This article takes you through how to say hello and goodbye in Italian in different situations.
But first...

Formality in Italian

Before looking at Italian greetings, we need to discuss how formality affects what words to use in Italian. When speaking Italian, you need to make sure you use the correct words, phrases and grammar for the formality of the situation. In Italian, you use:

• informal versions: for speaking to your friends, family and people your own age.
• formal versions: for speaking to your bosses, teachers, elders and people you don't know in general.

Italian Formal Pronouns

Italian has formal pronouns for second-person singular ("you"), which are similar to the old-fashioned usage in English of "Would madam like her tea now?" (La signora vorrebbe ora il suo tè?). You do not need to worry about formal plural pronouns unless you're writing a letter in Italian.

Instead of using the normal tu for second-person singular pronouns, in formal situations, you should use the third-person singular feminine pronoun Lei/La and the third-person singular verb to agree with it. When using lei as a formal pronoun, the L is capitalized in writing. For example: Buongiorno, Signora, piacere di cononscerLa. ("Good morning, Ma'am, pleased to meet you.")

If you are having a formal conversation with someone in a position of authority, you need to use these pronouns.

How to Say Hello in Italian

As we've just covered, linguistic formality is important in Italian. So let's go through our Italian greetings from informal to formal.

Informal Greetings

Here are some informal greetings you need to know:

• Ciao, "hello", is the most basic greeting you learn in Italian. It's perfect for greeting friends and family in informal contexts. However, it's not appropriate for more formal situations.
• Ehi, "hey", is a cool greeting if you bump into a friend on the street. It's more colloquial than ciao, so it's just a greeting for friends.
• Da quanto tempo!, "It's been so long!", is the perfect informal way to greet a friend you haven't seen in a while.

Neutral Greetings

If you don't quite know how formal the situation is or it's semi-formal, you have two options:

• Salve, "hello", is a greeting which comes from the Latin word for hello, salve (which literally meant "be well"). You can also use this word when writing emails.
• Piacere di conoscerti, "pleased to meet you", is not that formal. However, it can be made more formal by using the formal pronoun (piacere di conoscerLa) or less formal by shortening it to one word – piacere.

Formal Greetings

Italian language has quite a few formal and semi-formal greetings. Here, we'll look at the formal Italian greetings and how to use them.

Buongiorno, Buondì and Buonasera

Buongiorno and other "buon-" greetings are very important greetings for Italian language learners to know, as they can be used in every situation from semi-formal to extremely formal.
Which greeting you should use depends on what time of the day it is:

• Buongiorno,"good day", "good morning", is used to greet people during the day, until 6pm at the latest. (Italians can't agree if you should stop using it at 4pm, 5pm or 6pm!) Buongiorno used to be only for the morning, with buon pomeriggio replacing it in the evening, but buon pomeriggio is basically extinct.
• Buondì,"good day", "good morning", can be used instead of buongiorno. However, it is less formal in the north of Italy than the south.
• Buonasera ("good evening") is used after 6pm (as early as 4pm) and throughout the night. (Buonanotte, "good night", is only used for saying goodnight).
  Note that all of these are combinations of buono ("good") and some kind of word for day or time of day. They can all be written as two words, e.g. buon giorno, buona sera, but usually aren't.
  Because these greetings are formal, you may also need to use formal pronouns, Signore ("sir") or Signora ("ma'am") or people's job titles or honorifics.

Greetings in Specific Situations

Italian has special greetings that are used in specific situations. Some of the important ones are:

• Pronto, "hello", when answering the phone.
• Buonvenuto, "welcome", used for guests or in shops.
• Egregio, "dear", and other greetings for writing letters in Italian.

How to Say "How Are You?" in Italian

Greetings in Italian, as in English, are often followed by "How are you?" There are several ways of saying this according to formality.

Informal "How Are You's"

There are two main informal ways to say how are you:

• Come stai?, "How are you?", is the standard informal way to say "How are you?" in Italian.
• Come va?, "How's it going?" is like Come stai? but more informal, for using with friends. A slightly more formal variation on this is Come va la tua giornata? ("How's you're day going?").

Formal Ways to Say How Are You

Italian also has more formal expressions for "How are you?":

• Come sta?, "How are you?", is the formal version of Come stai?, using the formal second person.
• Ha passato una bella giornata?, "Are you having a nice day?", is a more formal version of Come va la tua giornata?

Excuse Me

Excuse me isn't a really greeting but is often used along with greetings. You can say excuse me formally or informally:

• Mi scusi or just scusi, is the formal version.
• Scusami, or just scusa, is the informal version.

How to Say Goodbye in Italian

The Italians also have a few ways to say goodbye, based on how formal you want to be. Let's go through a few of them.

Informal Ways to Say Goodbye

There are several informal ways to say goodbye in Italian.
Ciao is the general informal way to say "bye". Note that ciao means both "hi" and "bye" in Italian.
Others depend on when you're seeing the person next:

• A fra poco, "see you in a bit".
• A dopo, "see you later".
• A presto, "see you soon", can be used in both formal and informal situations.
• Ci vediamo, "see you soon" (literally, "let's see each other").
• A domani, "see you tomorrow".

Formal Ways to Say Goodbye

There are several formal ways to say goodbye based on the time of the day:

• Buon giornata, "good day", goodbye during the day.
• Buon serata, "good evening". goodbye after 6pm.
• Buonanotte, "good night", goodbye last thing at night or before going to bed.

Arrivederci and ArrivederLa

If you want to say goodbye more formally, Arrivederci is the best option.
For very formal situations, usually professional ones, ArrividerLa also exists. This greeting is the same as Arrividerci but uses the formal Lei (La as an object).

Your Italian Greeting Essentials

In conclusion, while Italian has many different greetings for different situations, you should be fine as long as you know a few options for formality and times of day. If you'd like to improve your Italian vocab including Italian greetings, Speechling's Italian Vocabulary Flashcards are a great place to start.

Key Takeaway:

Italian greetings change based on formality and time of day. Learn when to use informal phrases like ciao, neutral options like salve, and formal greetings like buongiorno or arrivederci to communicate naturally in any situation.