Greetings in Italian (or in any other language) are at the basis of all conversations. Don’t you agree?

Think about it …

Would you answer the phone without saying “hello”? or going into a place and not telling “hi”? And certainly you wouldn’t leave someone and not even say “bye” … 

So what are the most popular greetings in Italian? In this lesson, you’ll find it out!

WHAT ARE THE MOST POPULAR GREETINGS IN ITALIAN? 

In Italian, you can greet someone differently depending whether the situation is formal or informal.

In this lesson we’ll focus only on the informal language, but you can check out the formal greetings here.

So, we’ve listed the most popular ways to say “Hello” and “Bye” in Italian, when you find yourself in an informal situation.

Let’s see what they are.

1 – HELLO

In Italian, “Hello” is: CIAO /ˈtʃao/

Ciao is probably one of the most famous Italian words and you can use it in any informal situation, like for example with your friends, family, peers and kids.

2 – GOOD MORNING

You can say “good morning” in Italian in two ways:

1. BUONGIORNO /bwonˈdʒorno/ – this is the most common form
2. BUONDI’ /bwonˈdi/ – less common and more friendly than the first one  

In an informal context, good morning is only used in the morning after you wake up.

If you meet a friend late in the morning and you are not just out of your bed, just tell them: “Ciao”.

3 – HAVE A GOOD DAY/EVENING

Like in English, you use a different expression if you are leaving a place or ending a conversation.

To wish a good day in Italian, you’ll say BUONA GIORNATA /ˈbwɔna dʒorˈnata/, instead of BUONGIORNO.

Whereas, at evening times, you can use:  BUONA SERATA /bwona seˈrata/, that means “have a good evening”.

4 – GOOD NIGHT

To say “goodnight”, you can use the Italian word: BUONANOTTE /bwona ˈnɔtte/.

In very informal context, you may just say: NOTTE!

Note that BUONANOTTE is only used before you go to bed, otherwise it’s better to tell: BUONA SERATA.

5 – BYE

There are 3 ways to say bye in an informal situation:

1. CIAO, that you can translate as “hello” but also as “bye”
2. A PRESTO, which is the same as saying “see you soon”
3. CI VEDIAMO, that means “see you”

CONCLUSION

In this lesson you’ve learnt different Italian greetings to use in informal situations.

Let’s see again what they are:

1. CIAO to say “Hello”
2. BUONGIORNO/BUONDI’ for “Good morning”
3. BUONA GIORNATA/BUONA SERATA to wish a good day or evening
4. BUONANOTTE to say “Good night”
5. CIAO/A PRESTO/CI VEDIAMO for when you’re leaving and want to say “Bye”

Hope this helped!

You can read also:

Formal vs Informal Italian: which one should you use?

How to say “Hello” and “Goodbye” in formal Italian.