The most direct ways to translate "Hello" into Italian are the words "Ciao" or "Salve", but there are actually multiple ways to greet someone in Italian. Depending on the circumstances of your greeting, some of these other ways may actually be more suitable. Here are some of the more useful alternatives to know for "Hello".
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Hello Classic
Step 1. "Hello" is used in informal situations
This is one of the two most common ways to say "Hello" or "Hi" in Italian.
- Note that "Hello" can also be translated as "Goodbye" depending on the context in which it is said.
- Being a common greeting, "Hello" is considered quite informal and is usually used in informal situations, among friends or family.
- Pronounce "hello" like "chow".
Step 2. Go "Hello" for neutral situations
This is the second of the two most common ways to say "Ciao" in Italian.
- While not quite as common as "Hello", the term "Hello" is more appropriate to use among people you are not familiar with. The most formal way to greet someone is with a specific time greeting, but “Hello” is definitely appropriate to use with most people.
- To compare with a native English speaker, "Hello" is like "Hi", while "Hello" is closer to "Hello".
- "Hello" is borrowed from Latin and was used frequently by the Romans during the time of Caesar.
- Like "Hello", "Hello" can also be used to say "Good bye", depending on the context.
- Pronounce "Hello" as "sahl-veh".
Part 2 of 3: Specific Greetings Relating to the Time of Day
Step 1. You must say "Good morning" in the morning
This phrase translates to "Good morning", "Good morning" or "Good day", "Good day".
- "Buon" is a form of the adjective "good", which means "good".
- "Giorno" is an Italian noun which means "day".
- As with many other Italian greetings, “Buongiorno” can also mean “Good bye”, ie “Goodbye”, depending on the context.
- “Hello” and other time-based greetings are considered the most formal way to greet someone. That said, it is still possible to use these phrases among friends and family.
- Pronounce "Good morning" as "bwohn jor-noh".
Step 2. Greet someone with "Good afternoon" in the afternoon
This phrase can be used to say "Good afternoon" as a greeting or goodbye after noon.
- Note that you can still hear "Good morning" in the afternoon, but "Good afternoon" is slightly more common and more accurate.
- "Buon" means "good" and "afternoon" is a noun meaning "afternoon".
- Pronounce the greeting as “bwohn poh-meh-ree-joh”.
Step 3. In the evening, greet someone with "Good evening"
After around 4pm, the polite way to greet or say goodbye to someone is with "Good evening".
- "Buona" means "good" while "sera" is an Italian noun meaning "evening". Since "evening" is feminine, the masculine adjective "good" takes the feminine form "good".
- Pronounce "Good evening" as "bwoh-nah seh-rah".
Part 3 of 3: Additional Greetings
Step 1. Answer the phone with "Hello?
"This is another term used to say" Hello "in Italian, but it is only used for telephone conversations.
- You can use “Pronto” when you receive or make a phone call, indifferently.
- As an adjective, "ready" actually means "ready" in English. Answering the phone with this term, the implication is that you are ready to hear what the speaker wants to say or that you ask if the other is ready to speak.
- Pronounce "ready" as "prohn-toh".
Step 2. Greet a group of people with a "Hello everyone"
If you are greeting a group of friends, you can opt to use this phrase instead of greeting everyone individually.
- Remember that "Hello" is an informal or casual way of saying "Hi".
- "To all" means "to all". The word "a" means "to" and the word "all" means "all" or "everyone".
- Literally translated, the phrase means "Hi to everyone".
- Pronounce this phrase as "chow ah too-tee".
Step 3. Say hello to someone you just met with "Nice to meet you"
In English, this phrase means "pleased to meet you".
- "Piacere" is taken from an Italian verb meaning "to please" or "to be fond of". It can also be used just like an interjection to say "Hello", but it is not commonly used as such.
- "Di" is a preposition that can mean "of", "to" or "for", among other things.
- "Conoscerti" is an informal conjugation of the Italian verb "to know", which means "to know" or "to meet". Note that a more formal way to conjugate this verb would be "to know her".
- Pronounce "nice to meet you" as "pee-ah-cheh-reh dee koh-noh-shehr-tee".
- Pronounce "nice to meet you" as "pee-ah-cheh-reh dee koh-no-shehr-lah".
Step 4. Change to "Enchanted"
This is a slang term used informally to express the great pleasure of meeting someone.
- The English equivalent of this phrase would be "spellbound" or "enchanted".
- Pronounce this greeting as "een-kahn-tah-toh".
Step 5. Greet someone with "Welcome"
If you greet someone as a guest, use this phrase to tell that person that they are welcome.
- “Ben” comes from the Italian word "buon" which means "good".
- “Venuto” derives from the Italian verb "COME", which means "to come".
- “Welcome”, translated more specifically, means “well coming”.
- Pronounce "welcome" as "behn-veh-noo-toh".
