The Italian greetings can get confusing.
The first time I stepped foot in Italy, my head was twirling with what felt like thousands of Italian words and phrases I’d been recently studying. My plane had just arrived to an aeroporto and I was ready to put my language learning to the test! I approached the Italian customs agent and suddenly realized I didn’t know what time of day it was because of the time difference. Which greeting should I use? Buongiorno or buonasera? Would a simple ciao suffice? In my own brain’s confusion, I blurt out what sounds like buonjour. Wait, that’s French! I think. Where did that come from? Without even looking up at me, the agent stamped my passport for entry and mumbled arrivederci. What a failure that was!
Here’s a simple way to cut out the confusion with how you greet people in Italy. Italians are a bit more formal than Americans, not just with their greetings, but with clothing too. I’ll save that for another story.
Salve (sal-veh). I love this word! It solves all my greeting problems in Italy because it can be used at absolutely any time of day and is a step up from the informal ciao. It’s often a greeting you might encounter from a worker in a shop as you walk in. You can simply say it right back!
Ciao (chow) is the most informal way to say both hello and goodbye. Although ciao is the most commonly heard greeting in Italy, it’s important to notice who is saying it. Italians use this with people they are familiar with… people they know. If you are greeted first with a ciao then you can respond with ciao back.
More formal greetings that depend on the time of day:
Buongiorno (bwon-jor-no) is the go-to greeting from morning until about 2pm. You just can’t go wrong with this. Use it as you would say hi or good morning to anyone, but especially with a person you don’t know. It shows more respect than a simple ciao, and is sometimes shortened to giorno.
Buona sera (bwon-a seh-ra) has the same formality as buongiorno and is the go-to greeting from 2pm and on. Sometimes shortened to sera.
There are many more greetings and, of course, departing words, but I find these to be the easiest. For me, a short list can omit confusion and fluster so that I don’t end up blurting some French words accidentally, which is better for everyone.
Thanks for reading! If you want to read or hear more about traveling in Italy from me, please follow me @fiveinitaly. I post on Medium, Instagram and travel videos on YouTube.
