Common Italian Phrases

In many European countries, it's not an unknown fact that people know two, three, and sometimes four different languages. However, in the United States, it will be a rare occasion that someone knows perhaps more than one or two languages. When people travel abroad to any foreign countries, it is helpful to know some passing or common phrases to make the journey easy. There are many travel books where there are formal or informal pronunciations from English to different languages. To help the transition to a completely unknown country and make your vacation that much enjoyable, you should definitely learn some simple words and phrases. So, if you are traveling to Italy in the near future, here are some common Italian phrases and words that may come in handy.

Phrases and Words in Italian

Learning a completely different language, when you haven't even heard a word before, can be frustrating at times. Which is why these somewhat funny phrases and words are mentioned below with proper pronunciation.

English	Italian	Italian Pronunciation
Mister, Misses, Miss	Signore, Signora, Signorina	seen-yoh-reh, seen-yoh-rah, seen-yoh-reen-ah
Please	Per favore	pehr fah-voh-ray
Thanks!	Grazie!	grah-tseeay
Yes	si	see
No	no	noh
Excuse me	mi scusi	mee skoo-zee
Hello	buon giorno	bwon jor-noh
Bad	Male	mah-lay
Goodbye	arrivederci	ah-ree-vuh-dare-chee
Thank you	grazie	grah-tsee-eh
You're welcome	Prego	pray-go
Bless you!	Salute!	sah-loo-teh
Congratulations!	Congratulazioni!	kohn-grah-tsoo-lah-tsee-oh-nee
Welcome!	Benvenuti!	behn-veh-noo-tee
That	Quello	kweh-loh
This/these	Questo/questi	kweh-stoh/kweh-stee
Yesterday	ieri	ee-air-ee
Today	oggi	oh-jee
Tomorrow	domani	doh-mah-nee
What?	quale?	kwal-eh
Where?	dove?	doh-ve
Breakfast	colzaione	koh-lah-tsee-oh-neh
Lunch	pranzo	prawn-tsoh
Dinner	cena	che-nah
Waiter	cameriere	cah-mair-ee-air-eh
Dessert	il dolce	eel dole-che
Carbonated water	l'acqua minerale gassata	lah-kwah mee-nair-ah-leh gah-zah-tah
Non-carbonated water	l'acqua minerala naturale	ah-kwah mee-nair-ah-leh na-too-rah-leh
Garlic	aglio	ah-lee-oh
Steak	la bistecca	lah bee-steh-kah
Coffee	il caffe	eel kah-feh
Cheese	il formaggio	eel for-mah-joh
Ice cream	il gelato	eel jeh-lah-toh
Milk	il latte	eel lah-the
Bread	il pane	eel pah-neh
Knife	il coltello	eel kol-tell-oh
Fork	la forchetta	lah for-ket-tah
Spoon	il cucchiahio	eel koo-kee-eye-oh
One	uno	ooh-noh
Two	due	doo-eh
Three	tre	treh
Four	quattro	kwa-troh
Five	cinque	cheen-kweh
Six	sei	say
Seven	sette	seh-teh
Eight	otto	oh-toh
Nine	nove	noh-veh
Ten	dieci	dee-eh-che
Twenty	dodici	doh-dee-chee
Thirty	tredici	treh-dee-chee
Forty	quattordici	kwah-tor-dee-chee
Fifty	quindici	kwin-dee-chee
Sixty	sessanta	seh-sahn-tah
Seventy	settanta	seh-tahn-tah
Eighty	ottanta	oh-tan-tah
Ninety	novanta	noh-vahn-tah
One hundred	cento	chen-toh
One hour	un'ora	oon-oh-rah
One minute	un minuto	oohn mee-noo-tah
Monday	lunedi	loo-neh-dee
Tuesday	martedi	mar-teh-dee
Wednesday	mercoledi	mair-koh-leh-dee
Thursday	giovedi	gee-oh-veh-dee
Friday	venerdi	ven-aire-dee
Saturday	sabato	sah-bah-toh
Sunday	domenica	doh-men-ee-kah

Phrases with Pronunciation

These following phrases with pronunciation will come in handy wherever you go, shopping, restaurant, hotel booking, traveling, sight seeing, renting a car, and much more.

English	Italian	Italian Pronunciation
I love you	Ti amo	tee ah-moh
How are you?	Come sta?	koh-may stah
I am good	stoh behn-ay	Sto bene
OK!	Va bene!	vah beh-neh
How much does this cost	Quante'e, per favore?	kwan-teh pair-fuh-vor-eh
What time do you close?	A che ora chiude?	ah keh or-ah kee-yoo-deh
I am just looking	Sto soltanto guardand	stoh sol-thahn -toh gwar-dan-doh
I would like...	Vorrei	vor-ray
Do you accept credit cards?	Accettate carte di credito?	ah-che-tah-the kar-teh dee creh-dee-toh
Do you speak Italian?	Parla italiano?	par-lah ee-tahl-ee-ah-no
Do you speak English?	Parla inglese	par-lah een-glay-zay)
Where is...	Dov'è...?	doh-veh
What's your name?	Come ti chiami?	koh-meh tee kee-ah-mee
Pleased/Nice to meet you	Piacere/Molto lieto	pee-ah-cheh-reh/mohl-toh lee-eh-toh
Where are you from?	Di dov'è?	dee doh-veh
I am from...	Sono di...	soh-noh dee
Do you understand?	Capisce?/Capisci?	kah-pee-sheh/kah-pee-shee
I don't know/I know	Non so/Lo so	non soh/low soh
May I help you?	Desidera?/Desideri?	deh-zee-deh-rah/deh-zee-deh-ree
What's the matter?/What's wrong?	Cosa c'è?	koh-zah cheh

Whenever you are facing with speaking or pronouncing these phrases or any other language for that matter, don't be embarrassed to point, mime, draw, or write them out. It's completely alright to make mistakes. What counts is the effort you put into it, and this will make you proud of yourself, that at least you tried to learn a new language and came out of your comfort zone. So, go ahead and have fun with it!