Did you know that Italian is the universal language of classical music?
If you have ever read a classical music score, words such as crescendo (get louder), staccato (detached), and forte (loud) would be familiar to you. The reason for this is that musical notation was created in Italy during the Renaissance and, therefore, Italian became the international language for classical music.
Italian is a form of Latin, so it is similar to Spanish and most South American languages. If you speak English and French, it would be quite easy for you to learn and speak Italian.
Here you go, below is our list of 25 common words and phrases to help you get started with the Italian language.
1. Buon giorno! – buon-gior-no – Good morning!
2. Buona sera! – bwona’ se:ra – Good evening!
3. Buona notte! – bwona’ not:e – Good night!
4. Ciao! – tʃao – Hi!/Bye!
5. Come stai? – koh-meh- stah-ee – How are you?
6. Sto bene, grazie! e tu? – stow benay’ gra-zee-ay e tu – I’m good, thank you! And you?
7. Come ti chiami? – koh-mee tee kee-ah-mee – What is your name?
8. Mi chiamo __________ – mee key-amo – My name is__________
9. Cosa stai facendo? – co za stay fa cen:do – What are you doing?
10. Non capisco! – none capees-coh – I don’t understand!
11. Parla più lentamente, per favore – par la pwe lenta men te per fa:vore – Speak slower, please.
12. Mi potete aiutare, per favore? – mee po te;te a you tare per fa:vore – Can you help me, please?
13. Mi dispiace – mee dee:spee a chay – I am sorry.
14. Mi scusi! –mee skozee – Excuse me!
15. Non ne ho idea –none ne o idea – I have no idea.
16. Quanto costa? –kwanto cost:a – How much is that?
17. Sì! – See – Yes!
18. No! – No – No!
19. Grazie! – grazee-eh – Thank you!
20. Ti amo! – tee ah moh – I love you!
21. Prego! – pre:go – You are welcome!
22. Tanti auguri! – tan-tee au-gu-ree – Best wishes!
23. Buon appetito! – buon a-pe-tee-to – Enjoy your meal!
24. Andiamo! – an-diah mo – Come on!/Let’s go!
25. Ci vediamo presto! – tʃi ve diah mo pre: sto – See you soon!
Kick-start your Italian language learning by joining a group or one-to-one course today.