Basic expressions: Greeting someone and apologizing for being late

🇮🇹 Eh at the start is a very Italian shrug in sound form, a sympathetic "well, what can you do". It's a friendly way to take the sting out of someone's apology.

💬 Italian uses the present tense for something still going on: Aspetti da tanto? is literally "Are you waiting since long?". Same pattern: Abito qui da due anni "I've lived here for two years".

💬 "Had" a coffee is ho preso, literally "I took", from prendere. You'd also order this way: Prendo un caffè "I'll have a coffee".

🇮🇹 Un caffè means an espresso, usually drunk standing at the bar in a minute or two. That makes it the natural way to fill a short wait.

💬 prossima comes before the noun and ends in -a to match the feminine volta. Compare la prossima settimana "next week" and il prossimo treno "the next train".

💬 ti "to you" goes before the verb, not after it as in English. Swap it out: Le mando un messaggio "I'll send you (formal) a message".

💬 Italian often uses the present tense for near-future plans: mando means "I send" but works as "I'll send" here.

💬 figurati literally means "imagine", but here it means "don't mention it". It's the tu form; with someone you call Lei, say si figuri.

🇮🇹 Figurati is a warm, very common way to brush off an apology or thanks among friends. It sounds more heartfelt than a plain prego.

💬 Italian says "the patience" where English says "your patience". la does the job when it's obvious whose patience you mean.

💬 Di niente literally means "of nothing". Prego means the same, and both are standard replies to grazie.

💬 Andiamo means both "we go" and "let's go", so a rising question tone turns it into "shall we go?". Allora is a handy opener meaning "so" or "well then".