Self-introduction at work: Explaining your role and previous job

🇮🇹 Said while shaking hands, often followed straight away by your name. This is the standard workplace greeting with someone new.

🇮🇹 This is the natural reply when someone says Piacere to you first. It's warm without being stiff.

💬 Italian keeps di at the front of the question, where English would leave "of" or "with" at the end. The answer uses it too: mi occupo di marketing "I deal with marketing".

🇮🇹 This is the natural workplace way to ask someone's role. Che lavoro fai? "what's your job?" sounds odd when you already work at the same place.

💬 nel is in + il merged. The same happens with nella for feminine fields: lavoro nella moda "I work in fashion".

💬 i social is short for social media and takes a plural i. Swap in your own role: gestisco i clienti "I manage the clients".

💬 di + la merges into della, and before a vowel it shortens to dell'. So you get dell'ufficio "of the office" and della banca "of the bank".

💬 lavoravi describes an ongoing past situation, like "were working". Use lavoravo for yourself: prima lavoravo a Roma "before, I worked in Rome".

💬 una drops its final vowel before a word that starts with a vowel: un'agenzia. Before a feminine word starting with a consonant it stays whole: una banca.

💬 Use a for cities and in for countries and regions: a Milano, but in Italia and in Lombardia.

💬 per is for a time span that's finished. For something still going on, Italian uses da instead: lavoro qui da tre anni "I've worked here for three years".

💬 Italian says "have experience" without any little word in front of esperienza. Same pattern: ho tempo "I have time".

🇮🇹 Asking why you left a job is normal friendly curiosity in Italy, not an interview grilling. A short, positive answer is all anyone expects.

💬 volevo "I wanted" also works as a softer "I'd like" in shops and offices: volevo un caffè.

💬 più before any describing word makes "more ___": più grande "bigger", più facile "easier". The ending -bile works like English "-ble".

🇮🇹 Job stability carries a lot of weight in Italy, where short-term contracts are common. Saying you wanted something stabile lands as a completely understood reason.

💬 tu is usually dropped, since the verb fai already shows who you mean. Adding it here puts the stress on "you" when turning the question back: "and what about you?"

💬 Italian uses in with no "the" for departments: lavoro in amministrazione. The same goes for in marketing and in contabilità "in accounting".

💬 Italian says "to have need" rather than "to need": avere bisogno. Add di for a specific thing: ho bisogno di aiuto "I need help".

💬 pure after a command softens it into "go ahead". It works with any request: entra pure "come on in", siediti pure "have a seat".

🇮🇹 This is a genuine offer, so do take colleagues up on it. Asking for help early is seen as a normal way to settle in.

💬 mille literally means "a thousand", and it never changes form. It's used just like "thanks a lot".

💬 Adding -issimo / -issima to a describing word turns it into "very": bravissimo "really good". The -a ending here means you're talking to a woman, so use gentilissimo for a man.

🇮🇹 A dopo! is for when you'll see the person again the same day. For tomorrow, say a domani "see you tomorrow".

💬 buono shortens to buon before most masculine words. You'll hear the same pattern in buon lavoro "have a good day at work" and buon appetito.