Top 50 phrases to get by Italy (Advanced): Essential communication

💬 Literally "a thousand thanks": mille means "a thousand".

🇮🇹 prego covers several situations: "you're welcome," "go ahead," or "after you." If someone says it to you at a counter or doorway, they may be inviting you to speak or move, not thanking you back.

💬 scusi is the polite form for strangers. With friends or children, say scusa.

🇮🇹 This expresses real regret or sympathy. To squeeze past someone on a crowded bus, Italians say permesso "excuse me, may I pass".

💬 Literally "I call myself". Swap the start to talk about others: si chiama Marco "his name is Marco".

💬 The same words can also mean "What's his/her name?". Context tells you which one is meant.

🇮🇹 Usually said with a handshake, often followed by your name: Piacere, Anna.

💬 sta is the polite form for strangers. With friends, ask come stai?.

💬 Italian uses stare "to stay", not essere "to be", when talking about how you're feeling. So it's sto bene, never sono bene.

💬 With polite Lei, the verb is often the same form as lui/lei "he/she," so parla means both "do you speak?" and "he/she speaks." You can reuse that in capisce? and ha?.

🇮🇹 This is a normal polite question to a stranger. In tourist areas, opening with this is fine, but starting with a quick buongiorno first sounds more natural.

💬 po' is a shortened poco "little", and it always needs di before the thing. For example: un po' di pane "a bit of bread".

💬 parlo already means "I speak", so you don't need io "I". The verb ending shows who is speaking.

💬 To ask someone politely to do something, put può in front of a basic verb. For example: Può aiutarmi? "Can you help me?".

💬 piano here means "slowly" or "softly". The same word also means "floor" in a building, as in primo piano "first floor".

💬 Before è "is", dove gets shortened to dov'è "where is". For example: Dov'è il bagno? "Where is the bathroom?".

💬 dov'è is a squeeze of dove è, "where is." You'll see the same kind of contraction in com'è from come è.

💬 dov'è is a squeeze of dove è, "where is." You'll see the same kind of contraction in cos'è from cosa è.

💬 sempre normally means "always". In directions, it means "keep going".

💬 The accent matters: è means "is", while plain e means "and".

🇮🇹 On regional trains and city buses, stamp your ticket in the machine before you travel. Riding with an unstamped ticket can get you fined.

💬 When asking about more than one item, costa becomes costano: Quanto costano? "How much do they cost?".

💬 vorrei is softer than a plain "I want" and is the go-to way to ask for things politely. You can swap in what you want after it: vorrei un caffè or vorrei un biglietto.

🇮🇹 This is one of the most useful polite request starters in Italy. It sounds more natural than a direct voglio in shops, bars, and restaurants.

💬 vorrei is the polite "I would like", and it works for ordering anything: vorrei un panino "I'd like a sandwich".

🇮🇹 un caffè means a small espresso. Many Italians drink it standing at the bar counter, and in busy bars you often pay at the till first.

🇮🇹 Restaurants usually serve bottled water, and the waiter will often ask you naturale o frizzante?.

💬 The describing word usually comes after the noun in Italian. Same pattern: vino rosso "red wine".

🇮🇹 In sit-down restaurants, wait at the entrance for staff to seat you rather than picking a table yourself.

🇮🇹 In a restaurant, this is the standard way to ask for the bill; it doesn't sound rude. Staff generally won't rush you with the bill unless you ask.

🇮🇹 Waiters won't bring the bill until you ask, since rushing guests is considered rude. Ask with Il conto, per favore "The bill, please".

🇮🇹 Many smaller shops, especially outside big cities, close for a few hours in the early afternoon and reopen later.

💬 Ho bisogno di ... literally works like "I have need of ..." and is a very reusable pattern. You can swap in other things: Ho bisogno di aiuto = "I need help," Ho bisogno di un taxi = "I need a taxi."

💬 chiami is the polite way to tell a stranger to do something. To a friend, you'd say chiama.

🇮🇹 The general emergency number across Italy and the EU is 112.

💬 The ending changes with the speaker: a man says mi sono perso, a woman says mi sono persa.