In italian how do you say hello

Buon pomeriggio is a formal greeting for the afternoon time. Buonasera is another greeting which can be used either in formal and informal situations. It is used when meeting someone in the evening, however, the ideal time of the day to use buonasera varies greatly from region to region. The last one is buonanotte good night : a formal and informal greeting, used to say goodbye before going to sleep. In different areas of Italy we go from good morning to good evening at different times of the day.

In southern Italy people can start saying buonasera around pm, while in northern Italy you can even hear it around 2pm! Generally, in Italy you can start saying buonasera after lunchtime, when in English it would be really unusual to say good evening. Depending on the situations, you can use other different greetings to say goodbye to people. When greeting elder people or your superiors you cannot use ciao — you need to sound more formal. Before discussing the different greetings, I would like to give you a little introduction about how to address somebody in Italian.

Similarly to Spanish and French, Italian has two ways to address people: informally and formally. The informal way uses the personal pronoun tu , while the formal way uses lei.

Lei is third person singular, so when addressing someone formally, you need to conjugate the verb in the third person. Ciao Marco, tu come stai? Hello Marco, how are you? Buongiorno dottor Rossi, lei come sta? Good morning dr. I heard it almost every time I left a taxi in Rome! First of all, not every situation calls for a cheek kiss.

Expect a handshake in formal settings. From personal experience, I recommend never going back for a third cheek touch. And remember— if you cheek kiss hello, cheek kiss goodbye. In that case, respond with the two-cheek touch. Want to see some of the phrases below in use by native speakers? For example: Arrivederci, professoressa. This one creates quite a dramatic effect in films, such as the Italian film of the 50s Addio, Napoli! In most cases, a simple arrivederci will do!

It's used when departing from your friends. If you're feeling creative you can use a combination of them. Mirella teaches la bella lingua e cultura via her Italian platform. She considers Italian an artform and believes learning should be creative and fun. This means that you talk to them using the feminine third-person singular. Does it sound complicated? Example: A: Buongiorno, come sta? B: Buongiorno, sto bene, grazie. E lei? In famiglia stanno tutti bene?

B: Tutti bene. E i suoi? Is everyone in your family fine? And what about yours? Italian formal greetings —such as in a business meeting , for example— are similar to those used for older persons , although you should avoid Salve , which is perceived as too familiar.

Regarding body language, you should not kiss anyone. Instead, you have to shake hands. Example: A: Buongiorno, Professore. Ha fatto buon viaggio? B: Buongiorno, Dottore. Molto buono, grazie. A: Volevo complimentarmi con lei per il suo ultimo libro. B: Grazie. Did you have a nice journey?