Common Italian Expressions to Make You Sound Like a Real Italian!

In this lesson my goal is to make you sound more Italian by teaching you simple and common Italian expressions that are used all the time! 

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1. Mamma Mia! Yup it’s not a stereotype… we use it very much in daily conversations! This common expression that translates to my goodness can be used in many different ways. You can use it when you are shocked or surprised or when you have had enough.or you are disgusted

• Mamma mia! Non ci credo sei entrato ad Harvard!!! (Oh my! I can’t believe you got into Harvard!)
• Mamma mia! che paura! Ho visto un ragno!! (Oh mu goodness! I saw a spider!) 

2. Dai! This is probably one that I use quite often. You can translate it with COME ON. and just like in English you can modify the meaning by changing the intonation. 

You can say: 

Dai! Adesso basta! (Come on! It’s enough!)

or Ma dai? with a sense of surprise (really?)

3. Salute! means Bless you! That’s what it means when you hear Italians saying it after a sneeze. In addition, you can use it to toast ‘Cheers!’. Be careful here! I hear a lot of people saying Salut… if you are saying it in Italian you need to say SALUTE with the last E.

4. Ma Sei Fuori! This expression is used when you want to say “are you out of your mind” 

• Sei fuori! Ci sono 40 gradi e tu esci a correre alle 2 del pomeriggio! (Are you crazy? It’s 40 degrees outside and you are going out to run at 2 pm!)

5. Figurati! This Italian exclamation can take on different meanings according to the context. The most common way of using it is when you must answer a thank you or excuse someone from his/her apologies in a nice way. Therefore, Figurati! is naturally translated into ‘You’re welcome!’ or ‘Don’t worry about it!’ and is super common in conversational Italian.

Example:

• Scusa, ti disturbo? – No, figurati! (Sorry, am I bothering you? – No, don’t worry about it!)

6. Zitto or stai zitto!

This translates to ‘Shut up!’ or ‘Be quiet!’ . I would say that it’s quite rude but also that it’s very common in everyday Italian.

Bonus exclamations that are more sounds than words…

• What will an Italian say when he/she gets hurt? - Aia!
• What will an Italian say if something is gross? - Bleah!
• What will an Italian say to get your attention? - Oh! Ehi! Oi! Uee!

Basically you can use all the vowels that you can think of and the choice here depends very much on the region in which you live in! Tell me your favorite one in the comments!