Expressions to use instead of 'Come stai' in Italian

If you are learning any kind of language one of the first things that you will learn are greetings. So you probably know already your ciao, buongiorno etc. but usually right after the greetings you tend to say something else… right? It’s almost automatic to say, hi, or hello and add a How are you? You probably say it without even thinking about it… or meaning it.. but honestly we all say it.

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You are probably already using COME STAI to say HOW ARE YOU, but today I want to teach you some extra expressions that people might ask you or that you can use instead of COME STAI. These are super common and they are used on a daily basis. 

Come va? 

The first expression that can substitute Come stai is Come va? Literally this translates to how is it going. You might spot out the verb here which is VA. This is the irregular verb ANDARE. In this case the verb is very let’s say neutral because you it refers to things or everything in your life that is “going on”. 

You can use it with your friends and I would say that it’s more informal than formal. It’s polite so you can use it also with people that you have just met or do not know much of. It can feel like a filler question so when you are making small-talk you can pop in a generic “come va?” I would say that it is very similar to the english what’s up?

A tiny variation to this is “come vanno le cose”. The short "come va?" is more common and casual. You will hear it more often than "come vanno le cose". In this case you are saying… how are thing going 

Tutto ok? or tutto bene? 

This translates to “everything ok? everything good?” Similarly to come va this is quite casual. Especially the tutto ok? Usually when you say this you sort of know that something was not going well before hand. It’s used more like a check-up to see if things are rolling in the right direction. If for example somebody goes to the doctor and you want to know how things went you can ask a “tutto ok?” tutto bene? even in a casual text message… the person that receives the message knows that you want to know if the visit when well or some kind of news.

Tutto a posto?

A variation to "tutto bene, tutto ok?" is Tutto a posto? The literal meaning is “is everything in place?.” This is used if you are a bit worried, so you feel like something might not be good, like if a person is looking sick or if you hear a noise in another room and you pop your head in to see if everything is ok you can ask “Tutto a posto?” 

Com'è?

This next one is one that I honestly do not understand and I have a hard time using and replying to … maybe because my grammar brain goes nuts….I’m talking about the super colloquial and informal COM’E’? This literally translates to “how is?”… and as you can see if feels like a half sentence… right… it doesn’t mean anything…This expression really gets on my nerves… because my initial reaction to this would be come ‘e’ cosa? “how is WHAT?” But hey what can I say the evolution of the language has created this question and it is very very much used. So make sure your ears are ready for it! and that you are ready to reply just as you would answer a COME STAI question.

Novità?

You can also hear people simply saying Novità? which translates to “news?” to ask in an informal context, so with people that you know. You can use this if you want updates on a person’s life or if you really need an update on an activity that a person is carrying out. You can also say “Ci sono novità? or Qualche novità?” which means “any news?” So for example your friend is having a baby, she is the hospital, you call a close relative to know if the baby is born of how things are proceeding you can say “novità?” this means you know that something is happening and you are waiting for updates.

Come ti senti?

So far all these are quite informal and easy going. If things are more serious and if you want to know how a person is feeling because you know that he / she was sick you can say: Come ti senti? Which means how are you feeling today. So next time your Italian friend has a cold… you can ask “come ti senti?” or Stai meglio? feeling better.

Depending on the context and the person that you are talking to you can use the formal LEI. For example:

Come stai becomes come sta? and come ti senti becomes come si sente?

Check out my YouTube channel to learn more on the formal and informal speech in Italian!