Learn Italian Basic Greeting... Ciao, Buongiorno and lots more!

CIAO is absolutely "THE GREETING" that everybody knows and uses especially when they think of Italian words.

If you come to my area... so near Milano...you will hear it like this “ueeeeh ciaoooo! We like to emphasize everything by adding UEEEEH in front of any word!

Ciao is the simple Hello / H and you use it in INFORMAL situations with friends and family or people that you know very well. It can be hello or goodbye

• Ciao, ci vediamo domani!
• Ciao a tutti!

Buongiorno! Good morning… you can actually use this throughout the whole day even if it’s not specifically morning… do not use it when you are sure it’s evening… in this case you can say BUONASERA.

Unlike Ciao you will use this in formal situations… for example with people that you do not know… when you enter a shop or when you greet your boss.

• Buongiorno Sig.ra Paola! Come sta?
• Buonasera Maria sto bene grazie!

In this case you use these when you greeting somebody so when you arrive and when you leave you could say:

• Buona giornata / Buona serata

Implying that you wish for them to have fabulous rest of the morning or evening… if you are super nice you can add Arrivederci!

• Buona serata a tutti!
• Arrivederci!

If you know that you will see the person soon you can also use

• A presto! (Both formal and informal)
• A presto Anna!
• A presto Sig. Rossi!
• Ci vediamo presto!

You can also say

• A domani… to say see you tomorrow or
• A giovedì… if you want to say See you Thursday…

If you are tragic… or if you have broken up with your Italian partner and never want to greet them in any way ever again… go with ADDIO! forever goodbye!