Need an Italian Language Cheat Sheet?
Being able to speak even a little Italian will help enormously. You wouldn’t be annoyed at someone for trying to speak English, you would try to help them, right? So that's why we have created the Ultimate Italian Language Cheat Sheet Guide! Everyone we met in Italy was incredibly kind and understanding of our attempts to chat with them in broken Italian.
We've separated these everyday Italian phrases into 3 categories to make things simpler although they all sort of link together.
Basics, Travel, Food & Drink…All the important need to know things, don’t you think?
*Important note*
Don’t forget to add your p’s and q’s to these – contrary to what some blogs suggest we absolutely think you should still use them – we just didn’t want to clutter up the list.
- Hello/Goodbye -Ciao (cha-oh)
- Please – Per favore (per fav-ore-eh)
- How are you? - Come sta? (come-ey star)
- Excuse me (I beg your pardon) - Scusi (sgoo-zee)
- Excuse me (sorry) Mi Dispiace (me des-pee-ach-eh)
- Thank you - Grazie (Graat-zee)
- I’m sorry I don’t speak Italian - Scusa non parlo Italiano (sgoo-sah non parl-oh Italian-oh)
- Do you speak any English? - Parla inglese? (Par-lah in-gley-say)
- Can you say that more slowly? - Parla lentamente? (Par-lah len-tah-men-tay)
- Would you mind writing that here? – Puoi scrivilo per me? (Pooh-oi sgree-vee-low per meh) *set up google translate on your phone in their language
- I’m waiting for my partner - In attesa mio compagno (in ah-tessa me-oh come-pan-yo)
- Can I have this/that - Posso averlo (poss-o ver-loh)
- A ticket to … please - Un biglietto per … , per favore (oon big-lee-etto … per fav-ore-eh)
- What time? - A che ora? (a chay or-a?)
- How long? – Per quanto? (Per kwan-toh)
- Where is - dove’ (doh-veh)
- the toilet - il bagno (ill ban-yo)
- the bus - il auto-bus (ill oww-toe-boos)
- the taxi - il taxi (ill taxi)
- the train station - La stazione(lah stah-zee-oh-neh)
- The gate - Porta d'imbarco (port-ah duh-im-bark-oh)
- The ATM - Bancomat (bank-oh-mat)
- The pharmacy - La farmacia (joke – you are *always* near a pharmacy in Europe)
Things you might hear in reply
- Here - Qui (k-wee)
- There - Là (lah)
- On the left - Sulla sinistra (sool-ah sin-east-rah)
- On the right - Sulla destra (sool-ah day-stra)
- Straight ahead – Sempre Dritto (sem-pray dree-toe)
- Around the corner - Dietro l'angolo (dee-ey-toro lang-oh-low)
- Bag - Sacchetto (sah-chet-toe)
- Where is good to eat? - Dove è buono da mangiare (doh-veh eh b-won-o da man-jar-eh)
- A table for two – Un tavolo per due (oon tav-o-loh per doo-ey)
- Where can I get a drink? Dove posso bere (doh-veh poss-o bear-eh
Things your server/bartender might say
- Gradisce qualcosa da bere? - Would you like something to drink?
- Cosa prende Lei? - What will you have?
- Cosa desidera Lei? - What would you like?
- I would like… - Vorrei… (vor-rei) *pronounce the ‘r’ twice not just long
- Coffee - caffé (caff-eh)
- Water - acqua (aag-wah)
- Beer - Una birra (ooh-nah beer-ah)
- Wine - Vino I don’t need to tell you how to say this one right? Just make sure you know if you want rosso (ross-oh) red or bianco (bee-ank-oh) white or rosé (ros-eh) rosé
- The menu - Il menù (ill men-ooh)
- One/Two more – uno/due altro (ooh-no/dooh-eh alt-roe)
- I’m a vegetarian/vegan - Sono vegetariano/a vegano/a (son-oh ve-je-teh-ree-ah-noh/ah veg-an-oh/ah) **add ‘oh’ at the end if you are a man and ‘ah’ if you are a woman.
- I have an allergy to - Sono allergico a (Son-oh al-er-gee-co ah)
nuts/milk/eggs/shellfish - noci /latte/uova /frutti di mare (noh-chi/latte/ooh-oh-va/fruit-ee dee marry) - How much is it? - Quanto costa? (kwan-toh cost-ah)
- The bill, please - il conto per favore (il con-toh per fav-or-eh)
- Connecting words -
- And - E (eh)
- There - Là (lah)
- Yes - Si (see)
- No - No (noh)
We really do hope you find our list of everyday Italian phrases helpful. This wouldn't be the ultimate Italian language cheat sheet if we didn't constantly add to it and if you think of any additions do let us know and please, if you see a mistake correct us, we’re definitely not fluent speakers by a long way!
