How To Say Thank You In Italian & Other Phrases

Italian is considered by many as one of the most beautiful European languages. It’s also considered the language of love, competing with French for the same title, according to language lovers. Whether you are travelling to Italy for a weekend break or for a longer period, it’s always useful to learn at least some basic vocabulary. So here, I will show you how to say thank you in Italian, as well as other useful phrases that will help you get by anywhere in the country.

Useful Italian Sentences & Basic Vocabulary

How To Say Thank You In Italian?

Grazie

There are a few ways to say thank you in Italian. The most common word to express gratitude is grazie, pronounced with a rolling R and the Z sounds like ts. You can use it to thank anyone, whether it is a formal or an informal situation.

Grazie Mille

If you want to show immense gratitude, you may say grazie mile, which means thanks a lot. Mile means a thousand, so you are actually saying a thousand thanks, which is a common expression.

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How To Answer To Thank You In Italian?

When someone says grazie or grazie mille, the answer is prego, which means you’re welcome or don’t mention it. However, if you are in a situation where someone is offering you something, literally handing you something, you may also hear the word prego. The word is the same, but just a different meaning.

How To say thank you in Italian — This is how you say thank you in Italian!

Other Useful Italian Words and Sentences

Excuse Me In Italian

The word used to say excuse me in Italian is very similar to the English expression. Excuse me in Italian is scusa or scusami and is used in pretty much the same situations as in English. It is the same word you use to say sorry.

The slight difference is that scusa or scusami are used among people you are familiar with. When talking to people you don’t know well or where there is some sort of hierarchy say scusi.

Hello or Hi In Italian

This is one of the most well-known words in Italian. If you want to say hello or hi in Italian, you say ciao! It is pronounced chao.

Now that you know ciao, you actually know how to say hello and bye in Italian. In Italy, they use the same word both to greet someone or to say farewell in casual situations. In a more formal context or with people you don’t know well.

Good Morning and Good Afternoon In Italian

In Italy, they use one single word to say good morning or good afternoon, just like they do in France. The word for good morning in Italian is buongiorno, which literally means good day.

It can be used any time of the day until around 4/5pm.

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**How To Say Good Evening In Italian**

Since you use buongiorno until about 4pm, after that it is considered evening. If you wonder how to say good evening in Italian, it is buonasera!

Buonasera is used when you greet someone. If you want to say farewell, but it is too early to say good night, you can say buona serata. Remember that this expression is only used when you’re saying goodbye to someone.

Good Night In Italian

To say good night to someone in Italian, you will use the expression buona notte. If the person you’re talking to is about to go to bed and you want to wish him/her sweet dreams, you can say buona notte e sogni d’oro. Translated literally, it means “good night and golden dreams”.

**How To Say Please In Italian**

In many situations, you will need to say please in Italian. The expression you will have to use is per favore.

Let’s imagine you go to a cafe in Italy, for example, and you want to order a cappuccino. You will have to say un cappuccino, per favore. When the waiter brings your coffee, you may hear the word prego, which we saw before.

**How To Say Happy Birthday In Italian**

If you want to wish happy birthday to someone in Italian, you can say buon compleanno, It is very important to pronounce the NN as a long letter, though.

Merry Christmas In Italian

Italians love their Christmas, and if you happen to be in the country around that time of the year, you may wish them buon Natale. (pronounced naataalay). The image of Babbo Natale (Santa Claus) is also quite common in Italy.

**How To Say I Love You In Italian**

Having said that Italian is considered the language of love, you may have wondered how to say I love you in Italian. The most common way to say is ti amo. There are several other ways to say it in Italian, though.

Another way to say it is ti voglio bene (with a silent G). The meaning is slightly less intense than ti amo, though.

Learning Italian

Ideally, it would be great to travel to Italy and be able to communicate in Italian. Italians in general are very open people and love to talk. If you can say at least a few sentences in Italian, you will win someone’s admiration and respect.

If you would like to learn Italian at any level, whether it is just for a short weekend break, for a longer summer vacation or even to study in Italy, there are many resources to help you learn Italian.

My first recommendation is to have a private online Italian teacher, so you can have regular lessons with someone that can explain how the language works and who can practise with you. I learned most of the 8 languages I speak on my own, but I’ve been taking online lessons to improve my Russian, and the process of learning a language with an instructor is much painless.

I hope you’ve learned these expressions and, if you remember how to say thank you in Italian… Grazie for reading!