Learn how to use expressions for greetings and partings
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| Hi, everyone! I'm Felice Angelini. |
| Ciao a tutti, sono Felice Angelini. |
| Welcome to another Italian Whiteboard Lesson! |
| In this lesson, you'll learn how to say greetings like "hello" and "goodbye" in Italian. |
| I'm pretty sure you've already heard some of these words, so let's master them once and for all! |
| Let's get started! |
| Okay, let's look at the vocabulary. First, we have... |
| Buongiorno. |
| Buongiorno. |
| This literally means "good day." It's a flexible greeting that can be used to mean "good morning," "good afternoon," or even just "hello." You can use it all day until the evening. |
| The next one. |
| Buondì. |
| Buondì. |
| This is a synonym of buongiorno. |
| The next one is… |
| Buonasera. |
| Buonasera. |
| It's a common way to greet people during the evening and at night, in both formal and less formal situations. |
| The next one. |
| Ciao. |
| Ciao. "Hi." |
| In informal situations, you can just use the greeting, ciao, "hi," at any time of the day. |
| Ciao is the most common greeting in Italian. However, it's only suitable for informal situations, such as when greeting friends or relatives. It translates as "hi" or "hello," but it can also mean "good-bye." Because of this, you can use ciao both when meeting someone as well as when parting ways. |
| Next… |
| A presto! |
| A presto! |
| This expression means something like "until soon," but translates as "[See you] soon!" |
| Next… |
| Arrivederci. |
| Arrivederci. |
| You can use this greeting when you are sure you'll meet the other person again in the future. |
| The next one. |
| Ci vediamo. |
| Ci vediamo. |
| This phrase starts with ci, which means something like "each other." |
| After this, we have vediamo, "[we] shall see." |
| Vediamo is from the verb vedere, meaning "to see." |
| Together, Ci vediamo literally means "each other [we] shall see," but translates as "See you." |
| Note: Ci vediamo is an informal parting expression, and you should avoid it in formal situations. |
| Lastly, we have… |
| Buonanotte |
| Buonanotte, which literally means "goodnight." |
| You use buonanotte, "goodnight," when you don't plan on seeing someone again that night, and often when someone is about to go to bed. It's like saying, "have a good night's sleep." |
| Ok, let's review all of our expressions one more time. |
| Buongiorno. |
| Buondì. |
| Buonasera. |
| Ciao. |
| And, |
| A presto! |
| Arrivederci. |
| Ci vediamo. |
| Buonanotte |
| Ciao. |
| Okay! |
| Now, let's look at some different situations. |
| Let's say that the two neighbors are teenagers. Can you guess the greeting? |
| They would most likely use ciao with each other. |
| Let's now say that the two neighbors meet around 8PM. Can you guess the greeting that they'd use? |
| They would most likely say buonasera. |
| Now, imagine you have just had dinner with your friends and you are about to go home. |
| What would you say? |
| They're your friends, so you can use either ciao, ci vediamo, buonanotte, or all three of the expressions together. |
| Ciao, ci vediamo. |
| Ciao, buonanotte. |
| As you may already know if you have any Italian friends or family, when you are close to the other person, it's very common to hug or kiss when meeting. |
| If you do not have a close relationship, it is customary to shake hands, but if you'd prefer to avoid direct contact for sanitary reasons, it's okay to instead offer a closed fist or an elbow. |
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