Essential Italian

Essential Italian phrases
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

Italiano essenziale

Knowing just a few key words and phrases can be very helpful in your Italian classes, while traveling in Italy, and everywhere in between.

Here are some general terms; please see the list at the end for more specific vocabulary.

Communication Issues

Do you speak English?   Parla inglese? (formal)
    Parli inglese? (informal)
I speak (a little) Italian.   Parlo un po d’italiano.
What?   Cosa?
I don’t understand.   Non capisco.
Repeat, please.   Puoi ripetere, per favore. (formal)
    Può ripetere, per favore. (informal)
More slowly.   Più lentamente.
One more time.   Un’altra volta.
I have a problem.   Ho un problema.

Translation

What does ___ mean?   Cosa significa ___?
How do you say ___ in Italian?   Come si dice ___ in italiano?
How do you spell (write) that?   Come si scrive?

Questions and Answers

I have a question.   Ho una domanda.   Asking questions
I don’t know.   Non lo so.    
         
who   chi    
what   che
cosa
   
when   quando    
where   dove    
why   perché    
how   come    
         
yes      
no   no    
OK   va bene    
         
and   e   Coordinating conjunctions
or   o    

 More essential Italian

Learn Spanish En español

Learn French En français

 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

Italian essentials

Virtual Italian Teacher at Lawless Languages | Website | + posts

Ciao! I’m Laura K Lawless, creator, writer, editor, and CLO (Chief Lawless Officer) of this free online Italian learning site.

Lawless Italian is an official Lawless Languages site.

Associate Editor at Lawless Italian | Website | + posts

Ciao! I’m Evelyn Reid and I am utterly thrilled to be involved in the making of Lawless Italian. In addition to creating sound files, I handle social media, including mini tests every week.