Purpose

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to greet someone, introduce yourself, and ask/answer basic questions about names and wellbeing in Italian.

Lesson Explanation

Common greetings:

Ciao — Hi/Bye (informal, both directions)
Buongiorno — Good morning/day
Buonasera — Good evening
Buonanotte — Good night (only when parting/going to bed)
Arrivederci — Goodbye (formal)
A presto — See you soon

A genuinely useful detail: ciao is used both for hello AND goodbye, but only in informal contexts — never with someone you’d address formally, where buongiorno and arrivederci are used instead.

To introduce yourself, Italian uses the verb chiamarsi (to be called), a reflexive verb structurally similar to Spanish’s llamarse:

Mi chiamo Marco. — My name is Marco. (literally "I call myself Marco")
Come ti chiami? — What is your name? (informal)
Come si chiama? — What is your name? (formal)

The ti vs. si contrast above reflects Italian’s formal/informal distinction (tu vs. Lei), covered in full in Part 6, Lesson 5.

Asking how someone is doing:

Come stai? — How are you? (informal)
Come sta? — How are you? (formal)
Sto bene, grazie. — I am well, thank you.
E tu? — And you?

Practice Questions