everybody.See you…
| A domani! | See you tomorrow! |
| A lunedì! | See you on Monday! |
| Ci vediamo! | See you later! |
| Allora a più tardi, ciao! | See you later! |
BUONO A SAPERSI!
In Italian, if you use a più tardi for see you later, you expect to see the person later on that day, not just some time in the future as in English.
You may want to introduce people you know to one another. The simplest way is by saying questo (or questa) è (this is) when introducing a person. You can also use ti presento (I’d like you to meet) when addressing someone you know well, or le presento to be more formal. When speaking to several people use vi presento.
This is…
| Questo è mio marito David. | This is my husband, David. |
| Questi sono i miei figli Andrew, Gordon e Emma. | These are my children, Andrew, Gordon and Emma. |
| Ti presento Lara. | I’d like you to meet Lara. |
| Mi permetta di presentarle Richard, il mio compagno. | Let me introduce You to Richard, my partner. |
| Vi presento James, il fratello di Kate. | I’d like you all to meet James, Kate’s brother. |
When you’re introduced to someone, you’ll want to know how to react. Just say piacere (nice to meet you) or molto piacere (how do you do?). You can also say piacere di conoscerla, or conoscerti to somebody younger. You can then introduce yourself, by saying your name. In more formal situations, Italians quite often give their surname rather than their first name.
Nice to meet you…
| Piacere, Emma. | Nice to meet you, I’m Emma. |
| Piacere, io sono Anna e questo è Kevin. | Nice to meet you, I’m Anna and this is Kevin. |
| Molto piacere, Sinclair. | How do you do, my name’s Sinclair. |
| E tu sei Maria? Piacere di conoscerti. | Are you Maria? Nice to meet you. |
| Piacere di conoscerla, avvocato Martini. | Nice to meet You, Mr. Martini. |
BUONO A SAPERSI!
Italians often use titles like avvocato (lawyer), ingegnere (engineer), architetto (architect) when addressing professionals, even without the name of the person, for example Buongiorno architetto!, in the same way as we would address a doctor.
If you want to introduce yourself to somebody, you can say Piacere… and your name. A more formal way is to use Mi permetta di presentarmi,… (May I introduce myself,…).
Hello, I’m…
| Piacere, sono Kate Brooks. | Hello, I’m Kate Brooks. |
| Piacere, Peter. | Hello, I’m Peter. |
| Salve, sono il fratello di Jane. | Hi, I’m Jane’s brother. |
| Mi permetta di presentarmi, mi chiamo Thomas Baxter. | May I introduce myself, I’m Thomas Baxter. |
BUONO A SAPERSI!
If you have missed an introduction but you are keen to meet somebody you can say:
Mi scusi, non ci siamo presentati, io sono Catherine. Lei è…? (Excuse me, we haven’t been introduced, I’m Catherine, You’re…?).
In order to get the conversation going, you’ll want to be able to talk about yourself – what your name is, what you do and so on. To say what your name is in Italian, you use mi chiamo which literally means I call myself, from the verb chiamarsi (to be called). Alternatively, like in English, you can simply say sono (I am), from the verb essere (to be). For more information on the verbs chiamare and essere, see here and here.
My name is…
| Mi chiamo Jonathan Jones. | My name is Jonathan Jones. |
| Ciao, mi chiamo Danielle. | Hi, my name is Danielle. |
| Ci chiamiamo John e Francis. | We are John and Francis. |
| Salve, io sono Liam. | Hi, I’m Liam. |
| Piacere, noi siamo Christine e Peter. | Nice to meet you, we are Christine and Peter. |
If you want to say how old you are, use ho followed by your age and anni (literally I have … years). ho comes from the verb avere (to have). For more information on avere, see here.
I’m… years old
| Ho trentasette anni. | I’m thirty-seven years old. |
| Ho ventidue anni. | I’m twenty-two. |
| Mio figlio ha otto anni. | My son’s eight. |
| Quanti anni hai? | How old are you? |
BUONO A SAPERSI!
If you have to ask Quanti anni ha? (How old are You?) you can always add se non sono indiscreto (or indiscreta) (if You don’t mind my asking).
To talk about who you are and what you do, use sono (I am), ho (I have) and faccio (I do). These come from the verbs essere (to be), avere (to have) and fare (to do). For more information on these verbs, see here, here and here.
