Some simple phrases in Italian are "grazie tante," which means "thank you very much," "mi scusi," which means "excuse me," "mi dispiace," which means "I'm sorry" and "non capisco," which means "I don't understand." Some simple Italian words are "si," which means "yes," and "no," which means "no." These are some of the first phrases taught to beginning Italian language students.Continue Reading
Some common greetings used in Italy are "buon giorno" for "good morning" and "buona sera" for "good evening." This can be responded with the phrase "Come sta?" or "How are you?" One reply to this is "Sto bene, grazie," which means "I'm fine, thank you." Those who do not know much Italian may want to ask "Parla inglese?" or "Do you speak English?" They may also want to warn the speaker that they do not know Italian by saying "non parlo italiano."
It is also useful to understand some common pronunciation rules when trying to speak Italian. For example, Italian words are generally stressed on the second to last syllable. This is also true for words that sometimes drop the final "e," such as when "doctore" becomes "doctor" when placed before a proper name. Ending vowels that are stressed in a word always have an accent over them to indicate that they should be stressed.Learn more about Education