A little goes a long way ... Unlike the French, who consider anyone who has not perfectly mastered their language to be nothing less than ignorant ;o), the Italians will appreciate even the most rudimentary efforts to communicate in their language. If you can't find the right words, hand gestures will generally do the trick - many people don't know that body language is actually the second national language in Italy, enabling Italians from North and South, with their vastly different dialects, to understand each other with ease ...
A few tips for you to help you get by ...
Numbers Restaurant Travelling Hotel Writing Home Wedding Talk
Please | Per favore [pr. pear favoray] | ||
Thank you | Grazie [pr. gratsiay] | ||
Yes | Si | ||
No | No | ||
Hello | Buon giorno (daytime), buona sera (evening), ciao (informal) | ||
Goodbye | Arriverderci (polite), ciao (informal) | ||
Pleased to meet you | Piacere [pr. piach-air-ay] | ||
How much is ...? | Quanto costa ...? | ||
Where is ...? | Dove si trova ...? | ||
Numbers - I Numeri |
|||
1 | uno | 6 | sei |
2 | due | 7 | sette |
3 | tre | 8 | otto |
4 | quattro | 9 | nove |
5 | cinque [pr. chinkway] | 10 | dieci [pr. diechee] |
In a Restaurant - Nel Ristorante |
|||
The menu | Il menų | ||
The bill | Il conto | ||
A bottle of wine (red, white) | Una bottiglia di vino (rosso, bianco) | ||
A glass of ... | Un bicchiere di ... | ||
Beer | Una birra | ||
A pint of lager, please | Una bionda media, per favore (literally a medium blonde) | ||
Half a pint of lager | Una piccola bionda (a little blonde) | ||
Water (still, sparkling) | Acqua (naturale, frizzante [Pr. fritsantay]) | ||
A tip | Una mancia [pr. mancha] | ||
Bread | Pane | ||
Butter | Burro | ||
Salt | Sale | ||
Pepper | Pepe | ||
Olive oil | Olio | ||
Fish | Pesce | ||
Meat | Carne | ||
Chicken | Pollo | ||
Beef | Manzo | ||
Lamb | Agnello [Pr. anyello] | ||
Pork | Maiale | ||
Other | If it's not one of these, don't eat it! | ||
Ham (raw eg parma, cooked) | Prosciutto [pr. proshutto] (crudo, cotto) | ||
Cheese | Formaggio [pr. formajo] | ||
Tomato | Pomodoro | ||
(Not) Spicy | (Non) Piccante | ||
Pepperoni | Salamino | ||
Potatoes | Patate | ||
Chips | Patatine | ||
Mayonnaise | Maionese | ||
Tomato ketchup | Don't you dare ! | ||
Mustard | Mostarda | ||
Ice cream | Gelato | ||
With | Con | ||
Without | Senza | ||
A lot | Molto | ||
A little | Un po' di | ||
More | Ancora | ||
No more, thanks | Basta cosė, grazie | ||
Travelling - Viaggiare |
|||
A ticket to ... | Un biglietto [pr. bill-yetto] per ... | ||
A book of 10 tickets | Un tesserino da dieci | ||
Train station | La stazione dei treni | ||
Bus | Autobus | ||
How do I get to ...? | Come si arriva a ...? | ||
Right | destra | ||
Left | sinistra | ||
Straight on | diritto | ||
Traffic lights | Semaforo | ||
Crossroads | Bivio | ||
In the Hotel - Nell'Albergo |
|||
A room (single, double, triple) | Una camera (singola, doppia, tripla) | ||
Swimming pool | La piscina [pr. pisheena] | ||
Telephone | Telefono | ||
TV | Tivų | ||
Postcard | Una cartolina | ||
Stamp | Un francobollo | ||
Envelope | Una busta | ||
Letter | Una lettera | ||
The Wedding | Il Matrimonio | ||
The Church | La Chiesa [Pr. Kieza] | ||
The Bride | La Sposa | ||
The Groom | Lo Sposo | ||
The Bridesmaids | Le Damigelle | ||
Flowers | I fiori | ||
I do | Actually, I'm not sure on that one! | ||