In case of emergency
Help! Aiuto! (eye-yoo-toh) Stop! Fermate! (fair-mah-teh) Call a doctor Chiama un medico
(kee-ah-mah oon meh-dee-koh) Call an ambulance Chiama un ambulanza
(kee-ah-mah oon am-boo-lan-tsa) Call the police Chiama la polizia
(kee-ah-mah lah pol-ee-tsee-ah) The nearest hospital? L’ospedale più vicino?
(loss-peh-dah-leh pee oovee cheenoh?)
Useful phrases in Italian
Yes/No Si/No (see/noh) Please Per favore (pair fah-vor-eh) Thank you Grazie (grah-tsee-eh) Excuse me Mi scusi (mee skoo-zee) Hello Buon giorno (bwon jor-noh) Goodbye Arrividerci (ah-ree-veh-dair-chee) How are you? Come sta? (koh-meh stah) Very well Molto bene (moll-toh beh-neh) I don’t understand. Non capisco (non ka-pee-skoh) Do you speak English? Parla inglese? (Par-lah een-gleh-zeh) I’m sorry. Mi dispiace. (mee dee-spee-ah-cheh)
Shopping
How much does this cost? Quant’è, per favore?
(kwan-teh pair fah-vor-eh) I’m just looking. Sto soltanto guardando.
(stoh sol-tan-toh gward-dan-doh) What time do you open/close? A che ora apre/chiude?
(ah keh or-ah ah-preh/kee-oo-deh) size, clothes la taglia (lah tah-lee-ah) size, shoes il numero (eel noo-mair-oh)
Sightseeing
post office l’ufficio postale
(loo-fee-choh pos-tah-leh) bus stop la fermata dell’autobus
(lah fair-mah-tah dell ow-toh-booss) railway station la stazione
(lah stah-tsee-oh-neh) tourist information l’ufficio turistico
(loo-fee-choh too-ree-stee-koh)
In a hotel
Do you have any vacant rooms? Avete camere libere?
(ah-veh-teh kah-mair-eh leebair-eh) I have a reservation. Ho fatto una prenotazione.
(oh fat-toh oona preh-noh-tah-tsee-oh-neh)
At a restaurant
menu il menu (eel meh-noo) breakfast colazione (koh-lah-tsee-oh-neh) lunch pranzo (pran-tsoh) dinner cena (cheh-nah) Food: rare, medium, well done al sangue (al sang-gweh),
al puntino (al poon-tee-noh),
ben cotto (ben kot-toh) The bill, please. Il conto, per favore.
(eel kon-toh pair fah-vor-eh)
When you’re traveling, the locals appreciate you making the effort of trying to speak their language. With these basic Italian phrases, you can do so and maybe you end up taking a course to learn Italian. It’s a lovely language.
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