Some variations in the usage of the writing system may be present in practical use. These are scorned by educated people, but they are so common in certain contexts that knowledge of them may be useful.

• Usage of x instead of per: this is very common among teenagers and in SMS abbreviations. The multiplication operator is pronounced "per" in Italian, and so it is sometimes used to replace the word "per", which means "for"; thus, for example, "per te" ("for you") is shortened to "x te" (compare with English "4 U"). Words containing per can also have it replaced with x: for example, perché (both "why" and "because") is often shortened as xché or xké or x' (see below). This usage might be useful to jot down quick notes or to fit more text into the low character limit of an SMS, but it is considered unacceptable in formal writing.
• Usage of foreign letters such as k, j and y, especially in nicknames and SMS language: ke instead of che, Giusy instead of Giuseppina (or sometimes Giuseppe). This is curiously mirrored in the usage of i in English names such as Staci instead of Stacey, or in the usage of c in Northern Europe (Jacob instead of Jakob). The use of "k" instead of "ch" or "c" to represent a plosive sound is documented in some historical texts from before the standardization of the Italian language; however, that usage is no longer standard in Italian. Possibly because it is associated with the German language, the letter "k" has sometimes also been used in satire to suggest that a political figure is an authoritarian or even a "pseudo-nazi": Francesco Cossiga was famously nicknamed Kossiga by rioting students during his tenure as minister of internal affairs. [Cf. the politicized spelling Amerika in the USA.]
• Usage of the following abbreviations is limited to the electronic communications media and is deprecated in all other cases: nn instead of non (not), cmq instead of comunque (anyway, however), cm instead of come (how, like, as), d instead of di (of), (io/loro) sn instead of (io/loro) sono (I am/they are), (io) dv instead of (io) devo (I must/I have to) or instead of dove (where), (tu) 6 instead of (tu) sei (you are).
• Inexperienced typists often replace accents with apostrophes, such as in perche' instead of perché. Uppercase È is particularly rare, as it is absent from the Italian keyboard layout, and is very often written as E' (even though there are several ways of producing the uppercase È on a computer). This never happens in books or other professionally typeset material.

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Samples

English	Italian	Audio
Italian	italiano	(listen)
English	inglese	(listen)
Yes	Sì	(listen)
No	No	(listen)
Of course!	Certo! / Certamente! / Naturalmente!
Hello!	Ciao! (informal) / Salve! (general)	(listen)
How are you?	Come stai? (informal) / Come sta? (formal) / Come state? (plural) / Come va? (general)
Good morning!	Buongiorno! (= Good day!)
Good afternoon!	Buon pomeriggio! (unusual) / Buonasera! (more usual)
Good evening!	Buonasera!
Good night!	Buonanotte! (for a good night sleeping) / Buona serata! (for a good night awake)
I love you!	Ti amo!
Have a good lunch/dinner!	Le (plural, Vi) auguro un buon pranzo/una buona cena! (formal) / Buon appetito! (informal)
Welcome [to...]	Benvenuto/-i (for male/males or mixed) / Benvenuta/-e (for female/females) [a / in...]
Goodbye!	Arrivederci (formal) /Ciao! (informal)	(listen)
Have a nice day!	Buona giornata! (formal)
Good luck! Thank you!	Buona fortuna! Grazie! (general) / In bocca al lupo! Crepi (il lupo)! (to wish s.o. to overcome a difficulty) (the call and response literally means: "Into the mouth of the wolf!" "May it die!"
Please	Per piacere / Per favore / Per cortesia	(listen)
Thank you!	Grazie! (general) / Ti ringrazio! (informal) / La ringrazio! (formal) / Vi ringrazio! (plural)	(listen)
You're welcome!	Prego! /
I'm sorry	Mi dispiace (general) / Scusa(mi) (informal) / Mi scusi (formal) / Scusatemi (plural) / Sono desolato (if male) / Sono desolata (if female)	(listen)
Excuse me	Scusa(mi) (informal) / (Mi) scusi (formal) / Scusate(mi) (plural) / (Con) permesso! (in order to pass on, to advance)
Who?	Chi?
What?	Che cosa? / Cosa? / Che?
When?	Quando?
Where?	Dove?
Why?	Perché?
What's your name?	Come ti chiami? (informal)/Come si chiama? (formal)
Because	Perché
How?	Come?
How much? / How many?	Quanto? / Quanti? / Quante?
I do not understand.	Non capisco. / Non ho capito.	(listen)
Yes, I understand.	Sì, capisco. / Ho capito.
Help me!	Aiutami! (informal) / Mi aiuti! (formal) / Aiutatemi! (plural) / Aiuto! (general)
You're right/wrong!	(Tu) hai ragione/torto! (informal) / (Lei) ha ragione/torto! (formal) / (Voi) avete ragione/torto! (plural)
What time is it?	Che ora è? / Che ore sono?
Where is the bathroom?	Dov'è il bagno?	(listen)
Do you speak English?	Parli inglese? (informal) / Parla inglese? (formal) / Parlate inglese? (plural)	(listen)
I don't understand Italian.	Non capisco l'italiano. / Non comprendo l'italiano.
The check, please. (In restaurant)	Il conto, per favore.
The study of Italian sharpens the mind.	Lo studio dell'italiano acuisce l'ingegno.

[

Examples

• Cheers: "Salute!"
• English: inglese /iŋˈglese/
• Good-bye: arrivederci /arriveˈdertʃi/
• Hello: ciao /ˈtʃao/
• Good day: buon giorno /bwɔnˈdʒorno/
• Good evening: buona sera /bwɔnaˈsera/
• Yes: sì /si/
• No: no /nɔ/
• How are you? : Come stai /ˈkome ˈstai/ (informal); Come sta /ˈkome 'sta/ (formal)
• Sorry: mi dispiace /mi disˈpjatʃe/
• Excuse me: scusa /ˈskuza/ (informal); scusi /ˈskuzi/ (formal)
• Again: di nuovo, /di ˈnwɔvo/; ancora /aŋˈkora/
• Always: sempre /ˈsɛmpre/
• When: quando /ˈkwando/
• Where: dove /'dove/
• Why/Because: perché /perˈke/
• How: come /'kome/
• How much is it?: quanto costa? /ˈkwanto/
• Thank you!: grazie! /ˈgrattsie/
• Bon appetit: buon appetito /ˌbwɔn appeˈtito/
• You're welcome!: prego! /ˈprɛgo/
• I love you: Ti amo /ti ˈamo/, Ti voglio bene /ti ˈvɔʎʎo ˈbɛne/. The difference is that you use "Ti amo" when you are in a romantic relationship, "Ti voglio bene" in any other occasion (to parents, to relatives, to friends...)

Counting to twenty:

• One: uno /ˈuno/
• Two: due /ˈdue/
• Three: tre /tre/
• Four: quattro /ˈkwattro/
• Five: cinque /ˈʧiŋkwe/
• Six: sei /ˈsɛi/
• Seven: sette /ˈsɛtte/
• Eight: otto /ˈɔtto/
• Nine: nove /ˈnɔve/
• Ten: dieci /ˈdjɛʧi/
• Eleven: undici /ˈundiʧi/
• Twelve: dodici /ˈdodiʧi/
• Thirteen: tredici /ˈtrediʧi/
• Fourteen: quattordici /kwat'tordiʧi/
• Fifteen: quindici /ˈkwindiʧi/
• Sixteen: sedici /ˈsediʧi/
• Seventeen: diciassette /diʧas'sɛtte/
• Eighteen: diciotto /di'ʧɔtto/
• Nineteen: diciannove /diʧan'nɔve/
• Twenty: venti /'venti/

The days of the week:

• Monday: lunedì /lune'di/
• Tuesday: martedì /marte'di/
• Wednesday: mercoledì /merkole'di/
• Thursday: giovedì /dʒove'di/
• Friday: venerdì /vener'di/
• Saturday: sabato /ˈsabato/
• Sunday: domenica /do'menika/

[

Sample texts

There is a recording of Dante's Divine Comedy read by Lino Pertile available at http://etcweb.princeton.edu/dante/pdp/

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References and notes

[

Bibliography

• Rogers, Derek & Luciana d'Arcangeli (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117-121

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See also

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External links

• Swadesh list in English and Italian
• Italian proverbs
• "Learn Italian," BBC
• Italian Grammar Primer

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