8 Common Expressions on The Streets of Italy

Italy is a European country with a long Mediterranean coastline with its capital in Rome. Other major cities include Florence, Venice and Milan. Here are 8 common expressions that you’ll hear in any of these cities.

Tranquilla – Don’t worry. It’s all good: It is an adjective. You’re describing a state, a way of doing something essentially. In this case, it is the verb to be, which is just implied. And the translation for the expression you hear around would be “don’t worry”, but it can mean “stay still” or “calm down” when said to a child.
Pronto? – Hello? (when answering the phone)Although ‘Pronto’ literally means ‘ready’, it’s used in Italy to say ‘Hello’ when you answer the phone. If you change it and add an ‘a’ to the end making it ‘Pronta?’, it means ‘Are you ready?’ to a female.
Come va? – How are you?This is said like all the time in polite exchanges when people meeting each other on the street. You’ll also hear ‘Come sta? (formal)’ and ‘Come stai? (informal)’, which mean the same thing.
Va bene, Vabbè – Alright, okay“Va bene” is the Italian equivalent of saying “okay”, “alright” or “that’s fine.” You might also hear it being shortened as “vabbè.” which kind of means the same thing as “va bene.”
Allora – Now, well, then, soThis is the Italian ‘um’, ‘ah’, and ‘so’ and it is said ALL of the time. It sounds beautiful when it is pronounced with the ‘r’ when it rolls off the tongue, and it’s used for a variety of words. It also has no real definition as it can be used for anything ranging from Now to So.
Buona Giornata! – Have a good day!You can say Buongiorno when saying “Good morning/Good afternoon” or “Buona Giornata” when you’re leaving someone or somewhere and you want to say “Have a good day!”
Capito – Understood. I get it. I hear you.‘Capisce’ might be the word that comes to your mind for the word ‘Understand’ since it’s was popularized by the Godfather. This one is similar, but it’s used to show that you understand what someone is saying. It’s used in everyday conversation in the same way that you say “I get what you’re saying” in English.
Salve – Hello!This is actually the more formal way to say hello in Italy, as opposed to Ciao which is an informal salutation in the Italian language that is used for both “hello” and “goodbye”. It is mostly expected from non-speakers and has now found a family in the vocabulary of English and of many other languages around the world.