Ciao! Mi chiamo …: greeting and saying your name

Buongiorno, buonasera, ciao: hello and goodbye

Italians greet by the time of day. Buongiorno is for the morning and the early afternoon; buonasera takes over in the afternoon – exactly when depends on the region, in some right after lunch. Both work as hello and as goodbye, in a shop or an office alike. Buonanotte is different: it is only the last goodbye of the night, when someone goes to bed or you leave very late – never a hello. Ciao is the everyday word between friends, in the family, with children and among young people, and it means both “hi” and “bye”. Salve is a neutral hello for when you are not sure how formal to be. To leave, say arrivederci – “goodbye”, polite with everyone – or a presto, “see you soon”.

Mi chiamo, sono: saying your name

To give your name, say mi chiamo + name – literally “I call myself”: Mi chiamo Luca. Shorter and just as common is sono + name, “I am”: Sono Giulia. The ending -o of chiamo already shows that you are the one speaking, so Italian leaves out io (“I”): Mi chiamo Luca, not Io mi chiamo Luca. Io comes back only for emphasis or contrast: Io sono Marco, e tu? Il mio nome è Luca is correct too, but it sounds stiff in conversation. When someone introduces themselves, answer Piacere! – “nice to meet you”.

– Ciao, mi chiamo Luca. – Piacere, sono Giulia.– Hi, my name is Luca. – Nice to meet you, I’m Giulia.

Come ti chiami? Come si chiama? – asking a name

Come ti chiami? – “what’s your name?”, literally “how do you call yourself?” – is for a friend, a classmate or a child: someone you call tu, the informal “you”. Come si chiama? asks the same of a stranger or an older person, with the polite form – more about that in lesson 3. Come means “how”: Italian asks how you are called, not what. To ask back, just say E tu? – “and you?”

– Come ti chiami? – Mi chiamo Marco. E tu?– What’s your name? – My name is Marco. And you?