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Greeting in Italy

You should use a polite greeting when you run into someone you know or want to know. But in most Italy it is important to use the correct greeting depending on who you are greeting. So, you would use a different word for greeting your friend than you would for greeting your boss or teacher. (Picarazzi, 2014)

The most common ways to say greet someone in Italian are:

Greeting someone

Ciao! is the most common way of saying hello and goodbye informally.

You should never use it with someone like a boss or a teacher or anyone

else with whom you're using Lei (the formal version of you).

Salve! (Hi; Bye [Formal/Informal])

Che piacere vederti! (How nice it is to see you! [Informal])

Buongiorno! (Hello; Good morning; Goodbye [Formal])

Buona sera! (Hello; Good evening; Goodbye [Formal]) (Picarazzi, 2014)

Cheek kissing

Cheek kissing is another common type of greeting in Italy, as it is

in most European countries. However, in Italy cheek kissing is

reserved for greeting people you know well and is less common

among men. To avoid bumping noses, the rule is to kiss left cheek

first and then the right. When you meet someone for the first time,

handshakes are much more common. As you get to know the other

person, you move more into the cheek-kissing territory. So put this in

mind if somone tried to give you a kiss on the cheeks,

make sure to tell him in a polite way that it's forbidden in our

religon. (Picarazzi, 2014)

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