How to buy a bottle of water in Italian

How exactly do you buy a bottle of water in Italian? What is more appropriate to say, depending on the relationship between you and the other person? What do you have to ask to buy a bottle of sparkling water? How about asking how much the bottle costs?

In this lesson, we will take a look at the different ways you can buy a bottle of water during your visit to Italy so that you may never go thirsty. Read on to learn them all!

Let’s get started! Iniziamo!

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How do you buy a bottle of water in Italian?

Say buongiorno or buonasera

Whenever you meet someone you are not familiar with, such as a bartender selling soft drinks and sandwiches, you will need to greet them formally.

There are many greetings in Italian, but the ones you need to pay attention to here are just two:

Pronunciation: boo-on-jor-noh

Buongiorno can be used in the morning and throughout the day until sunset, just as the English greetings good morning and good day.

Buongiorno. Un caffè, per favore.
Good morning. A coffee, please.

Buongiorno, mi può cambiare queste banconote?
Good morning, could you change these notes for me?

The other greeting, which you will only use after sunset, is buonasera.

Pronunciation: boo-on-ah-seh-rah

Buonasera, vorrei un Martini.
Good evening, I would like a Martini.

Buonasera a tutti!
Good evening everyone!

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Una bottiglietta d’acqua…

The next step in your quest to buy a bottle of water in Italian is the request itself. Start by saying una bottiglia/bottiglietta d’acqua.

Hang on. What’s going on here? What’s the difference between a bottiglia and a bottiglietta?

They differ in quantity. A bottiglia contains 1.5L of water, while a bottiglietta contains 0.5L of water!

If you are in a café and need a quick refreshment, ask for a bottiglietta. If you are in a restaurant, ask the waiter to bring a bottiglia to your table. A bottiglia is too heavy and cumbersome to carry around in your pocket.

Now, what kind of water do you prefer? Still water or sparkling water?

Sparkling water is also known as acqua gassata.

For example, if you want a small bottle of natural water, say…

Of course, you may want more than one bottle of water. In this case, you will need to use the plural form of bottle in Italian, which is bottiglie or bottigliette, depending on the size. You’ll also need a number: I’ve listed the first 10 Italian numbers in the table below.

1	Uno
2	Due
3	Tre
4	Quattro
5	Cinque
6	Sei
7	Sette
8	Otto
9	Nove
10	Dieci

Wondering why it’s una bottiglia and not uno bottiglia? Learn why in the Italian indefinite articles lesson!

Now, how do you ask for, say, two bottles of still water in a restaurant?

Or four small bottles of still water?

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Say per favore and grazie

When buying a bottle of water in Italian or asking a stranger for anything, it’s always a good idea to add per favore, please, at the end of your request or question, and grazie after your request has been fulfilled. Polite manners are greatly appreciated!

So your complete request will be…

Now let’s see how to ask how much a bottle of water costs in Italian.

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How much is it?

When buying a bottle of water in Italian, you may also want to know how much it costs.

To ask how much one bottle costs, say…

If you want to buy more than one bottle, say…

To ask how much something costs, always start your sentence with either quanto costa if you are talking about something in the singular, or quanto costano if you want to know the price of something in the plural (numbers greater than 1).

Buying a bottle of water in Italian will never cause you anxiety again! 🙂

And that’s the end of our lesson on how to buy a bottle of water in Italian!

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