Saying goodbye in Italian depends on the degree of intimacy between the speakers.
Culture shock!
Close relatives, especially if they won’t see each other for a while, will exchange kisses on the cheeks. Italians talk with their hands, as the stereotype goes, so friends will almost always wave to each other enthusiastically, even from across the street.
How many ways are there to say goodbye in Italian? Let’s find out in this lesson!
How do you say goodbye in Italian?
The most common greeting is also the most common goodbye in Italian.
Ciao
Bye
The very same word that starts a conversation between friends is also the word that ends it. It’s an informal goodbye: make sure you don’t address your boss that way.
People who know each other well, such as co-workers, will say ciao to each other because it requires a certain level of informality. In formal situations, you don’t want to say it.
Ci vediamo!
See you!
Literally: We see each other!
Ci vediamo dopo!
See you later!
Literally: We see each other later!
Ci vediamo and ci vediamo dopo are two informal ways of saying goodbye in Italian.
Want to test your skills for this lesson? Go to the Italian goodbye’s interactive exercises!
Aiuta Lingookies con un 👍!
Ci si vede!
See you!
Literally: One sees each other!
A dopo!
See you later!
Literally: Until after
A più tardi!
See you later!
Literally: Until later
A presto!
See you soon!
Literally: Until soon
A domani!
See you tomorrow!
Literally: Until tomorrow
Italians will only exchange these if they know each other well or have some degree of familiarity. They commonly use them among co-workers, friends and relatives.
Ci si vede is generally used by younger people and is the most casual of these. It’s so casual that I wouldn’t even risk using it in the office, so be careful.
Arrivederci
Goodbye
Compound: From a, “to, until”, and rivederci, “see each other again”
ArrivederLa
Goodbye
Compound: From a, “to, until”, and rivederLa, “see You again”
What’s the difference?
They are both formal, but arrivederLa is even more formal than the other (note the capital L) and you can use it to address one person at a time.
If you are greeting a group of people and want to show respect to everyone, use arrivederci instead.
You can use arrivederci to greet a person. The only difference between arrivederci and arrivederLa is the degree of formality. Just don’t use arrivederLa in front of a group.
Addio
Farewell
An addio lasts forever, so use it wisely.
This is the end of our lesson! Be sure to do the exercise to test your knowledge of how to say goodbye in Italian, and then jump to the next grammar lesson!
Now what?
You can do the Italian goodbyes interactive exercises!
Now that you’ve seen how to say goodbye in Italian, you might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
Title: Italian All-in-One For Dummies
Language: English / Italian
Publisher: For Dummies
Pages: 672
Learn to speak Italian like a native? Easy.
Italian All-in-One For Dummies appeals to those readers looking for a comprehensive, all-encompassing guide to mastering the Italian language. It contains content from all For Dummies Italian language instruction titles, including Italian For Dummies, Intermediate Italian For Dummies, Italian Verbs For Dummies, Italian Phrases For Dummies, Italian Grammar For Dummies, and Italian For Dummies Audio Set.
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