Italian culture
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.
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:
| Buongiorno, buon giorno | Good morning |
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.
| Buonasera, buona sera | Good evening |
Examples:
| Buonasera, vorrei un Martini. | Good evening, I would like a Martini. |
| Buonasera a tutti! | Good evening everyone! |
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.
| Una bottiglia d’acqua… | A bottle of water… | |
| Una bottiglietta d’acqua… | A small bottle of water… |
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?
| Acqua naturale | Still water | |
| Acqua frizzante | Sparkling water |
Sparkling water is also known as acqua gassata.
| Acqua gassata | Sparkling water (“gassed water”) |
For example, if you want a small bottle of natural water, say…
| Una bottiglietta di acqua naturale. | A small bottle of natural water. |
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.
Italian numbers 1-10
| 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?
| Due bottiglie di acqua frizzante. | Two bottles of sparkling water. |
Or four small bottles of still water?
| Quattro bottigliette di acqua naturale. | Four small bottles of still water. |
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…
| Tre bottigliette di acqua naturale, per favore. Grazie! | Three small bottles of still water, please. Thank you! |
Now let’s see how to ask how much a bottle of water costs in Italian.
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…
| Quanto costa una bottiglia di acqua naturale? | How much does a bottle of still water cost? | |
| Quanto costa una bottiglietta di acqua naturale? | How much does a small bottle of still water cost? | |
| Quanto costa una bottiglia di acqua frizzante? | How much does a bottle of sparkling water cost? |
If you want to buy more than one bottle, say…
| Quanto costano [num] bottiglie di acqua naturale? | How much are [no.] bottles of still water? |
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! 🙂
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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