How do you say it in Italian?
Buona giornata!
| Pronunciation | |
| Words you should know | Buona (good, f) + giornata (day) |
| When to use this | With anyone + groups of people |
Giornata is a feminine noun. All adjectives in Italian are the same gender and number as the noun they are describing.
| Buona giornata, Paolo! Divertiti al luna park! | Have a good day, Paolo! Have fun at the amusement park! |
Passa una buona giornata
| Pronunciation | |
| Words you should know | Passare (to pass, to spend) |
| When to use this | With 1 person you’re familiar with |
| When NOT to use this | With strangers and groups |
You can use passate una buona giornata to wish a group of people a good day in Italian.
| Passate una buona giornata! | Have a nice day! |
Finally, you can say passi una buona giornata in polite situations, such as when saying goodbye to a cashier at the supermarket.
| Passi una buona giornata! | Have a nice day! |
To spend, as in to spend some time, can also be translated with the verb trascorrere, but you will rarely hear something like trascorri una buona giornata for translating have a nice day in Italian. It’s clunky and a bit formal, so its use is usually limited to very polite situations:
| Trascorra una buona giornata! | Have a good day! |
If you want to wish someone to have a good evening instead, say buona serata (have a nice evening). Of course, forms like passa or passate una buona serata are also perfectly valid! After 6 p.m. when the sun goes down, it’s common to talk about serata.
| Passa una buona serata! | Have a nice evening! |
Finally, if you want to reciprocate the wish, you can say:
| Grazie, buona giornata anche a te/voi/lei! | Thank you, have a nice day too! (informal, plural, polite) |
More free Italian resources
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