How do you say it in Italian?
Buona vacanza!
| Pronunciation | |
| Words you should know | Buona (good, f) + vacanza (holiday) |
| When to use this | With anyone, groups too |
Vacanza is a feminine noun. All adjectives in Italian are the same gender and number as the noun they are describing.
| Buona vacanza, Paolo! Divertiti in spiaggia! | Have a nice vacation, Paolo! Have fun at the beach! |
Passa una buona vacanza
| Pronunciation | |
| When to use this | With 1 person you’re familiar with |
| When NOT to use this | With strangers and groups |
This expression uses the verb passare, which can mean to pass or to spend.
To wish for a group of people to have nice vacation in Italian, you can use passate una buona vacanza.
| Passate una buona vacanza! | Have a nice vacation! |
Finally, you can say passi una buona vacanza in polite situations, such as when saying goodbye to a cashier at the supermarket.
| Passi una buona vacanza! | Have a nice vacation! |
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 vacanza translated as have a nice vacation in Italian. It’s clunky and a bit formal, so its use is usually limited to very polite situations:
| Trascorra una buona vacanza! | Have a nice vacation! |
Vacanza or vacanze?
Vacanza is singular and vacanze is plural. However, the difference between vacanza and vacanze, aside from grammar, is very subtle.
Vacanza has two meanings: it can be used as a translation of “vacation”, as we’ve already seen in the previous paragraphs, and as a synonym for travel, as in…
Sono andato in vacanza in Grecia.
I went on vacation to Greece.
However, vacanze cannot translate “travel” and is only used to translate “vacation”. There is no difference with vacanza in this case.
| Buone vacanze! | Have a nice vacation! | |
| Passa delle buone vacanze! | Have a nice vacation! (singular, informal) |
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