Nice to meet you

How do you say it in Italian?

Piacere di conoscerti

Words you should know	Piacere (pleasure) + conoscere (to know) + ti (you)
When to use this	With 1 person you’re familiar with
When NOT to use this	With strangers and groups

Italians enjoy getting to know people, not meeting them!

(Meeting people might not always be a pleasant experience after all, especially on public transport during the hottest Italian summer months…)

For example, you can say…

Ciao, sono Emanuele. Piacere di conoscerti!
Hi, I’m Emanuel. Nice to meet you!

Piacere di conoscerti, Emanuele. Io sono Paolo.
Nice to meet you, Emanuele. I am Paolo.

It is common to shorten this expression to piacere, or to add molto (much) at the beginning to express just how glad you are to meet a new person.

For example, you can say…

Ciao, sono Luca. Piacere!
Hi, I’m Luca. Nice to meet you!

Piacere, Claudio!
Nice to meet you, Luca. I’m Claudio!

Molto piacere, sono Elisa.
Nice to meet you, I’m Elisa.

Piacere di conoscervi

When to use this	With a group of people
When NOT to use this	With strangers and 1 person at a time

In Italian, unlike English, there are two kinds of “you”. There is a singular “you” and then there is a plural “you”. If you’re speaking to a group, you’ll need to conjugate any verb or pronoun accordingly.

Piacere di conoscerla

When to use this	With 1 person you’re NOT familiar with
When NOT to use this	With friends, family and groups

For example, you can say…

Sono una collega dell’ingegnere Rossi. Piacere di conoscerla.
I am a colleague of engineer Rossi. Nice to meet you.

It’s nice to meet you would literally translate as “è bello incontrarti”, from the verb incontrare, which means to meet, but Italians never use this expression to introduce themselves to new people. Instead, the verb conoscere is used. You could use è bello incontrarti if you come across someone you already know.

There’s an even more polite way to say nice to meet you in Italian, and it’s lieto di conoscerla, which literally translates as “glad to know you”. You will hear it in formal settings where a higher level of politeness is warranted, such as during business meetings.

It comes in two variants, depending on the gender of the speaker, since Italian adjectives can be either masculine or feminine:

• lieto di conoscerla (male speaker)
• lieta di conoscerla (female speaker)

For example, you can say…

Lieta di conoscerla, dottor Franchi.
Nice to meet you, Dr. Franchi.

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How to answer?

The most common response to nice to meet you in Italian is il piacere è mio, literally the pleasure is mine. Sometimes you will hear its variant il piacere è tutto mio, the pleasure is all mine.

These expressions translate very well into English, so you won’t have any trouble remembering them, and they are used in both formal and informal settings.

How to choose the correct piacere?

Use this little reference guide to choose the correct way to say nice to meet you in Italian:

• formal setting: piacere, piacere di conoscerla, lieto/a di conoscerla; answer: il piacere è (tutto) mio
• informal setting: piacere, piacere di conoscerti; answer: piacere, il piacere è mio

Examples of formal settings: a cashier at the supermarket, a shopkeeper, technical support on the phone, a counter clerk.

Examples of informal settings: a friend, your best friend, a child, your parents and relatives.

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