How do you say nice to meet you in Italian?

How exactly do you say nice to meet you in Italian?

If you have a few Italian friends are are planning a trip to Italy to get to know them better, chances are they’ll introduce you to their friends. What then? You are very eager to introduce yourself in their native language.

As you will see in this lesson, there is more than one way to say nice to meet you in Italian. This is because every conversation in Italian can either be informal or formal depending on the degree of familiarity between the speakers.

We’ll also see a few useful words you might stumble upon when introducing yourself.

Let’s start! Iniziamo!

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Informal way(s) to say nice to meet you in Italian

Without further ado, let’s see how to say nice to meet you in Italian to kids, friends and acquaintances.

Piacere di conoscerti

Pronunciation: pee-ah-cheh-reh dee koh-no-shehr-tee

When you are among friends, this is what you will most likely hear along with its shortened variant that we will see in a minute. Since it’s a bit of a mouthful, let’s break it down:

• piacere (pleasure)
• di (of)
• conoscere (to know)
• ti (you, pronoun)

Italians find pleasure in getting to know people, not meeting them!

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

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 add molto (much) at the beginning to express just how glad you are to meet a new person.

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.

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Formal way(s) to say nice to meet you in Italian

Of course, since you are learning a second language, nobody will scowl at you for choosing the wrong formula! But respect when respect is due will always be appreciated, even among people as friendly as the Italians.

Plus, you will make a very good impression!

So, what’s the formal way to say nice to meet you in Italian?

Pronunciation: pee-ah-cheh-reh dee koh-no-shehr-lah

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 be literally translated as “è bello incontrarti”, from the verb incontrare meaning to meet, but Italians never use this expression for introducing themselves. Instead, the verb conoscere is used.

Italians find pleasure in getting to know people, not meeting them!

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

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

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

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

Pronunciation: lee-eh-toh dee koh-no-shehr-lah

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

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Answering to nice to meet you in Italian

The most common answer 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 really well to English so you won’t have 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 of saying 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 setting: a cashier at the supermarket, a shopkeeper, technical support on the phone, a counter clerk.

Examples of informal setting: a friend, your best friend, a kid, your parents and relatives

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What next?

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