GCSE Italian: Greetings and Personal Information Revision Guide

Key vocabulary

• Ciao — hello/bye (informal)
• Buongiorno — good morning
• Buonasera — good evening
• Buonanotte — good night
• Arrivederci — goodbye (formal)
• Come ti chiami? — what is your name? (informal)
• Mi chiamo... — my name is...
• Come stai? — how are you? (informal)
• Sto bene, grazie — I am well, thank you
• Quanti anni hai? — how old are you?
• Ho ... anni — I am ... years old
• Di dove sei? — where are you from?
• Sono di... — I am from...
• Piacere — nice to meet you

Formal vs informal

Italian has two ways of saying "you": tu (informal, for friends and family) and Lei (formal, for adults you do not know). This changes the verb form: "Come ti chiami?" (informal) becomes "Come si chiama?" (formal). Always use the formal form with teachers and strangers in role-plays and speaking exams.

Numbers and age

To say your age in Italian you use the verb avere (to have), not "to be" as in English. For example: Ho quattordici anni — "I am fourteen years old" (literally "I have fourteen years"). Do not translate this word-for-word or you will make a common exam mistake.

Saying where you are from

Use Sono di + town/city for a specific place, e.g. Sono di Londra — "I am from London". Use Sono + nationality to say your nationality, e.g. Sono inglese — "I am English". Nationalities change their ending depending on gender: inglese stays the same for both, but italiano (male) becomes italiana (female).

Common mistakes

• Saying "Sono quattordici anni" instead of "Ho quattordici anni" — age uses avere, not essere.
• Using "tu" forms with an adult or examiner instead of the polite "Lei" form.
• Forgetting that "Ciao" is only for informal situations — use "Buongiorno" or "Arrivederci" formally.