100 Essential Italian Words for Beginners (with English Translations)

Greetings & basics

16 words

English	Italian	Type
hello	ciao	interjection
goodbye	arrivederci	interjection
yes	sì	interjection
no	no	interjection
please	per favore	interjection
thank you	grazie	interjection
sorry	scusa	interjection
and	e	conjunction
but	ma	conjunction
or	o	conjunction
because	perché	conjunction
here	qui	adverb
there	lì	adverb
always	sempre	adverb
never	mai	adverb
together	insieme	adverb

People & family

14 words

English	Italian	Type
man	uomo	noun
woman	donna	noun
boy	ragazzo	noun
girl	bambina	noun
friend	amico	noun
mother	madre	noun
father	padre	noun
brother	fratello	noun
sister	sorella	noun
son	figlio	noun
daughter	figlia	noun
child	bambino	noun
husband	marito	noun
wife	moglie	noun

Everyday verbs

16 words

English	Italian	Type
to be	essere	verb
to have	avere	verb
to do	fare	verb
to go	andare	verb
to come	venire	verb
to eat	mangiare	verb
to drink	bere	verb
to want	volere	verb
to need	aver bisogno	verb
to know	sapere	verb
to speak	parlare	verb
to read	leggere	verb
to write	scrivere	verb
to listen	ascoltare	verb
to work	lavorare	verb
to buy	comprare	verb

Describing words

10 words

English	Italian	Type
good	buono	adjective
bad	cattivo	adjective
new	nuovo	adjective
old	vecchio	adjective
young	giovane	adjective
tall	alto	adjective
short	basso	adjective
nice	simpatico	adjective
kind	gentile	adjective
shy	timido	adjective

Colors

8 words

English	Italian	Type
red	rosso	adjective
blue	blu	adjective
green	verde	adjective
yellow	giallo	adjective
black	nero	adjective
white	bianco	adjective
orange	arancione	adjective
purple	viola	adjective

Numbers

12 words

English	Italian	Type
one	uno	number
two	due	number
three	tre	number
four	quattro	number
five	cinque	number
six	sei	number
seven	sette	number
eight	otto	number
nine	nove	number
ten	dieci	number
zero	zero	number
twenty	venti	number

Time

10 words

English	Italian	Type
today	oggi	adverb
tomorrow	domani	adverb
yesterday	ieri	adverb
morning	mattina	noun
afternoon	pomeriggio	noun
evening	sera	noun
night	notte	noun
day	giorno	noun
week	settimana	noun
month	mese	noun

Food & drink

10 words

English	Italian	Type
water	acqua	noun
coffee	caffè	noun
tea	tè	noun
milk	latte	noun
bread	pane	noun
cheese	formaggio	noun
fruit	frutta	noun
apple	mela	noun
egg	uovo	noun
rice	riso	noun

Home

4 words

English	Italian	Type
house	casa	noun
door	porta	noun
window	finestra	noun
bed	letto	noun

Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0

Learn these Italian words for good

Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch

A list is where learning starts, not where it ends. Watch Your Language puts Italian words like these on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, so you see a few every time you check the time, and it schedules the repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.

You can add your own words too, from a photo, a page of notes or a spreadsheet.

Keep going with Italian

Italian vocabulary by topicLonger word lists, one topic at a time Italian quizTest yourself on what you have learned Italian vocabulary testFind your level How long does Italian take to learn?A realistic plan

Italian for beginners questions

What are the first Italian words to learn?

Start with the words you use every day: greetings, numbers, the days and times, food, family and a handful of verbs. For Italian that means words like ciao (hello), grazie (thank you), acqua (water) and mangiare (to eat). The list above groups 100 of them by topic.

How is Italian written?

Italian uses the Latin alphabet, so you can read the words above without learning a new script. 5 of the 100 words contain a letter or mark outside plain a–z, so learn those alongside the spelling.

Is 100 words enough to speak Italian?

No. This is a starting set: enough to greet people, count, talk about time, name food and family, and say what you want or need. Conversation needs more words, and above all hearing and using them. Treat the list as the first step, then add words from topics you care about.

How do I remember these Italian words?

Read a few at a time, say them out loud, and come back to them on a schedule rather than once. Watch Your Language puts words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting more often.