If you are planning a trip to Italy and would like to try to engage with the locals, one of the most polite phrases you need to know is how to say “how are you?” in Italian.
As most of you know, Italian is a language that has both a formal and an informal way of addressing others. If you are speaking to someone you do not know well or is older than you, it is best to use the formal third person.
To ask “How are you?” in Italian in a formal or professional setting, you would say: “Come sta?”
But, if you are speaking to someone that you know quite well and want to ask how they are doing, you can use the informal ‘tu’ and say: “Come stai?”
If you want to say “how are you” in Italian in a more general way, you could ask “Come va?” which can be translated to “How is it going?” or “What’s up?”
You might also hear people in Italy asking “Tutto bene?” which is like saying “Everything ok?” or “Is everything going well?”
As you can see, there are many ways to say ‘how are you?’ in Italian, but now you’ll be prepared for conversation whatever the situation!
And hopefully, everything will be going well, so you can answer- “Bene, grazie! E tu?” or “I’m good! And you?”
PAY ATTENTION
While in English "How are you?" is often used as a form of greeting, without meaning it literally and, therefore, without requiring an answer, in Italian, if you are asking how someone is doing, you have to wait until you get an answer, or you will be considered impolite and uncaring. If you do not understand them, try smiling and nodding along!
Every Italian at a first experience in an English speaking country who was asked "How are you?" by someone passing by, found himself/herself engaged in a monologue explaining how things were going while the other person had already moved on.
