that (as in “I think that…” or “the woman that…”) - che
so (meaning “therefore”; e.g. “I wanted it, so I bought it”) - così
at (a place) - al/dal... (al mare = at the sea...)
at (a time) - alle (alle 9 = at nine)
like (meaning “similar to”) - come, simile a
before (also as a conjunction) - prima
after (also as a conjunction) - dopo
during - durante
(between = tra/fra)
how much - quanto (how long = per quanto tempo)
too (as in “too tall”) - troppo
so (as in “so tall”) - talmente, così tanto
more (know how to say “more … than …”) - più... che/di...
less (know how to say “less … than …”) - meno... che/di...
as … as … (e.g. “as tall as”) - tanto... quanto...
sometimes - qualche volta, a volte
even - uguale, lo stesso (same), ancora (still, yet)
[Remember to check gender/number versions where necessary and the preposizioni articolate and articoli partitivi]
the, a (technically articles + prepositions) - il, lo, la, l’, i, gli, le / di, a, da, in, con, su, per, tra, fra
last (meaning “past”, e.g. “last Friday”) - scorso
last (meaning “final”) - ultimo
early - presto, in anticipo
interesting - interessante
right (meaning “correct”) - giusto, esatto
true - vero (false = falso)
Subject (“I”), direct object (“me”), indirect object (“to me”), and possessive (“my”) forms.
I - io || mi || mi/a me || mio/mia/miei/mie
you - tu || ti || ti/a te || tuo/tua/tuoi/tue
she - ella/lei || la/l’ || le/a lei || suo/sua/suoi/sue
he - egli/lui || lo/l’ || gli/a lui || suo/sua/suoi/sue
it - esso/a || lo/l’//la/l’ || gli/le//ad esso/a || suo/a [rare]
we - noi || ci || ci/a noi || nostro/nostra/nostri/nostre
you (plural) - voi || vi || vi/a voi || vostro/vostra/vostri/vostre
they - essi/loro || li/le || gli/le/a loro || loro (il loro,la loro,i loro, le loro)
[ check articles here and find more about their use on our blog ]
Italian - italiano, (la lingua italiana)
time (as in “a long time”) - tempo
time (as in “I did it 3 times”) - volta
friend - amico [m. - can be conjugated in gender/number]
language - la lingua (idiom), il linguaggio (wording, IT language...)
company - la società, l’azienda [f.]
manager - il manager / il direttore (la direttrice [f.])
work (as in “I have a lot of work to do”) - lavoro [m.]
mother, father, parent - la madre, il padre, i genitori
daughter, son, child - la figlia, il figlio, il bambino (la bambina [f.])
wife, husband - la moglie, il marito
girlfriend, boyfriend - la fidanzata, il fidanzato
work (as in a person working) - lavorare
work (meaning “to function”, e.g. “the TV works”) - funzionare
return - ritornare (come back), restituire (give back)
get (meaning “obtain”) - ottenere
stop (doing something) - smettere
eat breakfast - fare colazione
happen - succedere, capitare
create (aka “make”) - creare
cause (aka “make”) - causare
meet (meeting someone for the first time) - conoscere
meet (meaning “to bump into”) - incontrare
meet (an arranged meeting) - avere un appuntamento
ask (a question) - chiedere
ask for (aka “request”) - richiedere
wonder - domandarsi, chiedersi
mean - voler dire, significare
care - tenere a qualcosa/qualcuno, interessare/si
excuse me (to get someone’s attention) - mi scusi, mi perdoni
sorry - mi dispiace, scusa
it’s fine (response to an apology) - non importa
What’s your name? - Come ti chiami?
Nice to meet you. - Piacere di conoscerti
How are you? - Come stai?, Come va?
I’m doing well, how about you? - Io sto bene, e tu?
Sorry? / What? (if you didn’t hear something) - Scusa?, Cosa?, Come?, Eh?
How do you say ______? - Come si dice _______?
What does ______ mean? - Cosa vuol dire _____ ?
I don’t understand. - Non capisco.
Could you repeat that? - Puoi ripetere?
Could you speak more slowly, please? - Puoi parlare più lentamente, per favore?
Well (as in “well, I think…”) - Beh
I guess that - Credo che...
It’s hot. (talking about the weather) - Fa caldo
It’s cold. (talking about the weather) - Fa freddo
source - @funwithlanguages
Notice that 3rd singular person is used to speak in a formal way, while the 2nd singular person is more informal, so remember to check verbal conjugations as well according on that. Also, there might be more ways to translate a word, this is especially caused by all the dialects Italy is filled with (some idiomatic words are now used also in common Italian sometimes, as for girlfriend/boyfriend for example) but also according to the context: if you want to know more, feel free to check others vocabularies you can find on our blog and our grammar masterpost or just send an ask. Being this a list of 300 basic words, I won’t add too many ways to say something, but the most common one/s.