How do you say "Good job!" in Italian?

Question

I believe it is NOT “Buon lavoro” because an Italian person online expressed that this was to wish someone a good day at work.

So - what do teachers say to students to let them know they've done something well?

"this was to wish someone a good day at work." Not only that. For example a teacher could give an assignment to his students and say Buon lavoro to wish them a good work on the assignment. The term lavoro (work) is quite broad in that context. Any kind of activity could be included, not just the job. — Bakuriu, Jul 12 '14 at 10:40

score 29 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 02 '16 at 17:31

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Ben fatto:

is a useful expression used to indicate that you are satisfied with a job/ task which have been done well.

edited Sep 02 '16 at 17:31

DaG

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answered Jul 11 '14 at 21:37

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Yes. Lower-case f though. – Mauro Vanetti Dec 16 '14 at 14:55

score 23 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:59

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Bravo or Brava means "Good job!". In English, it's often used as an exclamation in the theatre, but it doesn't have to be an exclamation, nor is it restricted to the theatre context.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:59

Community

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answered Jul 12 '14 at 00:58

200_success

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score 14 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 11 '14 at 20:36

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Teachers say 'Ottimo!' or 'Eccellente!' or 'Ottimo lavoro!' or 'Lavoro eccellente!', but they also say 'Buon lavoro!' when a job is a 'Good job!'

answered Jul 11 '14 at 20:36

Elberich Schneider

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"Ottimo lavoro" is spot on, while I never heard "buon lavoro" as a compliment (it's used as a wish, instead). – Matteo Italia Jul 12 '14 at 23:00
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You can answer to the direct question "Come e' quel lavoro?" with a simple "Buono", but you will never listen "Buon Lavoro" as a dry compliment. I mean you can listen "Hai fatto un buon lavoro" in the long form, but not "Buon lavoro!" because the last one is a wish as "Buon Natale!" or "Buon Anno!". You can often listen, instead, "Bel lavoro!" and you can deduce that Italian people (language) feel really close the concept of goodness and beauty :-). – Hastur Dec 22 '16 at 18:19

score 13 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 13 '14 at 14:38

Just to add to the other excellent answers: a simple translation as

Bel lavoro!

is also very common. So, good becomes beautiful/nice in the translation.

On the other hand, "buon lavoro!" is used as an encouragement to someone who has to perform a task and you want to with her success.

Tom Au · Answer 5 · 2016-09-02T16:43:09.493

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A common Italian expression is "Ben Fatto," or "well done." Here, the emphasis is on the adjectival modifier, "ben."

Other expressions are "Bravo," "eccellente," or "ottimo," which are also adjectives.

"Bel lavoro" is used, but is less common, because it would put the emphasis on "job," rather than "well" or "good."

edited Sep 02 '16 at 16:43

answered Jul 12 '14 at 17:33

Tom Au

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"Buon lavoro" si usa però non come forma di apprezzamento, ma di incoraggiamento per un lavoro che si deve ancora svolgere, augurando che venga ben svolto. – martina.physics Jul 14 '14 at 07:18
@Martina: OK, changed it to "bel lavoro" at your suggestion. – Tom Au Sep 02 '16 at 16:43

score 6 · Answer 6 · edited Jul 14 '14 at 07:21

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Bravo/Brava doesn't mean "Good job", it's more stating a personal opinion about a person who did a good job, so "brava/bravo, because of the way the job was completed".

The best way to translate "good job" in Italian is, imho, ben fatto: it sounds like "properly done", so stating something related to the way the task was completed.

edited Jul 14 '14 at 07:21

martina.physics

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answered Jul 13 '14 at 18:18

FlavioG

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score 6 · Answer 7 · answered Jul 16 '14 at 04:32

The equivalent for "Good Job" is Bravo or Brava, depending on who you're talking to. And you could simply emphasise the same by making that Bravissimo or Bravissima.

Then there are many other words, Ottimo (Excellent), Ben fatto (You did well) and a few others. Easiest to use is Bravo.

score 6 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 25 '14 at 00:23

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I think that the closest Italian translation of "Good job!" is "hai fatto un buon/ottimo lavoro"

answered Aug 25 '14 at 00:23

score 6 · Answer 9 · edited Feb 24 '19 at 16:08

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I think that the best is "Ottimo lavoro!"... I always use this (I'm Italian).

edited Feb 24 '19 at 16:08

Charo

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answered Dec 13 '14 at 08:56

Darko

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Maybe "Bel lavoro!" is a better translation – Valerio Bozz Nov 02 '22 at 09:32

How do you say "Good job!" in Italian?

9 Answers9