How can I say "How are you?" in Italian?

Question

In English, it is usual to ask "How are you?" as a salutation. How can I say a similar thing in Italian?

score 18 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 18 '20 at 08:30

18

The typical idioms are

Come stai? (informal, with known people or friends)

Come sta? (formal, with unknown people or important people)

Come va? (always possible)

edited Jun 18 '20 at 08:30

Community

1

answered Jan 07 '15 at 11:11

persson

4,429
17
22

7

In my opinion "Come va?" is informal. – Fabio Filippi Jan 07 '15 at 14:10
6

Yes, I agree it tends a bit towards the informal side. However I think no one would be surprised of being asked "come va?", even by strangers, or interpret it as an excess of familiarity or intimacy (well, I surely wouldn't). As usual, local/personal differences are possible or even likely. – persson Jan 07 '15 at 14:15
3

Come va is not informal. You could say: "Salve, piacere di conoscerla. Come va?" – Alessandro Lallo Jan 07 '15 at 15:12
5

come va sounds pretty informal. I'd never say Buongiorno professore, come va? to one of my professors in a formal conversation. The sentence come va? goes very well with a friendly pat on the back in my opinion. – Bakuriu Jan 07 '15 at 18:56
But, do you always expect an answer when asking "come va?" or "come stai?" – Charo Jan 07 '15 at 20:53
2

Normally, yes (well, I do at least). Of course, there are always people who don't bother answering, as well as people who don't care about the answer. When they meet, everything's fine. – persson Jan 08 '15 at 00:28

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 23 '15 at 08:21

9

IMHO the other answer is translating "how are you doing". If you are unsure what register to use etc., you can use "Tutto bene?". It's not as common, but it's never wrong: in Bakuriu's example, "Buongiorno professore, tutto bene?" is as formally correct as such a question can possibly be.

answered Jan 23 '15 at 08:21

Nemo

336
1
4

Anche "Tutto a posto?" – user84976 Jul 06 '16 at 13:13

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 24 '15 at 08:04

2

Be careful, Italian "Come stai/sta?" is indeed asking about health or state of mind. Most likely, I would use it only if I know that something happened to the person in front of me. English usage of "how are you?" is closer to Italian "ciao", isn't it? "Come va?" could be ok, if it is told with a salutation tone, so to speak.

edited Oct 24 '15 at 08:04

Charo

38,766
38
147
319

answered Oct 23 '15 at 22:05

mario

241
1
5

Welcome to Italian.SE, @mario! – Charo Oct 24 '15 at 08:05

score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 04 '16 at 23:09

-1

Come stai (informal) or sta (formal). "Come va" is definitely informal, and means, "how's it going," or "how goes it."

answered Jul 04 '16 at 23:09

Peter

1

2

Welcome to Italian.SE; since your answer is already covered in karoshi's, this seems more like a comment. Would you like to expand it? – egreg Jul 05 '16 at 08:34

How can I say "How are you?" in Italian?

4 Answers4