So you want to know more about the word altrettanto in Italian. Excellent idea!
Most Italian courses overlook it, but this simple word is worth paying attention to, because it will help your Italian sound natural. And make your life much easier.
Picture this: you’re leaving an Italian café, and the barista calls something out to you.
Buona giornata! Have a good day!
How would you reply? Just use the magic word…
Altrettanto! You too!
It’s an easy and natural reply for lots of different situations, and it will help you avoid mistakes like ‘e tu’… more on that later.
First, let’s learn when to use altrettanto, and how to pronounce it.
When to Use Altrettanto
Buona giornata! - Have a good day!
Altrettanto! - You too!
You could be leaving a bar, a café, or a friend's house - whenever someone wishes you a good day, you can simply reply altrettanto, which means “you too”.
You could also translate altrettanto as: “same to you” or even “likewise”.
Here are some more examples of when you’d typically hear altrettanto:
Buona serata! - Have a good evening!
Altrettanto! - You too!
Buona domenica! - Have a good Sunday!
Altrettanto! - Same to you!
Buon weekend! - Have a good weekend!
Altrettanto! - Likewise!
It’s especially common to use it like this when you’re leaving somewhere, or parting ways.
But you’ll also hear it at the dinner table:
Buon appetito! - Enjoy your meal!
Altrettanto! - You too!
Or before setting out to begin something new:
Divertiti! - Have fun!
Altrettanto! - You too!
Just one word to reply to all these situations! Could it be any easier?
In fact, once you get familiar with this expression, the challenge will become not overusing it! You’ll learn more about that in the mistakes-to-avoid section.
First, here’s how to pronounce altrettanto.
How to Pronounce Altrettanto
There are three main things that stop students from pronouncing altrettanto like an Italian would.
First up: the Italian flicked R.
To pronounce it, you’ll need to flick your tongue up and down very quickly, just behind the teeth. This can be a little hard at first, especially for English speakers, so for more practice you can check out our episode on how to pronounce your R’s like an Italian.
Second, the double T.
Remember for double letters in Italian you almost have to pause in the middle: altret-tanto.
Finally - and this is one that most courses forget to teach: the vowel sounds.
The -e- sounds like ‘eh’. And the final -O is short. Not “oh”, like “toe”, but -O like “top”.
Altr-EH-ttant-O.
Try saying it out loud! If it’s hard to do all three tips at the same time, just focus on one, then the next.
Now you know how to say altrettanto right, you just need to be aware of some common mistakes to avoid.
3 Mistakes to Avoid with Altrettanto
Altrettanto is such a simple and convenient reply, you might find yourself overusing it:
Overusing altrettanto
You SHOULDN’T say altrettanto when you’re greeting someone. For example, it doesn’t work as a reply to any of the following:
Buongiorno - Good day
Buonasera - Good evening
Salve - Hello
Nor should you use it after grazie (thank you). Italians have a few different ways to reply to grazie, but this isn’t one of them.
And finally, if you’re with your Italian partner, for goodness sake don’t use altrettanto like this:
Ti amo - I love you
…altrettanto. - …same to you
There’s no faster way to kill the romance!
As a rule of thumb, just think of when you would normally say “same to you” in English - and you can probably use altrettanto there too. Semplice!
Here’s mistake number 2:
Changing the ending of altrettanto
When you’re using altrettanto to mean “you too”, it always ends in -O.
Not altrettanti.
Not altrettanta.
Just: altrettanto.
This is a mistake that even Italians sometimes make! (ahem… Matteo…)
It’s understandable, because a lot of the time Italian words do agree, changing their endings to match the word they describe, like buonA giornatA.
So it’s tempting to make altrettanto “agree” too, and say: altrettantA… but no!
Just remember to keep it simple, it’s always altrettantO.
In fact, that’s one of the great things about this phrase: it’s surprisingly easy. Not like some other options Italians have…
Which brings us to mistake number 3:
Not using altrettanto
When you want to say ‘same to you’ quickly, you might be tempted to say ‘e tu!’
This literally means ‘and you’, but it’s a mistake in Italian. We only use e tu in questions, for example:
Sto bene, e tu? - I’m fine, and you?
Italians do have another way to use ‘same to you’ as a reply, but it’s more complicated. Let’s look at it quickly, so you can see why altrettanto is the better option…
The other Italian way to say ‘same to you’ is:
Anche a te - Literally ‘also to you’
So far so good. But if you’re replying to a group of people, you’ll need to change te to voi:
Anche a voi
If you’re replying to someone you don’t know so well, you’ll need the formal: Lei.
Anche a Lei
Choosing the right one can be a bit tricky at first! To avoid these complications, you can take the easy option and stick to altrettanto.
Now you know all about altrettanto: how to use it, how to pronounce it and 3 mistakes to avoid. It’s time to put your knowledge to the test, and take our quiz!
But first, here’s a quick review.
Altrettanto: The Easiest Way To Reply in Italian: Review
Altrettanto = You too / Same to you / Likewise
Use it to reply to common phrases like these:
Buona giornata! - Have a good day!
Buona serata! - Have a good evening!
Buon appetito! - Enjoy your meal!
When you say it, remember your three tips for good pronunciation:
- The flicked R: the tongue taps just behind the teeth
- The double T: pause between them - altret-tanto
- The vowel sounds: the ‘e’ sounds like ‘eh’ and the ‘o’ is similar to ‘top’
And watch out for these three mistakes:
- Overusing it: you can’t use it when greeting people, or to respond to grazie
- Changing the ending: it’s always just: altrettanto
- Not using it (and making mistakes with the trickier anche a te instead)
All set? Full speed ahead to your quiz!
Vocabulary: Altrettanto: The Easiest Way To Reply in Italian
Altrettanto = You too / same to you / likewise
Buona giornata = Have a good day
Buona serata = Have a good evening
Buona domenica = Have a good Sunday!
Buon weekend = Have a good weekend
Buon viaggio = Have a good trip
Buon appetito = Enjoy your meal
Divertiti = Have fun
Piacere = Nice to meet you
Anche a te = You too (informal)
Anche a voi = You too (plural)
Anche a Lei = You too (formal)
Quiz: Altrettanto: The Easiest Way To Reply in Italian
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Altrettanto: The Easiest Way To Reply in Italian
Flashcards: Altrettanto: The Easiest Way To Reply in Italian
Remember the vocabulary from this lesson by downloading the digital flashcards
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
Transcript: Altrettanto: The Easiest Way To Reply in Italian
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
K: When we were planning this episode, I kept hearing altrettanto everywhere. Italians use it as a quick and easy reply all the time!
Do you know what it means? Have a listen to our conversation, and see if you can guess.
To set the scene, Matteo’s on his way back to Naples, and I’m going to the UK at the same time.
K: Buon viaggio!
M: Altrettanto. E buon weekend.
K: Altrettanto. E buon lavoro.
M: Aspetta, tu lavori sempre, io sono in ferie!
K: Did you hear it twice? Let’s break the conversation down.
We had:
M: Buon viaggio! - Have a good trip, literally:
Buon - Good
Viaggio - Trip
K: If it’s your first time hearing buon viaggio, you can listen to episode 100, where we explain these kinds of expressions in more detail.
Then Matteo replied:
M: Altrettanto - You too
K: So altrettanto means “you too” or “same to you”, when used as a reply.
It’s especially common when you're leaving somewhere, like a café. Think of the barista wishing you a good day:
M: Buona giornata
K: You can reply:
M: Altrettanto!
K: In the conversation, you heard another example. Matteo said:
M: E buon weekend. - And have a nice weekend. Literally:
Buon - good
Weekend - weekend
K: And I replied:
K: Altrettanto - You too
M: Let’s talk about the pronunciation.
K: Yes, altrettanto is spelt A-l-t-r-e-t-t-a-n-t-o.
M: There are three points that learners sometimes have trouble with. The Italian R sound, the double T, and the vowels.
K: First up, the flicked-R of Altre. It’s one of those sounds that either comes naturally, or if you’re anything like me, it’s the hardest to pronounce.
What helped me was thinking of it as a “d” sound. Try saying “t” and then “d”: t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d
Then speed up:
t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d
Then eventually, with a bit of practice, if you keep going, and get faster and faster, you can get a t, followed by the flicked R, which is exactly what you need for altrettanto
t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d, t-d, tr, tr, tr, tr, tr…
Once you can do that, try saying it in the first part of the word:
Altre, altre, altre
M: Altre x3
K: Then, the double Ts in the middle of the word altret-tanto. With double letters in Italian, you almost need to pause in between them. altret-tanto
M: Altret-tanto
K: And finally the vowel sounds - especially the EH of altre:
M: AltrEH x3
K: And the O of the last ‘toh’. In English, we tend to put a little w on the end, like in ‘tow’ as in ‘tow your car’. In Italian, we don’t do that. It’s TO:
M: TO x3
K: Let’s put it all together:
M: Altrettanto x3
K: Then I wished Matteo:
M: E buon lavoro - Italians have this lovely phrase, which means ‘good luck with your work’ or ’enjoy your work’. Literally:
Buon - good
Lavoro - work
K: And rather than saying altrettanto again in response, Matteo realises something…
M: Aspetta - Wait
M: tu lavori sempre - you work all the time
Tu - you
Lavori - you work
Sempre - always
M: io sono in ferie - I’m on vacation!
Io sono - I am
In ferie - on vacation.
K: Sono in ferie means you’re off work. You don’t necessarily need to go anywhere. It’s best to learn as a whole phrase: sono in ferie.
M: Before we hear the dialogue again, let’s talk about when you’ll use altrettanto in everyday Italian. Imagine you’re just leaving the café.
Remember how to say “have a good day?”
M: Buona giornata!
K: Altrettanto!
Or “have a good evening”?
M: Buona serata!
K: Altrettanto!
Or “have a good Sunday?”
M: Buona domenica!
K: Altrettanto!
That’s why altrettanto is such a handy expression - it’s just one word to learn, it sounds really natural, and it’s versatile!
M: Let’s listen to the dialogue once again:
K: Buon viaggio!
M: Altrettanto. E buon weekend.
K: Altrettanto. E buon lavoro.
M: Aspetta, tu lavori sempre, io sono in ferie!
K: Now you know what altrettanto means, and how to use it! But remember how at the beginning we talked about mistakes that students sometimes say when trying to say ‘you too’? Like e tu and anche a ti? To learn how to avoid these, and get bonus materials, like vocabulary cards and a quiz, head over to our website by clicking on the link in the description.
M - See you next time.
K - Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Join our Italian club
To get mini lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a member.
