If there’s one phrase you’ll almost certainly need in Italy it’s…
“Where’s the bathroom?”
When friends come to Italy, they nearly always ask us how to say this, because it’s one of those expressions you don’t want to get caught without!
So here, you’ll learn how to ask this simple, but important question and pronounce it correctly. Of course, you’ll want to understand the reply, so we’ll cover that, too.
You’ll also find the most appropriate phrase for different situations (restaurant vs. friend’s house) and what to say in those awkward situations, like when there’s no toilet paper!
Bathroom in Italian: Useful Words and Phrases
Let’s start with the necessities. These words and expressions will come in very handy when you need to go in Italy:
| Scusi, dov’è… | Excuse me, where is | SKOO–ZEE DOV–EH EEL |
| …il bagno | the bathroom | EEL BAH–NYOH |
| …la toilette | the bathroom (fancy/polite word) | LAH TWOH–LET |
| W.C.* | A sign on some bathroom doors | VOO–CHEE |
| Posso usare il bagno? | Can I use the bathroom? | POH–SOH OOZ–AH–REH EEL BAH–NYOH |
Pronunciation tips
The word bagno has the funny Italian GN combo, that is pronounced a bit like the letter N , but the tongue is flat and slides forward across the roof of your mouth.
Dov’è is a combination of dove (where) and è (it is). Italians smush them together to get: dov’è… (where is…). Be sure to put the emphasis on the last part: Dov’ è .
Good to know
What’s the difference between il bagno and la toilette? Bagno is a neutral word you can use anywhere. Toilette comes from French, and Italians use it as a more sophisticated word that you might use in a restaurant.
* You’ll see this written as W.C., but Italians don’t normally use this word when talking about the bathroom.
You Can Find the Bathroom Easily… When You Understand the Reply!
It’s one thing being able to ask where the bathroom is. But quite another to understand the instructions of how to get there. You’ll get a general idea from pointing and gestures, but it’s nice to understand the words, too.
| In fondo al corridoio | At the end of the corridor | EEN FON–DOH AL COH–REE–DOY–OH |
| A destra | On the right | AH DES–TRA |
| A sinistra | On the left | AH SEE–NEES–TRAH |
| Di là | Over there | DEE LAH |
| Dopo quella porta | After that door | DOH–POH KWEL–LAH POR–TAH |
Good to know
If you hear “ in fondo” on its own, this means either “at the back of the room” or “at the end of the corridor”. You’ll be able to tell the difference by looking at where you’re directed to and the shape of the room.
You can learn more common Italian travel phrases for getting around Italy here!
No Toilet Paper?! More Useful Bathroom Words and Expressions
Now you’ve got the basics down, here are a few more words and expressions you might need to know when using the bathroom in Italy:
| La carta igienica | Toilet paper | LAH KAR–TAH EE–JEN–EE–KAH |
| Lo sciacquone | The flush | LOH SHAH–KWOH–NEH |
| L’asciugamano | The towel | LAH–SHOO–GAH–MAH–NOH |
| Gli assorbenti | Sanitary towels | LYEE AS–SOR–BEN–TEE |
| Gli assorbenti interni | Tampons | LYEE AS–SOR–BEN–TEE EEN–TER–NEE |
| Il sapone | Soap | EEL SAH–POH–NEH |
| Il rubinetto | The faucet / tap | EEL ROO–BEE–NEH–TOH |
These words can often come up when there’s a problem, for example…
| Non c’è… | There’s no… | NON CHEH |
| …non funziona | ….doesn’t work | NON FOONS–YOH–NAH |
You can combine these phrases with the words above to solve common issues:
Non c’è la carta igienica – There’s no toilet paper
Non c’è il sapone – There’s no soap
Lo sciacquone non funziona – The flush doesn’t work
Il rubinetto non funziona – The faucet/tap doesn’t work
Speaking of problemi , you’ll often go to the bathroom and find a line. Or maybe you’re not sure if someone is in there. Or you’re in the bathroom, and someone tries to come in! Here are three phrases to help you manage these situations smoothly:
| C’è la fila? | Is there a line/queue? | CHEH LAH FEE–LAH? |
| È libero? | Is it free? | EH LEE–BEH–ROH |
| È occupato! | Someone’s in there / I’m in here (lit. “it’s occupied”) | EH OK–OO–PAH–TOH |
That last expression is one of those useful Italian phrases you never learn in textbooks . In fact, Katie had been living in Italy for years without it: it was always awkward when people tried to come in and she didn’t have the right phrase to stop them!
Using The Bathroom in Italy: Important Cultural Tips
Finally, let’s learn a couple of words and expressions that are quite specific to Italy.
| La chiave | The key | LAH KYAH–VEH |
| Il bidet | The bidet | EEL BEE–DEH |
In Italian bars, you might get to the bathroom and not see the key to lock the door. Sometimes they keep the key on the bar, or behind the bar to ensure that only clients are using the bathroom. To ask, you can say:
Serve una chiave per il bagno? – Do I need a key for the bathroom?
Serve is a very useful Italian word that we don’t really have in English. It literally means “it serves”, to say that a thing is necessary.
Good to know
Keep in mind that in Italy, as in many other places, you usually have to buy something (a coffee, a bottle of water) in order to use the bathroom.
Ah, and we couldn’t talk about the bathroom in Italy without mentioning the bidet! You’ll find one in nearly all houses and hotels in Italy. You probably don’t need us to tell you what it’s for… though Katie’s dad always used to joke that it was for cleaning feet :)
Bathroom in Italian: Review
Let’s review those bathroom related words and expressions in Italian one more time:
Scusi, dov’è… – Excuse me, where is
…il bagno – the bathroom
…la toilette – the bathroom (fancy/polite word)
W.C. – A sign on some bathroom doors
Posso usare il bagno? – Can I use the bathroom?
In fondo al corridoio – At the end of the corridor
A destra – On the right
A sinistra – On the left
Di là – Over there
Dopo quella porta – After that door
La carta igienica – Toilet paper
Lo sciacquone – The flush
L’asciugamano – The towel
Gli assorbenti – Sanitary towels
Gli assorbenti interni – Tampons
Il sapone – Soap
Il rubinetto – The faucet / tap
Non c’è… – There’s no…
Non c’è la carta igienica – There’s no toilet paper
Non c’è il sapone – There’s no soap
…non funziona – … doesn’t work
Lo sciacquone non funziona – The flush doesn’t work
Il rubinetto non funziona – The faucet/tap doesn’t work
C’è la fila? – Is there a line / queue?
È libero? – Is it free?
È occupato! – Someone’s in there / I’m in here
La chiave – The key
Serve una chiave per il bagno? – Do I need a key for the bathroom?
Il bidet – The bidet
Next time you need to go to the bagno in Italy, you now have all the words and phrases you need to make sure that this kind of trip goes smoothly!
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
M: Today, we’re talking about that thing that everyone needs, but language teachers probably don’t talk about enough… the toilet!
K: I’m one of those people who is always looking for one…
M: Yes, you are a nightmare on long car journeys and day trips!
K: …so I know that today’s phrases, which you probably won’t find in your textbook, come in very handy when you need to go to Italy.
M: First, we have a little favore to ask: if you’re listening to this on your podcast app could you hit the subscribe or follow button? This way you’ll get notified when we release a new episode and you’ll help our podcast grow so that we can keep making free lessons like this. Grazie!
K: Let’s listen to a conversation, similar to one we might have in any bar in Italy. Matteo went to the bathroom before I did, so I asked him the all important question: Dov’è il bagno? Where’s the bathroom? Can you understand his answer and what happens next?
M: Di là, in fondo al corridoio a destra.
K: Serve la chiave
M: Ah sì, chiedi al barista
K: Hai un fazzoletto? Non c’è la carta igienica.
M: Che c’è?
K: Ora è occupato!
K: I asked Matteo:
M: Dov’è il bagno? – Where’s the bathroom?
Dov’è – Where is
Il – the
Bagno – bathroom
K: If you only remember one phrase from today’s episode, this should be it. Where’s the bathroom?
M: Dov’è il bagno? (x2)
K: The word bagno is spelt B–A–G–N–O. In Italian, when you get GN together, they form a ny sound, which is like a N, but your tongue is flat and slides across the top of your mouth: ny, ny
M: Bagno (x2)
K: If you’re asking a waiter in a restaurant, you might want to use the word toilette, which comes from French and is a bit more delicate and fancy.
M: Yes, even in Italian, for some reason, we use French words when we want to be fancy: la toilette.
K: How would you ask “where’s the bathroom” the fancy way, using the French word?
M: Dov’è la toilette? (x2) You can also add scusi, excuse me, to ask in a polite way. So you can ask scusi, dov’è il bagno (x2) or scusi, dov’è la toilette? (x2)
K: Then Matteo said:
M: Di là, in fondo al corridoio – Over there, at the end of the corridor
Di là – over there
in fondo – at the back
al corridoio – of the corridor
K: In this case, in fondo means “at the end of”, when we’re talking about il corridoio, the corridor. At the end of the corridor again is:
M: in fondo al corridoio (x2). Sometimes you might just hear the expression in fondo on its own. In fondo (x2).
K: Matteo continued
M: A destra – to the right. Literally
A – to
Destra – right
K: Destra means “right”. To say “to the right” or “on the right”, we just add the little word a to the beginning. To the right is:
[...]
M: A destra (x2)
K: Left is sinistra. How would you say “to the left”?
M: A sinistra (x2)
K: I went, then I came back, because…
M: Serve la chiave – You need a key
Serve – you need, literally “it serves”
La – the
Chiave – key
K: Serve is a very useful Italian word that we don’t really have in English. It literally means “it serves”, to say that a thing is necessary.
M: Serve la chiave (x2). This is quite common in Italian bars. You get to the bathroom, but there’s no key. Often they keep the key behind the bar, to make sure that only customers use the bathroom.
K: In fact, Matteo the says:
M: Ah sì, chiedi al barista – Ah yes, ask the barista
sì – yes
chiedi – ask
al – to the
barista – barista
M: Then I came back and asked Matteo:
K: Hai un fazzoletto? – Do you have a tissue?
Hai – You have
Un – a
Fazzoletto – tissue
K: Because:
M: Non c’è la carta igienica – There’s no toilet paper
Non – Not
c’è – there is
la – the
carta – paper
igienica – hygienic
K: This is a cute one! In Italian, “paper” is carta which is easy to remember. To say toilet paper, they literally say “hygenic paper”, or “paper hygienic” to be exact. Again, toilet paper, or “the toilet paper” as we say in Italian is:
[...]
M: La carta igenica (x2)
K: So I go, and I come back again… this time Matteo asks:
M: Che c’è? – what’s wrong? Literally
Che – what
C’è – there is
K: Here’s a nice little phrase which is best learned as a chunk, rather than worrying about the individual words. To ask “what’s wrong” in Italian, we say:
[...]
M: Che c’è? (x2)
K: And did you hear what the problem was? I said:
M: Ora è occupato! – Now someone is in there!
Ora – Now
È – it is
Occupato – occupied
K: That last expression is one of those useful phrases you never learn in textbooks. In fact, I had been living in Italy for years without it: it was always awkward when people tried to come in and I didn’t have the right phrase to stop them! Now I shout è occupato and it works perfectly.
M: Very useful! Now, let’s review those handy bathroom phrases by listening to the whole conversation again.
K: Dov’è il bagno?
M: Di là, in fondo al corridoio a destra.
K: Serve la chiave
M: Ah sì, chiedi al barista
K: Hai un fazzoletto? Non c’è la carta igienica.
M: Che c’è?
K: Ora è occupato!
K: To help you review the phrases from today’s lesson you can go to the accompanying lesson on our blog post, where you’ll find a few more handy phrases.
M: For example, how to ask if someone is standing in line or the toilet is free. And manage other common problems, like when there is no soap, or the tap doesn’t work.
K: To see everything written down, and get bonus materials, like vocabulary cards and a quiz, click the link in the description. Or you can go to italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for [episode 148].
M - See you next time.
K - Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Bathroom in Italian
Vocabulary
Scusi, dov’è il bagno? = Excuse me, where’s the bathroom?
Scusi, dov’è la toilette? = Excuse me, where’s the bathroom? (French sounding word)
Di là = Over there
In fondo al corridoio = At the end of the corridor
A destra = To the right
A sinistra = To the left
Non c’è la carta igienica = There’s no toilet paper
È occupato = There’s someone in there / I’m in here (lit. “it’s occupied”)
Posso usare il bagno? = Can I use the bathroom?
Non c’è il sapone = There’s no soap
Il rubinetto non funziona = The tap doesn’t work
Flashcards: Bathroom in Italian: The Words You Really Need to Know!
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
