Italian Dialects: Why it Helps to Know About Them

When you travel around Italy, you’ll notice people don’t all speak the same way. 

Not only are there different accents, but often many different cities and regions have their own dialects. 

Italy has around 30 dialects, but we’ve focused on the ones spoken in the places where our teachers are from. 

In this blogpost, you’ll find a list of common words and phrases from some of Italy’s dialects, so they’ll sound more familiar the next time you hear them. 

And don’t worry, even Italians find dialects hard to understand, so it’s completely normal to find them hard as well. 

Milanese 

Milanese is a variety of Lombard, the dialect spoken in northern Italy’s Lombardy region. 

Lots of people from all over the world come to live in Milan, so you might not hear Milanese being used that often as you go about your day to day. But elderly Italians might still use it and sometimes a few words slip into the Italian that the locals use, even if it’s not a dialect they speak fluently. 

Milanese	Italian	English	Pronunciation
El tram	Il tram	The tram	Ehl trAHM
El pan	Il pane	The bread	Ehl pAHN
La ca’	La casa	The house	Lah CAH
El bicér	Il bicchiere	The glass	Ehl bee-CHER
El gabinét	Il bagno	The bathroom	Ehl gah-bee-NÉT
La giacchetta	La giacca	The jacket	Lah jah-keh-TTA
Ul sciur	Il signor	The sir	Ool shoor
La sciura	La signora	The lady / madam	Lah SHOO-rah
Ue, bel!	Ehi, bello!	Hello! (lit. hello beautiful!)	Weh, behl
Cosa l’è?	Cosa è?	What’s that?	KOH-zah leh?
Va ben?	Va bene?	Is that ok? / everything ok?	Vah ben?
Dai, veh!	Dai, su! / Forza!	Come on / let’s go!	Dye, veh
Gh’ho fam	Ho fame	I’m hungry	Goh fahm
Gh’ho set	Ho sete	I’m thirsty	Goh set
Vò a cà	Vado a casa	I’m going home	Voh ah cAH
Vegn chì!	Vieni qui!	Come here!	Vehn kee
L’è tard!	È tardi!	It’s late!	Leh tard
Minga mal!	Niente male!	Not bad!	MEEN-gah MAHL!

For example:

Indov’è el tram? -Where is the tram? 

Gh’ho fam, vurìa magnà un cotolett -I’m hungry, I’d like to eat a cotoletta (veal cutlet)

Veneziano - Venetian

Veneziano is spoken in and around the city of Venice, in northeastern Italy. 

Because Venice traded with so many countries, Veneziano absorbed influences from lots of other languages, like Greek and Arabic. 

Veneziano	Italian	English	Pronunciation
El got	Il bicchiere	The glass	Ehl goht
El piàto	Il piatto	The plate	Ehl PYA-toh
El cuchiarìn	Il cucchiaino	The teaspoon (lit. little spoon)	Ehl koo-kee-ah-RIN
El cafè	Il caffè	The coffee	Ehl ca-FÉ
La tola	La tavola	The table	Lah TOh-lah
El paltò	Il cappotto	The coat	Ehl pal-TOH
Bon dì!	Buongiorno!	Good morning!	Bohn dee!
Bona sera	Buonasera!	Good evening!	BO-nah SE-rah
Xe bon?	È buono?	Is it good / tasty?	Zeh BON?
Va ben, ciao!	Va bene, ciao!	Ok, bye!	Vah behn, chow
Xe tardi!	È tardi!	It’s late!	Zeh TAR-dee!
Xe freddo!	C’è freddo!	It’s cold!	Zeh FRED-doh!

For example: 

Xe freddo oggi! -It’s cold today! 

Andémo, xe tardi! -Let’s go, it’s late!

Reggiano 

Reggiano is spoken in and around the city of Reggio Emilia in northern Italy. 

You might have noticed that standard Italian has vowels on the end of most words. In Reggiano , it’s common for these vowels to get dropped. For example, in Italian bread is pane , but in Reggiano it’s pân . 

Reggiano	Italian	English	Pronunciation
Al véin	Il vino	The wine	Ahl vayn
La zópa	La minestra / la zuppa	The soup	Lah ZOH-pah
Al pân	Il pane	The bread	Ahl pahn
Al furmâj	Il formaggio	The cheese	Ahl foor-MAHY
Al bicēr	Il bicchiere	The glass	Ahl bee-CHER
Gnînto	Niente	Nothing	NYEEN-toh
Duv éla al bar?	Dov’ è il bar?	Where is the bar?	Doov EH‑lah al bar?
Andóm!	Andiamo!	Let’s go!	Ahn‑DOM!
Bondè!	Buongiorno!	Good morning!	Bon‑DEH!
Bona nòti!	Buona notte!	Good night!	BOH‑na NOH‑tee!
Graśja!	Grazie!	Thank you!	GRAH‑shyah!
Scüsèm!	Scusami!	Excuse me / Sorry!	Skoo‑ZEM!
Csa al custa?	Quanto costa?	How much does it cost?	KSA al KOOS‑tah?
L’è boun	È buono	It’s good	Leh BOH-oon
Rvàdas!	Arrivederci	See you soon!	R‑VAH‑das!

For example: 

Andóm al bar!   -Let’s go to the bar

Al véin l’è boun! -The wine is good

Fiorentino - Florentine

Fiorentino is a dialect spoken in Florence , in Tuscany. 

Fiorentino is a really important dialect because standard Italian is based on it. Famous writers like Dante used it in their writing, which helped it spread and made it more prestigious. 

Fiorentino	Italian	English	Pronunciation
Il babbo	Il papà	The dad	Ehl BAHB‑boh
Il bischero	Lo sciocco	The silly person	Ehl BEE‑skeh‑roh
Mi garba	Mi piace	I like	Mee GAR‑bah
Boia!	Caspita!	Wow!	BOY‑yah!
Delafia!	Mamma mia!	My goodness!	Deh‑LAH‑fee‑ah!
Maremma!	Mannaggia!	Darn!	Mah‑REM‑mah!
Icchè tu fai?	Cosa fai?	What are you doing?	EEK‑keh too FAH-ee?
Vien via!	Ma cosa dici!	No way! (lit. go away!)	Vyen VEE-ah
Gnamo!	Andiamo!	Let’s go!	NYAH‑mo!
Ho una fame sgaino	Ho molta fame	I’m really hungry	Oh OO‑nah FAH‑meh SGAI‑noh

For example: 

Ho una fame sgaino, gnamo a magnà? -I’m really hungry, shall we go eat? 

Mi garba questo ristorante -Mi piace questo ristorante

Romano - Roman

Romano is spoken in and around Rome, in central Italy.

Romano is known for its bold, lively sound. It often drops or changes consonants, like you see the in the word annamo (“let’s go”) and the rhythm of speech is fast and playful. 

Romano	Italian	English	Pronunciation
Er sole	Il sole	The sun	Er SOH-leh
’na pizza	Una pizza	A pizza	Nah PEET-tsah
’n amico	Un amico	A friend	Nah mee-COH
Aò!	Ehi!	Hey!	Ah-OH!
Daje!	Dai!	Come on!	Dah-yeh
Annamo!	Andiamo!	Let’s go!	Ahn-NAh-moh!
Ammazza!	Mannaggia!	Darn!	Ah-MAHT-tsah
Che stai a fa’?	Che stai facendo?	What are you doing?	Keh stye ah fah?
Nun ce sta	Non c’è	It’s not here	Noon che STAH
Ce vedemo dopo	Ci vediamo dopo	See you later	Che veh-DOH-poh
Sta’ bono!	Stai calmo!	Calm down!	Stah BOH-noh!

Aò, che stai a fa’? -Hey, what are you doing? 

Daje, annamo! -Come on, let’s go!

Napoletano - Neopolitan

Napoletano is spoken in Naples and the surrounding Campania region, in southern Italy

Neapolitan is famous for its lively rhythm and musical sound. In fact, you’ll hear it in lots of famous songs, like ’O Sole Mio and Santa Lucia.

Napoletano	Italian	English	Pronunciation
‘O cafè	Il caffè	The coffee	Oh kah-FEH
’A marénna	La merenda, il panino	The afternoon snack / the sandwich	Ah mah-REHN-nah
’O frat’	Il fratello	The brother	Oh fraht
’A sor’	La sorella	The sister	Ah sor
’A creatùra	Il / La bambino/a, la creatura	The child, baby	Ah kre-ah-TOO-rah
’O guaglione / guagliò	Il ragazzo / l’amico	The boy / the friend	Oh gwa-LYOH-neh /oh gwa-LYOH
‘A femmena	La ragazza / la donna	The girl / the woman	Ah FEHM-meh-nah
Ué guagliò!	Ehi, ragazzo! / Ehi, amico!	Hey, boy / hey, friend!	WEH gwa-LYOH!
Jammo ja!	Andiamo / dai!	Let’s go / come on!	YAHM-moh yah!
Comm’è bell’!	Che bello!	How lovely (lit. how beautiful)	Keh bbehl
Addò vai?	Dove vai?	Where are you going?	Ah-DOH vai?
Staje senza penziere	Non preoccuparti	Don’t worry	STAH-yeh SEN-zah pen-ZYEH-reh

For example:

Jammo ja, pigliammo ‘o cafè - Come on, let’s get a coffee

Ué guagliò! Addò vai? -Hey boy! Where are you going? 

Barese 

Barese is spoken in Bari and the surrounding area in the Puglia region of southern Italy.

Because lots of words are shortened compared to Italian (with the vowels at the end of the words dropped), it has a fast rhythm. For example, in Barese instead of mangiamo (let’s eat), they say mangiam. 

Barese	Italian	English	Pronunciation
’U mèc	L’amico	The friend	Oo mek
’U maar	Il mare	The sea	Ohh mahr
’U prezz	Il prezzo	The price	Oo PREH‑tz
’U tavul	Il tavolo	The table	Oo TAH‑vool
Ué!	Ehi!	Hey!	Weh!
Ci jè?	Cosa c’è?	What’s the matter?	Chee yeh?
Com stè?	Come stai?	How are you?	Kom steh?
Ce faash?	Che fai?	What are you doing?	Cheh fahsh?
Sciaam!	Andiamo!	Let’s go!	Shaam!
Ce bell!	Che bello!	How lovely!	Cheh bel
Ci vedèm!	Ci vediamo	See you later	Chee veh‑DEM
Mangiam!	Mangiamo!	Let’s eat!	MAHN‑jyahm
‘U m'ninn	Il bambino	The child	Oo muh-neen
‘A m'nenn	La bambina	The child, baby	Ah muh-nen
Cræ	Domani	Tomorrow	Kray
Accatté	Comprare	To buy	Ahk-kah-TEH

For example: 

Ci jè? Tutto a post? -What’s the matter? Everything okay?

Sicliano - Sicilian

Siciliano is spoken across Sicily, but there are lots of local variations. For example, Sicilians in Palermo (in the west) might use different words than Sicilians in Syracuse (in the east).

Historically, Sicily has had different foreign rulers, so the siciliano dialect has many different influences, including Greek, French, Spanish and Arabic.  

Siciliano	Italian	English	Pronunciation
Compa’ / ‘mbare	Compare / amico	Friend	COM‑pah / UM‑bah‑reh
Comu si	Come stai?	How are you?	KOH‑moo see?
Bonu!	Bene!	Good!	BOH‑noo!
Sugnu di …	Sono di …	I’m from …	SOO‑gnoo dee …
Bon giornu	Buongiorno	Good morning	Bohn JOIN-noh
Bona sira	Buona sera	Good evening	BOH‑nah SEE‑rah
Bona notti	Buona notte	Good night	BOH‑nah NOT‑tee
Pi favùri	Per favore	Please	Pee fah-VOO-ree
 saluti!	Alla salute!	Cheers! / To your health	Ah sah‑LOO‑tee
Quantu costa?	Quanto costa?	How much is this?	KWAN-too KOH-stah?
Bedda matri!	Mamma mia!	My goodness!	BEHD‑dah MAH‑tree!
Vattinni!	Vattene!	Go away!	Vaht‑TEEN‑nee
Bedda! / Chi beddu!	Bella! / Che bello!	Lovely! / How lovely! (lit. beautiful / how beautiful)	BEHD‑dah / kee BEHD‑doo
Amunì!	Andiamo!	Let’s go!	Ah‑moo‑NEE
Talìa!	Guarda!	Look!	Tah-LEE-ah

For example: 

Sugnu di Palermo, e tu?  -I’m from Palermo, and you?

Bedda matri! Chi bellu giornu! -My goodness! What a beautiful day!

K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”. In today’s episode, you’ll learn some common words and phrases from dialects across Italy. 

M: And just so you know, because dialects can be really different from standard Italian, even Italians struggle to understand them sometimes, so don’t worry if they feel difficult, that’s normal. 

K: Today, we’ll focus on a few common words you might come across so you can experience what it’s like to hear them. 

M: We’ll introduce them as part of a little quiz to see if you can guess their meaning, just like we Italians have to do when we hear words in different dialects! 

K: But before we get started, can we ask you a quick favore ? If you’re listening to this on your podcast app, could you click 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 we can keep making free lessons like this. Grazie!

M: The teachers in our online Italian school are from different parts of Italy. In the quiz, you’ll hear them say some phrases in their dialect.  

K: Time for the first phrase. This one is from the Milanese dialect, spoken in Milan. 

Stefano (normal speed): Sciur Sciura

K: Does this mean: 

A)  Buongiorno, buonasera (good morning, good evening)

B) Signore, signora (sir, madam)

C) Pasta e sugo (pasta and sauce) 

D)  Calze e scarpe ( socks and shoes )

M: The correct answer is..

[...]

K: B, Sir and Madam

M: Sciur is Milanese for “sir” and sciura is Milanese for “madam”. In standard Italian, we’d say signore (sir) and signora (madam). Let’s hear the phrase again at a slightly slower speed: Stefano (slower speed): Sciur, Sciura

K: Milan is a big, modern city with lots of people coming to live there from all over the world and other parts of Italy. So you don’t hear the Milanese dialect being used much in the centre of Milan. But elderly people might use these words in exactly the same way we’d use “sir” and “madam”. 

M: And sometimes I hear people of any age use them in a light and informal way to refer to someone in the third person. 

K: Yeah, a bit like saying “the lady” as in “let’s ask the lady”, in Italian literally “we ask to the lady”. 

M: Chiediamo alla signora. Or using the milanese word: chiediamo alla sciura. 

Italian dialects are interesting because they have influences from the languages of places they’ve either been ruled by, or had lots of contact with. Milanese has French, German and Spanish influences, because at different points in history it’s been part of French, Austrian and Spanish empires.  

K: Time for Question 2. This phrase comes from the Venetian dialect, or veneziano , which is spoken in the Veneto region. 

Annaluna (normal speed): Xe fredo!

K: Does this mean:  

A) C’è freddo! (it’s cold) 

B) C’è vento! (it’s windy)

C) C’è nebbia! (it’s foggy)

D) C’è caldo! (it’s hot) 

M: The correct answer is:         

[...]

K: A, it’s cold. 

M: In Italian, we’d say c’è freddo. It’s cold, or literally there is cold. C’è freddo. Let’s hear the phrase in Venetian again, a bit slower. 

Annaluna (slower speed): Xe fredo! 

K: You might hear Venetians using this phrase when they’re complaining about how cold it is. It can get cold around Venice in the winter. 

M: Venice was once a major trading power, and because of that, Venetian absorbed words from all other places it traded with on the Mediterranean. So you’ll find traces of Greek, Turkish, Arabic, and Spanish in the way Venetians speak.

K: Question 3. This one comes from Fiorentino , which is spoken in and around Florence. 

Guglielmo (normal speed): Babbo

K: Does this mean:

A) Fratello (brother)

B) Amico (friend)

C) Papà (dad)

D) Zio (uncle)

M: The correct answer is…

[...]

K: C, Dad 

M: In Italian we’d say papà for dad or padre, if we wanted to say father. Let’s hear the word again at a slower speed. 

Guglielmo (slower speed): Babbo

M: If you’re visiting your Italian family and they’re from Tuscany, you might hear this word. 

K: Interestingly, it also exists in standard Italian as the name for Santa, Father Christmas: 

M: Babbo Natale (x2).  

Fiorentino is a really important dialect because standard Italian is based on it. Famous writers like Dante used it in their writing, which helped it spread and made it more prestigious. 

K: Question 4. This phrase is from Romanesco , which is spoken in Rome. 

Marcos (normal speed): Daje!  

K: Does this mean:

A) Per favore! (please)

B) Scusa! (sorry)

C) Prego! (You’re welcome)

D) Dai! (come on!) 

M: The correct answer is…

[...]

K: D, come on! 

M: In Italian, we have a similar sounding word for come on. We’d say dai (x2) . Dai, or daje , is used in lots of situations in Italy, but in general it means “come on”. 

Marcos (slower speed): Daje!  

M: There are still lots of Italians who speak romanesco, but you might also hear it in old Italian films and classic songs. 

K: Question five. Last phrase. This one comes from Napoletano, the dialect spoken in Naples, where Matteo is from. 

Lavinia (normal speed): Aggie capit 

K: Does this mean:

A) Ho mangiato (I’ve eaten)

B) Ho capito (I’ve understood)

C) Sono uscito (I’ve gone out)

D) Ho parlato (I’ve spoken)

[...]

M: The correct answer is…

K: Maybe you can tell us this one! 

M: B, I’ve understood

In Italian, we’d say ho capito (x2). Literally, it means ho - I have, capito - understood. Let’s hear Lavinia say the Neopolitan phrase a bit slower:

Lavinia (slower speed): Aggie capit 

K: When you say ho capito in Italian, you’re showing the other person that what they say makes sense. You’re technically saying “I’ve understood”, but in English we’d probably be more likely to say “I understand” or “got it”. 

M: And aggie capit is the Neopolitan version of that phrase. 

You might have noticed that the last phrases sound a bit like standard Italian. For example dai, come on, in Romanesco is daje. And hai capito in Neapolitan is aggie capit. Sometimes you can kind of guess some words to see if you can pick up some of what’s being said, we Italians try to do this too in different regions! 

K: One common question we get about dialects is whether you have to learn them. I’d say that, unless you have a very specific reason, for example, you have family members that don’t speak standard Italian, then you don’t need to worry about it. Most Italians do speak standard Italian, and that’s what Italians use to speak to each other when they travel, so you can do the same. That being said, it’s fun to learn a few common local words, especially if there’s a specific region you visit often or spend a long time there. 

M: So far, you’ve heard five common phrases from different dialects. But there are many more expressions that you might come across while travelling around Italy.

K: In our blogpost, you’ll see a list of the common phrases that you’ll hear in Italy for different dialects, including places we haven’t mentioned in this episode. 

M: That way you’ll have a better idea of what’s being said when you’re out and about, even if it’s not Italian.  

K: Just click the link in the description to head over to our website, or go to italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for episode 208.

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: Italian Dialects

How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!

Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Italian Dialects