You’ve probably heard that prego means “you’re welcome” in Italian.
But did you know that it actually has a lot of different meanings? 8 in fact!
This simple word will help you interact with Italians in several ways: it’s like the Swiss army knife of polite travel.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use prego smoothly whilst travelling in Italy. By the end, you’ll understand the subtle differences between the meanings and how to pronounce it like a local.
So prego (= “please go ahead”) and start learning how to use prego!
1. You’re welcome
This is the simplest and most standard use of prego. Use it as a response to grazie and you’ll never go wrong!
– Grazie per il caffè! – Thanks for the coffee
– Prego! – You’re welcome!
Next, let’s move onto the other meanings. Although prego is translated in several different ways, you’ll see that most of them have something in common: inviting someone to do something in a polite way.
2. How can I help?
You’ll hear this one a lot in Italian shops! Sales assistants, receptionists and other people in the service industry often use prego to invite you to tell them what you need.
– Prego! – How can I help?
– Buongiorno, cerco un vino rosso. – Good morning, I’m looking for a red wine.
– Chi è il prossimo… prego! – Who’s next?... How can I help?
– Vorrei un chilo di pomodori, per favore. – I’d like a kilo of tomatoes, please.
For more tips like this, check out this post on how to go shopping in Italian.
3. Please, come this way
You’ll also hear prego when someone invites you to follow them, for example, when showing you to your room or table.
– Prego… la camera è qui. – Please, come this way… the room is here.
– Prego… questo è il suo tavolo. – Please come this way… this is your table.
You might also hear Italians use it when they invite someone in:
– Prego. Com’è andato il viaggio? – Please, come in. How did the journey go?
4. After you
While Italians aren’t famous for standing in line (a little cultural quirk!) they’re often friendly and encourage others to go before themselves. In these situations, Italians use prego. For example, when…
Holding the door open:
– Prego, buona giornata! – After you, have a nice day!
In line at the till:
– Prego, non ha molte cose. – You go first, you don’t have many things.
Getting in an elevator:
– Prego… Quale piano? – After you… Which floor?
5. Here you go
Italians can also say prego when handing something over, for example, your tickets or your change. It’s a bit like saying “here you go”.
For example:
– Due per Bologna, per favore. – Two to Bologna, please.
– Prego, i biglietti. – Here you go, the tickets.
– Il resto, due euro, prego. – The change, two euros, here you go.
In these cases, it might sound as if Italians are saying “you’re welcome” before you’ve even said grazie! But remember that here prego actually means “here you go”.
6. Go ahead, help yourself
This is our favourite meaning of prego because it often means you’re about to eat something buonissimo! Italians say this when inviting you to take something.
For example:
A friend holds out a plate of salumi (cold cuts):
– Prego, assaggia! – Go ahead, taste (it)!
Or a slice of cake:
– Prego, prendi una fetta di torta. – Go ahead, take a slice of cake.
At the tourist office:
– Prego, la guida è gratuita – Help yourself, the guide is free.
Italians use prego like “go ahead” in other situations, too. For example, you’re about to take a photo and someone steps aside for you and says…
– Prego, non ho fretta. – Go ahead, I’m not in a hurry.
7. Certainly, of course
We also use prego to politely oblige when someone asks permission. For example, if your friend is cooking a delicious sugo (sauce):
Mmm! Posso assaggiare? – Mmm! Can I taste (it)?
Prego! – Certainly!
Or at the bar, you ask the people at the table next to you:
– Posso prendere questa sedia? – Can I take this chair?
– Prego! – Of course!
Keep in mind that this only works in the here and now when everything is right in front of you. In this respect, it’s actually quite similar to “go ahead”.
You can also use the Italian word certo any time you want to say “certainly” or “of course”.
8. Pardon?
Our last meaning is especially useful for learners! If you didn’t quite catch what someone said, you can ask them to repeat by saying prego? For example, when…
Giving and asking for directions:
– Dov’è “the square”? – Where’s “the square” (in English)?
– Prego? Ah, la piazza! È… – Pardon? Ah, the piazza! (in Italian). It’s…
At the train station:
– È importante timbrare il biglietto – It’s important to stamp your ticket.
– Prego? Non ho capito “timbrare”. – Pardon? I didn’t understand “stamp”.
– Ah, ok! Um, convalidare il biglietto… – Ah ok, um, “validate” your ticket…
When using prego in this way, be sure to keep the tone light and friendly. Why? Because, just like “pardon” in English, we sometimes use it to show that we actually heard everything… and we’re not happy!
– La tua cucina è… particolare. – Your cooking is… unusual.
– Prego?! – Pardon?! (= What the heck did you just say?!)
For more tips on how to communicate smoothly in Italian, even when you don’t understand everything, check out these 8 basic phrases to get unstuck in Italian.
How to pronounce “prego” like a local
Now you know when to use prego, it’s time to learn how to pronounce it. The trickiest part is probably the Italian R… but we’ve got good news for you!
The Italian single R is actually the same as an American T or D in words like “butter” and “ladder”.
Start by pronouncing it as a d: p-dego, p-dego, p-dego... Then say it faster and faster, and you’ll notice that it starts to morph into the Italian R:
p-dego, p-dego, p-dego, prego, prego, prego!
Finally, pay attention to the –O at the end. It’s not like in the English word “go”, where the O is long and almost ends in a little “u” “o(u)”.
Don’t add that little “u” to the end of prego. In Italian, it’s a short, sharp O: PREH – GOH!
Tips to remember the meanings of “prego”
As there are a few meanings to learn, we thought it would be useful to share a couple of tips to help you remember them.
1. Start small: You don’t need to remember every single meaning perfectly today. Start with the ones you think you’ll hear and use most often and layer the rest on gradually.
2. Use sentences: Don’t just memorise a list of the English translations. You’ll remember them much better if you learn prego in context with the example sentences.
Finally, remember that prego is just a polite way to invite someone to do something in a number of different situations.
To learn other handy Italian phrases for being polite, check out this post on meeting, greeting and being polite in Italian.
The 8 Meanings of Prego: Review
Prego has several meanings in Italian. Here are the common ones you’ll hear and use when travelling in Italy:
1. You’re welcome = As a response to grazie
2. How can I help? = In shops, hotels and restaurants
3. Come this way = When showing you to your table or room
4. After you = An invitation to go before someone: through a door, in line etc.
5. Here you go = Handing something over, like tickets or change
6. Go ahead = Inviting someone to take or do something
7. Certainly = When giving someone permission to do something here and now
8. Pardon? = Asking someone to repeat
Need a little help remembering them? Prego, go ahead and take the quiz, then review the vocabulary cards for this lesson!
The 8 Meanings of Prego: Quiz and Vocabulary Cards
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: 8 Meanings of Prego
Vocabulary
Prego, buongiorno! = How can I help, good day*! (*Italians often use this order)
Prego, la guida è gratuita = Help yourself, the guide is free.
Il resto, due euro, prego = The change, two euros, here you go.
Prego… la camera è qui = Please, come this way… the room is here.
Grazie! – Prego! = Thank you! – You’re welcome!
Prego, buona giornata! = After you, have a nice day (holding the door open)
Posso assaggiare? – Prego! = Can I taste (it)? – Certainly!
Prego? = Pardon?
Flashcards: The 8 Meanings of Prego 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: The 8 Meanings of Prego 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”.
[Start talking at the same time]
K: In this lesson, we’re talking about…
M: Today, there’s something we…
M: No, no, prego, prego.
K: OK grazie.
M: Prego. You might think that we use prego a lot in Italian. And you’d be right! That’s because it has quite a few meanings.
K: You just heard two. Matteo said prego, when inviting me to speak first. It's like saying “after you”. You might also hear this when someone holds the door open for you, for example: Prego, buona giornata! After you, have a nice day!
M: Then you heard the most famous one, “you’re welcome”, after grazie.
K: And there are more! Prego is a bit like a swiss army-knife of Italian politeness.
M: In today’s conversation, you’ll hear three examples of prego. Can you figure out why we said it each time?
K: Matteo hai un minuto?
M: No, sto preparando la cena.
K: Grazie!
M: Prego
K: Mm… cosa sono?
M: Tagliolini con fonduta di Parmigiano Reggiano e prosciutto di Parma 24 mesi.
K: Prego?
M: Pasta
K: Mm…posso assaggiare?
M: Prego!
K: Let’s break that down. I asked Matteo:
Hai un minuto? – Do you have a minute?
hai – you have
un – a
minuto – minute
K: Then Matteo said:
M:
No, sto preparando la cena – No, I’m preparing dinner
Sto – I am (lit. “I stay”)
preparando – preparing
la cena – the dinner
K: Matteo’s doing something right now, at this moment. In English, we use “I am” plus an “-ing” verb for this, for example, I’m talking, I’m running, I’m cooking etc. In Italian, we literally say “I stay” (sto), which kind of makes sense in a weird way! I’m in the middle of the action – I’m staying in the action. Then “preparing” is preparando. So we had sto preparando la cena, I’m preparing the dinner. Then I said:
M: Grazie! – Thank you!
K: And Matteo replied:
Prego! – You’re welcome!
K: Here’s our first example of prego. It means “you’re welcome”, as a response to grazie. As you probably already know this one, let’s talk quickly about the pronunciation. There are two things that can trip learners up.
The first is the Italian R. But when it’s a single R, like in prego, it’s actually fairly simple! It’s the same as the American T or D in words like “butter” or “ladder”. Apologies to my friends across the pond for the fake accent!
We want to isolate this sound ladder, ladder, ladder. What does the d feel like? Where and how does the tongue hit the top of the mouth? Ladder, ladder, ladder, d, d, d. That’s what you need to do for the R in prego.
You can actually try saying the R in prego as a D: p-dego, p-dego, p-dego... Get faster and faster, and you’ll notice that it morphs more and more into the Italian R:
p-dego, p-dego, p-dego, prego, prego, prego!
M: Prego (x3)
K: Finally, pay attention to the O at the end. In the English word “go” the O is long and almost ends with a little “u” “o(u)”.
It’s not like that in Italian, so avoid adding a little “u” to the end of prego. In Italian, it’s a short, straight O.
M: o (x3) prego (x3)
M: Just quickly before we continue, if you’re finding this episode useful, please hit the follow button in your app – this way you’ll get updated whenever we release a new episode, and you’ll also help us grow this podcast. Grazie!
K: Next, I asked Matteo:
M: Cosa sono – What are they? Literally:
Cosa – what
sono – they are
K: And Matteo replied:
M: Tagliolini con fonduta di Parmigiano Reggiano – Tagliolini with parmesan fondant.
Tagliolini – A type of pasta, like really thin spaghetti
con – with
fonduta – fondant
di – of
Parmigiano Reggiano – Parmesan
M: Parmigiano Reggiano is the full name of real Italian Parmesan. It's named after the two provinces that produce it: Parma and Reggio Emilia.
K: But Matteo’s fancy dish doesn’t finish there. He went on:
M: e prosciutto di Parma 24 mesi. – And Parma Ham, (aged) 24 months.
e – and
prosciutto – ham
di – of
Parma – Parma
24 – 24
mesi – months
K: You’ll notice that Italian menus sometimes have fancy dishes with really long names, just like this one! But we don’t normally describe food like this at home, so I said:
M: Prego? – Pardon?
K: Here’s our next meaning of prego. Asking someone to repeat what they just said.
M: Prego?
K: 🥱You can use it to ask someone to repeat what they just said. Not everyone knows this but Matteo is the king of dad jokes. Next, Matteo simplifies things for me and said:
M: Pasta.
K: Then I asked:
M: Posso assaggiare? – Can I taste (it)? Literally:
Posso – I can
Assaggiare – taste
K: And Matteo said:
M: Prego!
K: Here, prego means “certainly” or “of course” when someone asks your permission to do something. We use it in immediate situations when everything is right in front of you. A little like saying “go ahead”.
M: Yes. For example, if your friend asks if they can stay at your house next giugno, June, you wouldn’t say prego. But if they ask to use the bathroom while they’re at your house, prego works perfectly.
K: OK so we heard four uses of prego in this episode.
– After you (when Matteo invited me to speak first, right at the beginning of the episode)
– You’re welcome (as a reply to “grazie”)
– When you’re asking someone to repeat what they said
– To say “certainly” or “of course” when someone asks your permission to do something
M: Let’s listen to the whole conversation again:
K: Matteo hai un minuto?
M: No, sto preparando la cena.
K: Grazie!
M: Prego
K: Mm… cosa sono?
M: Tagliolini con fonduta di Parmigiano Reggiano e prosciutto di Parma 24 mesi.
K: Prego?
M: Pasta
K: Mm…posso assaggiare?
M: Prego!
M: There are actually 4 other meanings of prego that are very useful for being polite when you travel around Italy. It really is a very versatile word!
K: You can learn these extra meanings and review today’s lesson over on our blog, where you’ll see everything written down, and get bonus materials, like vocabulary cards and a quiz. Head over by clicking the link in the description.
M - See you next time.
K - Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
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