Italian is one of the most beautiful languages in the entire world. It’s easy to pronounce and the grammatical structure is somewhat simple to use. Plus, it’s fun to say words like “nonostante,” “dappertutto,” “cinquantacinque,” and “chiacchirone” (which mean “despite,” “everywhere,” “55” and “chatty” respectively).

If you ever plan on going to Italy, then you absolutely must know some basic Italian. After all, it’s only common courtesy. Americans don’t like it when foreign tourists come here not knowing a word of English, and I am positive that people in other countries feel the same way when America tourists go over and don’t know any of the native language.

To help you out, here are eight basic Italian phrases that everyone, especially people visiting Italy, should know.

1. “Parla inglese?”

This is kind of a no-brainer here, especially if you’re not fluent enough in Italian to carry on a conversation: “Do you speak English?” And since you’re going to be asking a stranger, you’re going to use the formal you as opposed to the “tu” conjugation (most Indo-European languages have a formal and an informal you).

2. “Buongiorno! Come sta Lei?”

This phrase is your very basic conversation starter, a polite greeting and asking how the other person is. The “buongiorno” part is a little flexible; you can say “buona sera” if it’s evening or you can simply say “Salve!” You will, however, never greet a stranger with “Ciao!” “Ciao” is reserved for friends, family, and children.

And if someone poses, “E Lei?” in response, you can either answer “Sto bene,” “Sto male,” or “Sto così-così” depending on if your feeling well, bad, or so-so respectively.

3. “Per favore” or “Per piacere”

Being able to say “please” is a must, especially if you go some place where you will be served, such as a restaurant. Now, the thing about Italian is, there are usually two or more ways to say something, and “please” is a perfect example of that. “Per favore” is the more well known way to say “please;” however if you want to be bold, you can say, “Per piacere.”

The way “piacere” rolls off the tongue is just super satisfying and fun.

4. “Mi dispiace.”

Again, “I’m sorry” is one of those essential phrases. It’s kind of self-explanatory

5. “Mi chiamo...”

If someone asks you, “Come si chiama?” they are asking for your name, so you should respond, “Mi chiamo” followed by your name. You can also say, “Sono *your name.*”

6. “Scusi, ho una domanda.”

Here is an extremely useful phrase, especially if you’re lost: “Excuse me, I have a question.” You can also follow this phrase with number one and ask you question in English if they speak English.

As a side note, “scusi” and “mi scusi” are the formal ways to say “Excuse me” in Italian, since people use “Excuse me” in other situations.

7. “Grazie!”

“Thank you.” This is another one of those self-explanatory phrases.

8. “ArrivederLa!”

If you’re traveling, most of the people you meet are probably strangers, and formality is super important. Don’t get me wrong, English does have formality in the way we structure sentences, but we don’t really have a separate, formal you the way Italian does.

Most people probably know “Arrivederci!” as Italian for “goodbye,” but that’s for when your addressing friends or a group of people (Italian, unlike Spanish, doesn’t usually use the plural formal you and just uses “voi” for groups of strangers and friends alike). So, to maintain formality and be polite and respectful, you would tell a new acquaintance or a stranger, “ArrivederLa!” in order to bid them farewell.

These are the eight basic phrases that everyone who ever visits Italy should know, but there’s literally so much more you could learn. Italian is an amazing language and it’s pretty easy to learn. 95% of the time, every letter in the word is pronounced, meaning that unlike English, most Italian words are pronounced exactly how they are spelled.

Consider being bold and learning more Italian. As long as you try, there’s really no harm. After all, it’s only the polite thing to do because you would expect tourists coming to America to know some basic English.

Bonus: “Ti voglio bene.”

This one’s just for fun.

Everyone knows that “Ti amo” is how you say “I love you” in Italian; however, that’s not entirely accurate. “Ti amo” is only used for romantic partners, so it’s not something you want to tell your mom. In order to tell friends and family that you love them, you want to say, “Ti voglio bene.”

This literally translates to “I want well for you,” and if that isn’t absolutely beautiful, then I don’t know what is.