Top 100 Most Common Italian Words

100 Most Common Italian Words

While learning Italian, we recommend focusing on the most common words in the language. This will help you build a stronger overall vocabulary in the language you’re learning.

When babies first start speaking, they copy what their parents say and how they speak. Typically, humans use the same 500 words in their day-to-day lives, and that’s how babies learn. They take the most common words their parents say and repeat them. It doesn’t matter if their grammar is a little off or if the sentence doesn’t make sense—they’re learning.

So, why should we be any different? Why focus on proper grammar structures when you don’t understand basic vocabulary? That’s where Verbuu comes in—let’s focus on vocabulary and speaking first. Grammar and proper speaking come later. Let’s enjoy the fun part of language learning first!

Here are the top 100 Italian words—don’t forget to make flashcards! Lucky for you, we’ve already created some flashcards you can use for free!

Find them here: app.verbuu.com/it

Word	Definition	English Translation	Phonetic Spelling	Gender	Part of Speech
che	used to indicate a choice or an alternative	or	keh	N/A	Conjunction
la	the feminine singular definite article	the	lah	Feminine	Article
essere	to exist or live	to be	ehs-seh-reh	N/A	Verb
il	the masculine singular definite article	the	eel	Masculine	Article
in	used to indicate location or direction	in	een	N/A	Preposition
per	used to indicate purpose or reason	for	per	N/A	Preposition
non	used to indicate negation	not	non	N/A	Adverb
un	the masculine singular indefinite article	a	oon	Masculine	Article
si	used to indicate oneself	oneself	see	N/A	Pronoun
le	the feminine plural definite article	the	lay	Feminine	Article
una	the feminine singular indefinite article	a	oon-ah	Feminine	Article
avere	to possess or own	to have	ah-veh-reh	N/A	Verb
con	used to indicate association or accompaniment	with	kohn	N/A	Preposition
da	used to indicate separation or origin	from	dah	N/A	Preposition
più	used to indicate a greater extent or degree	more	pyoo	N/A	Adverb
nel	used to indicate location within a larger context	in the	nel	N/A	Preposition
come	used to introduce a manner or method	as	koh-meh	N/A	Conjunction
suo	used to indicate possession	his	swoo	N/A	Pronoun
questo	used to indicate a specific item	this	kwes-toh	N/A	Demonstrative
gli	used to indicate a specific group of people	them	lee	N/A	Pronoun
potere	to be able to	can	poh-teh-reh	N/A	Verb
ma	used to indicate contrast or opposition	but	mah	N/A	Conjunction
anche	used to indicate addition or inclusion	also	ahn-keh	N/A	Conjunction
cui	used to indicate the antecedent	whose	kwee	N/A	Pronoun
quello	used to refer to a specific object or person	that	kwel-loh	N/A	Demonstrative
se	used to indicate a conditional situation	if	seh	N/A	Conjunction
lo	the masculine singular definite article	the	loh	Masculine	Article
sua	used to indicate possession	her	swoo-ah	N/A	Pronoun
loro	used to indicate possession	their	loh-roh	N/A	Pronoun
primo	first in order or time	first	pree-mo	N/A	Adjective
parte	a section or component of a whole	part	par-teh	Feminine	Noun
due	the number following one and preceding three	two	doo-eh	N/A	Number
quale	used to refer to a specific choice or option	which	kwah-leh	N/A	Pronoun
stesso	identical or exactly the same	same	stehs-soh	N/A	Adjective
sia	used to indicate that something is true or expected	that	see-ah	N/A	Conjunction
alle	used to indicate a place or a direction	to	ah-lay	N/A	Preposition
tra	used to indicate a relationship between entities	between	trah	N/A	Preposition
solo	only one or exclusive	only	soh-loh	N/A	Adjective
tutto	refers to the entirety or every part	all	too-toh	N/A	Pronoun
e	used to connect words or clauses	and	eh	N/A	Conjunction
venire	to come to a place	to come	veh-neer-eh	N/A	Verb
dovere	to have an obligation or necessity	to have to	doh-veh-reh	N/A	Verb
fare	to perform an action	to do	fah-reh	N/A	Verb
ne	used to refer to an unspecified quantity	some	nay	N/A	Pronoun
altro	another or different	other	ahl-troh	N/A	Adjective
quanto	used to ask about the extent or amount	how much	kwan-toh	N/A	Adverb
su	used to indicate position or direction	on	soo	N/A	Preposition
secondo	used to indicate a particular degree or level	according to	seh-con-do	N/A	Preposition
prima	earlier in time	before	pree-ma	N/A	Adverb
ogni	each one individually	every	oh-ny	N/A	Adjective
stato	the condition of being	state	stah-toh	N/A	Noun
tutti	all the people or things considered together	all	too-tee	N/A	Pronoun
altri	additional or different from the first	other	ahl-tree	N/A	Adjective
senza	used to indicate the absence of something	without	sen-zah	N/A	Preposition
sempre	continuously or at all times	always	sem-preh	N/A	Adverb
fatto	completed or accomplished	done	faht-toh	N/A	Verb
uno	the number following zero and preceding two	one	oo-noh	N/A	Number
già	previously or earlier	already	jah	N/A	Adverb
fra	used to indicate a position within a range	between	fra	N/A	Preposition
tempo	a period or duration	time	tem-poh	N/A	Noun
ci	used to refer to oneself or others	us	chee	N/A	Pronoun
quando	used to indicate a point in time	when	kwan-do	N/A	Adverb
così	used to indicate manner or way	so	koh-see	N/A	Adverb
proprio	exactly or precisely	exactly	pro-pryo	N/A	Adverb
poi	subsequently or after that	then	poy	N/A	Adverb
modomi	a type of verb used to express actions or states	mode	mo-doh-mee	N/A	Noun
ancora	still or up to now	still	an-koh-rah	N/A	Adverb
dopo	after a specific event or time	after	doh-poh	N/A	Preposition
a	used to indicate direction or location	to	ah	N/A	Preposition
vita	the quality or condition of being alive	life	vee-tah	Feminine	Noun
nuovo	recently created or made	new	noo-voh	Masculine	Adjective
dire	to express in words	to say	dee-reh	N/A	Verb
nostro	belonging to us	our	nos-troh	N/A	Pronoun
politico	a person involved in politics	politician	poh-lee-tee-koh	Masculine	Noun
ciò	that which	that	choh	N/A	Pronoun
questi	referring to specific items	these	kwes-tee	N/A	Demonstrative
molto	to a great degree	very	mol-toh	N/A	Adverb
legge	a system of rules for writing and speaking	law	leg-jeh	Feminine	Noun
perché	used to explain reason or cause	because	per-keh	N/A	Conjunction
caso	a particular situation or instance	case	kah-soh	Masculine	Noun
vi	referring to a specific group	you	vee	N/A	Pronoun
tale	such as described or specified	such	tah-leh	N/A	Adjective
qui	in this place	here	kee	N/A	Adverb
volere	to wish or desire	to want	voh-leh-reh	N/A	Verb
lavoro	to engage in a task or activity	work	lah-voh-roh	Masculine	Noun
tanto	to a great extent	a lot	tahn-toh	N/A	Adverb
mio	belonging to oneself	my	mee-oh	N/A	Pronoun
stare	to remain in a specific state	to stay	stah-reh	N/A	Verb
egli	he	he	eh-yee	N/A	Pronoun
lui	he	he	loo-ee	N/A	Pronoun
andare	to move from one place to another	to go	an-dah-reh	N/A	Verb
meno	to a smaller extent or degree	less	meh-noh	N/A	Adverb
trovare	to locate something	to find	troh-vah-reh	N/A	Verb
contro	opposed to	against	kon-troh	N/A	Preposition
quindi	as a result or consequence	therefore	kwin-dee	N/A	Adverb
grande	of considerable size or extent	big	grahn-deh	Masculine	Adjective
diritto	a right or privilege	right	dee-reet-toh	Masculine	Noun
qualche	an unspecified amount	some	kwal-keh	N/A	Adjective
dove	a place or location	where	doh-veh	N/A	Adverb
verso	in the direction of	towards	ver-soh	N/A	Preposition