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When I arrive early for a lesson, I sometimes go for a quick cup of tea at a bar in the centre of Rome near the offices of one my students. The owner of the bar recognizes me by now and always greets me kindly with “Hello, lady! You ok?”.

Now, to be greeted is always nice, even if it is ‘wrong’ and I think there is a time and place for correction. When I’m looking forward to relaxing five minutes with a much needed cup of tea is not the right time! So, I usually reply “Good! Thanks. And you?”.  However, yesterday I had more time and decided it was the right moment to correct him.

In Italy, when you go into a public place – a bar, a shop, offices etc., you are greeted with the formal phrase “Buon giorno/buona sera Signora/Signore.” Signora in this situation should be translated as ‘Madam’ and not lady.  “Good evening Madam.”

Lady = woman (donna) more often and can be used in this way:

As a noble title  e.g.  Lady Diana    Lady Elizabeth;

In a religious context “Our Lady”   (Nostra Signora);

“She behaves like a lady.” (Si comporta da vera signora);

“She’s a lady.”  (E’ una donna di classe);

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen.”    (Buona sera signore e signori);

Also in public toilets you’ll more commonly find the signs: Ladies     Gentlemen.

If the situation is still formal and you know the name of the person you would say “Good evening, Ms. Campbell.” You should never say “Ms. Fiona.” as the titles Mr., Ms., Mrs. or Miss are never used with first names, only surnames.

So I told the bar owner what he should say and he replied “Oh grazie signora, non lo sapevo. Mi ricorderò! Grazie di nuovo”.  He looked very satisfied and so I was happy. But….he didn’t remember for long, unfortunately. As I left the bar I said “Buona sera” to him and eagerly waited for him to now reply correctly…but no…he promptly replied “Bye lady”! Oh well, I tried at least. We’ll see next time!

Enjoy learning!

Fiona 😉