buona giornata
The Italian phrase buona giornata means "Have a good day".
Buona giornata is a polite phrase used to wish someone a good day, typically as you are departing. You might say Auguro una buona giornata to mean "I wish you a good day", or use Ti auguro una giornata fantastica! for "I wish you a fantastic day!" Another variation is Passa una piacevole giornata! which means "Have a pleasant day!" If it is already evening, you should use Buona serata! to mean "Have a lovely evening!"
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the adjective buona (good) and the noun giornata (day/duration of a day).
Which one should you use?
It is important to distinguish buona giornata from buon giorno. While both can be translated as "good day", buon giorno is typically used as a greeting when arriving or meeting someone, whereas buona giornata is used when leaving someone to wish them a good rest of the day.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Sicilian dialect of Southern Italy, the phrase Buonu juornu is used to mean "Have a good day".
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective buona must be feminine to agree with the feminine noun giornata.
Did you know?
- While buona giornata wishes for a good day, Italians use the phrase in bocca al lupo to wish someone luck for a specific event during that day.
- The noun giornata was borrowed from the Old French word jornee between 1230 and 1250.
- The suffix -ata in giornata is used in Italian to turn a point in time into a duration, similar to how corsa is a run and corsata can imply a specific bout of running.
Examples in context
- Grazie, anche a lei, buona giornata!Thank you, to you too, have a good day!
- Ciao, buona giornata!Bye, have a good day!
- Grazie, anche a lei, buona giornata.Thank you, to you too, have a good day.
- Arrivederci, buona giornata a tutti.Goodbye, have a good day everyone.
Example conversation
Giulia is leaving a small café after buying a coffee.
- AlessandroEcco il suo caffè. Arrivederci.Here is your coffee. Goodbye.
- GiuliaGrazie mille, buona giornata!Thanks a lot, have a good day!
- AlessandroGrazie, buona giornata anche a lei.Thank you, have a good day to you too.
- GiuliaA presto!See you soon!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry buona giornata, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries giornata, CC BY-SA 4.0.
