buona giornata
In Italian, "enjoy your day" is expressed as buona giornata.
buona giornata is a polite greeting used when saying goodbye to someone to wish them a pleasant day. It is most commonly used by service workers, such as baristas or shopkeepers or in polite social interactions when parting ways.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "good day", where buona means "good" and giornata means "day" (referring to the duration of the day).
Which one should you use?
While buon giorno is used as a greeting when you arrive or meet someone, buona giornata is used when you are leaving to wish them a pleasant remainder of the day.
How does it change in a sentence?
Because giornata is a feminine noun, the adjective buona takes the feminine ending -a.
Did you know?
- The word giornata entered the Italian language via Old French jornee between 1230 and 1250.
- In very casual settings among friends, Italians often shorten the sentiment to just buona!, letting the context of the time of day fill in the rest.
- The suffix -ata in giornata is used in other Italian words to describe a quantity of something that can be done in a day or a single session.
Examples in context
- Buongiorno, Signore Rossi. Le auguro una piacevole giornata!Good morning, Mr. Rossi. I wish you a pleasant day!
- Ciao Maria, buon compleanno! Ti auguro una giornata fantastica!Hi Maria, happy birthday! I wish you a fantastic day!
- Grazie, buona giornata anche a lei!Thank you, have a nice day too!
- Ciao a tutti, buona giornata!Bye everyone, have a nice day!
- Ci vediamo domani, buona giornata.See you tomorrow, have a nice day.
Example conversation
Alessandro and Martina are leaving a small coffee shop.
- AlessandroCiao Martina, ci vediamo dopo!Bye Martina, see you later!
- MartinaSì, a dopo. Buona giornata, Alessandro!Yes, see you later. Have a nice day, Alessandro!
- AlessandroGrazie, buona giornata anche a te.Thank you, have a nice day too.
- MartinaArrivederci!Goodbye!
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.
