buongiorno e buon pomeriggio
/ˌbwɔnˈd͡ʒor.no ˈe ˈbwɔn po.meˈrid.d͡ʒo/word by word
The Italian phrase for "good morning and good afternoon" is buongiorno e buon pomeriggio.
This phrase is used to wish someone a good day during both the morning and the afternoon hours. In Italian, buongiorno (or the two-word version buon giorno) can be used to say "good morning" from early morning until around 2 or 3 p.m.
Which one should you use?
While buongiorno serves as a general greeting from sunrise until the early evening, buon pomeriggio is specifically used for the afternoon hours.
How does it change in a sentence?
In the phrase buon pomeriggio, the word buon is the truncated form of buono used before a masculine noun starting with a consonant.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˌbwɔnˈdʒor.no ˈe ˈbwɔn po.meˈrid.dʒo/. The word has 8 syllables and the stress is on the 2nd syllable.
What mistakes should you avoid?
After 2 or 3 p.m., you can switch to saying buona sera to greet someone in Italian.
Did you know?
- The word pomeriggio is a direct descendant of the Latin phrase post merīdiem, which is the same source for the English 'p.m.' abbreviation.
- While English speakers use 'good morning' as a greeting, an Italian might use buongiorno more like 'have a good day' when leaving a shop.
- In many parts of Italy, buon pomeriggio is rarely used in casual conversation, with people preferring to stick to buongiorno or ciao until the evening.
Example conversation
Sofia is starting a live stream for her followers.
- SofiaCiao a tutti, buongiorno e buon pomeriggio!Hello everyone, good morning and good afternoon!
- FrancescoCiao Sofia, come stai oggi?Hi Sofia, how are you today?
- SofiaSto bene, grazie per essere qui, Francesco.I am well, thanks for being here, Francesco.
- FrancescoÈ un piacere sentirti!It is a pleasure to hear from you!
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (buongiorno, e, buon, pomeriggio) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries buongiorno, e, pomeriggio, CC BY-SA 4.0.
