Buona giornata!
Buona giornata! is the Italian way to say "have a good day".
Buona giornata! is a polite greeting used when saying goodbye to someone. It is most commonly used in service settings, such as when leaving a shop, a cafe or ending a phone call. You can also say Grazie e buona giornata to mean "thank you and have a good day". Do not confuse this with Buongiorno, which means "good morning" and is used when arriving or starting a conversation.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally means "good day (duration)". The word giornata refers to the duration or span of the day, whereas giorno refers to the day as a unit of time.
Which one should you use?
While Buongiorno is a greeting used when arriving or starting a conversation, Buona giornata! is used specifically when leaving or ending a conversation.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Napoletano dialect, Buona giornata might be pronounced as Bona jurnata.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase is an elliptical expression of Ti auguro una buona giornata (I wish you a good day), which is why it functions as a wish rather than a literal command.
Did you know?
- The word giornata shares an ancestor with the English word 'journey', as both originally described the distance or time one could travel in a single day.
- The suffix -ata in giornata transforms a unit of time into a duration, a grammatical pattern used for other time words like mattinata for the course of a morning.
- While Buona giornata! is used when leaving, you can respond to it with Altrettanto!, which means 'the same to you'.
Examples in context
- Buona giornata!Have a good day.Tatoeba #946757 by Guybrush88, translation #3326719 by CK
Example conversation
Alessandro and Giulia are leaving a small coffee shop.
- AlessandroCiao Giulia, a domani!Bye Giulia, see you tomorrow!
- GiuliaVa bene, buona giornata!Okay, have a good day!
- AlessandroGrazie, anche a te!Thanks, to you too!
- GiuliaArrivederci!Goodbye!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries giornata, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
