Ways to say it
| Italian | Note |
|---|---|
| benvenuto! | masculine |
| benvenuta! | feminine |
| benvenuti! | plural |
| benvenute! | feminine, plural |
The word is used as an interjection or adjective to greet someone upon their arrival. For the noun describing the act of welcoming someone, use accoglienza. If you wish to describe something that is free to enjoy or have without cost, the related adjective libero is used.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is a combination of bene (well) and venuto (come).
Which one should you use?
The forms are chosen based on the gender and number of the people being greeted. While these forms act as interjections or adjectives for greeting, the noun for the actual act of welcoming is accoglienza.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The form you use depends on whom you are addressing: use benvenuto! for a single man, benvenuta! for a single woman, benvenuti! for a group that includes at least one male and benvenute! for a group consisting exclusively of women.
Did you know?
- While benvenuto is used for arrivals, you cannot use it to say 'you are welcome' after someone says 'thank you'. In that case, Italians use prego.
- The word accoglienza for 'welcome' shares a root with the verb cogliere, which means 'to pick' or 'to gather' like flowers.
- While benvenuto is used to greet people, if you want to say someone is 'welcome' to a piece of cake or a gift, you should use the word gradito.
Examples in context
- Benvenuto!Welcome.Tatoeba #373298 by Guybrush88, translation #138919 by CM
- Benvenuto al nostro ristorante!Welcome to our restaurant!
- Benvenuti al nostro festival!Welcome to our festival!
- Ciao Marco, benvenuto a casa! Come è andato il viaggio?Hi Marco, welcome home! How was your trip?
- Ciao Francesca, è un piacere averti qui! Ti presento il resto del gruppo.Hi Francesca, it's a pleasure to have you here! Let me introduce the rest of the group.
- Benvenuto! Finalmente sei qui.Welcome! You are finally here.
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chiara greets Francesco at his new apartment.
- ChiaraBenvenuto! Come stai?Welcome! How are you?
- FrancescoGrazie, sto molto bene.Thank you, I am very well.
- ChiaraLa casa è bellissima.The house is beautiful.
- FrancescoSì, mi piace molto.Yes, I like it a lot.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “welcome” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
