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In English, it is usual to ask "How are you?" as a salutation. How can I say a similar thing in Italian?

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4 Answers 4

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The typical idioms are

Come stai? (informal, with known people or friends)

Come sta? (formal, with unknown people or important people)

Come va? (always possible)

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    In my opinion "Come va?" is informal.
    – Fabio Filippi
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 14:10
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    Yes, I agree it tends a bit towards the informal side. However I think no one would be surprised of being asked "come va?", even by strangers, or interpret it as an excess of familiarity or intimacy (well, I surely wouldn't). As usual, local/personal differences are possible or even likely.
    – persson
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 14:15
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    Come va is not informal. You could say: "Salve, piacere di conoscerla. Come va?"
    – Alessandro Lallo
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 15:12
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    come va sounds pretty informal. I'd never say Buongiorno professore, come va? to one of my professors in a formal conversation. The sentence come va? goes very well with a friendly pat on the back in my opinion.
    – Bakuriu
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 18:56
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    Normally, yes (well, I do at least). Of course, there are always people who don't bother answering, as well as people who don't care about the answer. When they meet, everything's fine.
    – persson
    Commented Jan 8, 2015 at 0:28
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IMHO the other answer is translating "how are you doing". If you are unsure what register to use etc., you can use "Tutto bene?". It's not as common, but it's never wrong: in Bakuriu's example, "Buongiorno professore, tutto bene?" is as formally correct as such a question can possibly be.

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  • Anche "Tutto a posto?"
    – user84976
    Commented Jul 6, 2016 at 13:13
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Be careful, Italian "Come stai/sta?" is indeed asking about health or state of mind. Most likely, I would use it only if I know that something happened to the person in front of me. English usage of "how are you?" is closer to Italian "ciao", isn't it? "Come va?" could be ok, if it is told with a salutation tone, so to speak.

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  • Welcome to Italian.SE, @mario!
    – Charo ♦
    Commented Oct 24, 2015 at 8:05
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Come stai (informal) or sta (formal). "Come va" is definitely informal, and means, "how's it going," or "how goes it."

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    Welcome to Italian.SE; since your answer is already covered in karoshi's, this seems more like a comment. Would you like to expand it?
    – egreg ♦
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 8:34

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