Ciao a tutti!

Depending on where you are located, stores may just be beginning to open back up after the pandemia, so here is some fare shopping vocabulary.

Image from Pixabay, CCO.

Here in the US, we like to say we are “just browsing”. In Italy you would either say “vorrei dare un’occhiata” or “vorrei guardare un po‘.” Italians also like to guardare le vetrine or window shop.

If you need to try something on, you will need to find il camerino, the dressing room. You will either say “potrei provarlo?” or “posso provarlo?” Of course, the present tense of potere (posso – can) works well and is common, but the conditional (potrei – could) sounds more polite.

If the shop assistant asks you “potrei/posso auitarla?” they would like to know if you need help. You could let them know you are just “giving an eye” (dare un’occhiata) as I wrote above, or you can accept.

Cerco qualcosa per… – I’m looking for something for…

Cerco qualcosa di elegante/di moda/di comodo – I am looking for something elegant/fashionable/comfortable

Che taglia? Chie misura? – What size?

E’ troppo piccolo/grande – It’s too small/big

Non mi sta bene – It doesn’t look good on me

Lo adoro – I love it

Quanto costa? – How much is it?

Lo prendo – I’ll take it (or la/li/le prendo… these are direct object pronouns that will change according to the object talked about)

To checkout you will need to look for la cassa (the cash register) and will have to pay in either liquido or contanti (cash) or la carta di credit0 (credit card). If paying in cash, you may get some moneta (change) back.

If you are looking for uno sconto (a discount) when shopping in Italy, a good time to check is the saldi estivi (summer sales) which begin in the beginning of July, or you can try the saldi invernali (winter sales) which begin in January.

Next time you are in Italy divertiti a fare shopping, have fun shopping!