Buon Natale! - Merry Christmas 2018!

​Learn Italian - How to say "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! - Surprise your family and friends by wishing them a happy holidays this year - in Italian!

Below are listed important Italian holidays and some common phrases that Italians use to wish each other "happy holidays."


Vigilia di Natale      Christmas Eve
Natale                       Christmas

Il biglietto di auguri Natalizi   Christmas card
Regalo di Natale                         Christmas present

Buon Natale!           Merry Christmas!
Buone Feste!           Happy Holidays!

Auguri di buon Natale!       Best wishes for a merry Christmas!
Tanti Auguri!                         Many good wishes!
Auguri!                                   Best wishes!


L'ultimo dell'anno      New Year's Eve
La notte di San Silvestro
December 31st is the feast day of San Silvestro for the Catholic church

Capodanno                   New Year's Day
Buon anno nuovo!      Happy New Year!  (used most often)
Buon anno!                
Felice anno nuovo!     Happy New Year!

Epifania:
Catholic church holiday, which celebrates when "Wise Men" visited the baby Jesus.  In Italy, gifts are exchanged on this day.  Italian traditions: a friendly witch, La Befana, brings gifts to children, although Santa Claus is also celebrated.



For those who know the subjunctive mood - or even for those haven't yet learned about this type of Italian verb - you can try to express your good wishes using these complete sentences!

Spero che tu passi                 I hope that you have a Merry Christmas.
un buon Natale.
Spero che voi passiate          I hope that you all (to a group) have a Merry Christmas.
un buon Natale. 


Spero che tu faccia  buone feste!            I hope that you have good holidays!
​Spero che  voi  facciate  buone feste!     I hope that you all have good holidays!


Spero che tu abbia                 I hope that you have a good New Year!
un buon anno!
Spero che voi abbiate           I hope that you all have a good New Year!
un buon anno!

Some of this material was reprinted from Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Verbs, courtesy of Stella Lucente, LLC.  Book available on Amazon.com and download to electronic devices on www.LearnTravelItalian.com. 

Contact Corrine at [email protected] for special offers on our "Conversational Italian for Travelers" series of books with the promo code CIAP.