How much does it cost?

When visiting another country (and I am sure travelers will one day be able to visit Italy again), it is important to understand the ins and outs of making a purchase. Whether you are dining at a restaurant, visiting an important historical site, or purchasing a souvenir of your trip, knowing a few  words in Italian is always helpful to understand the cost. And if you like to barter, you can pepper your English with a few friendly Italian phrases to help the deal go through!

How do I use the verb costare?

In order to ask how much something costs in Italian, we will first need to conjugate the verb costare, which sounds very much like its English counterpart “to cost.” Costare is a regular -are verb, so the verb conjugation  should be easy to remember. When making purchases, the third person singular “it costs,” which is “costa,” and the third person plural “they cost,” which is “costano,” are the two forms of this verb necessary to know.

Since we leave out the word “it” in conversational Italian, we simply need to put the word for “how much,” which is “quanto,” before costa or costano. This gives us the short sentences, “Quanto costa?” and “Quanto costano?” Remember that there is no need to insert the words “do” or “does” into your phrase when asking a question in Italian, although these words are necessary in English.

Let’s see how this works.

First off, it is polite to say, “Buon giorno!” to the shopkeeper when entering a shop in Italy. The shopkeeper will most likely be standing behind a counter near the doorway, and you will receive a polite “Buon giorno!” in return. Also, most shops in Italy have an unspoken rule — or sometimes an actual sign by the merchandise that says, “Non toccare, per favore” — requesting that customers do not handle fragile items themselves.

If you would like to have a closer look at an item, you can start by asking the shopkeeper, “Posso?” for “May I…” and point to the item you would like to pick up.

If you are in a shop in Florence, and see a lovely handmade wallet in a display case, if want to know the price, you can simply say, “Quanto costa?” for “How much does it cost?”

And if you want to purchase several silk scarves to bring home to your friends, you can ask,  “Quanto costano?” for “How much do they cost?”

Quanto costa?	How much (does) (it) cost?
Quanto costano?	How much (do) (they) cost?

 

When asking a shopkeeper in Italy how much something costs, the easiest thing to do is to point to the item or items and use the simple sentences above. Most Italian shops are small and the salespeople are usually helpful and accommodating, regardless of one’s knowledge of Italian. But it is also easy to add the Italian word for the item you are interested in at the end of these sentences. Notice the verbs costa and costano are highlighted in green to emphasize how the verb costare will change depending on the  number of items under consideration.

Quanto costa il portafoglio?	How much (does) the wallet cost?
Quanto costano le sciarpe?	How much (do) the scarves cost?

 

 

As a substitute for the name of the item, you can also point and use the adjective “this” for one item near you or “that” for an item further away. The adjectives “these/those” are used for more than one item. Remember to change the endings of “questo” (this) and “quello” (that) to reflect the gender of the item you want to purchase!

In the table below, you will note that the adjectives questo and quello are in blue, with their endings highlighted in red to match the ending of the noun each corresponds to.

Quanto costa questo? (portafoglio)	How much (does) this cost?
Quanto costa questa? (sciarpa)	How much does this cost?
Quanto costano questi? (portafogli)	How much do these (wallets) cost?
Quanto costano queste? (sciarpe)	How much (do) these (scarves) cost?

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How do I spot a sale in Italy?

If you visit Italy at the end of June, and certainly in July and August, shops that sell clothing and accesssories will be preparing for the fall season by putting their current items on sale. Large signs appear in shop windows, that say, “in saldo” or “saldi” and often list the percentage reduction, such as 25%, 50% or even 75%.  Some additional words and phrases you may see in shop windows are given in the table below.

 

 

 

 

 

in vendita/ in saldo, saldi	on sale/ on sale for a reduced price
in svendita	in a closeout sale
sconto/ scontato	discount/ discounted
a prezzo basso	at low/ lowered price

 

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How do I barter in Italian?

The price of most smaller purchases in Italian shops is not negotiable, especially when the owner is not on site. But, many of the owners of the leather and jewelry shops in Florence actually expect you to barter with them! Bartering is also expected by many artisans that sell their work in the piazzas of Italy.  Learn some of the phrases below. It may be fun to try out your bartering skills when Italy opens its doors to the world again!

Start a conversation with a shopkeeper by asking:

Quanto costa…

How much is… (literally: How much costs…)

 

Of course, the listed price will be:

troppo caro	too expensive
costoso	expensive, costly
proprio costoso	really expensive
Costa un occhio della testa!	Costs an arm and a leg! (lit. Costs an eye out of the head!)

 

And here we go with bartering… 

Quanto costa?	How much (does it) cost?
Venti euro.	(It costs) 20 euro.
Troppo caro! Facciamo quindici euro!	(That is) too expensive! Let’s make it 15 euros!
Non è in saldo… ma, diciannove va bene.	(It) is not on sale… but 19 is good.
No, è costoso! Può andar bene diciassette?	No, (it) is expensive! Perhaps 17?
Diciotto. Non posso fare più sconto!	18. (I) can’t discount it any more! (lit. I can’t make it (any) more discounted!)
Va bene!	Very well!/Agreed.

 

If you’ve tried bartering in Italy, leave a comment describing your method and let us know how it worked! 

Remember how ask, “How much does it cost?” in Italian with 
“Quanto costa?” and I guarantee
you will use this phrase every day!