“Sorry I don’t speak Italian” in Italian
There are actually several ways of saying “Sorry, I don’t speak Italian” in Italian. Here they are….
Scusi, non parlo italiano (for formal, one to one conversations)
Mi scusi, non parlo italiano (for formal, one to one conversations)
Scusa, non parlo italiano (for informal, one-to-one conversations)
Scusami, non parlo italiano (for informal, one-to-one conversations)
Scusate, non parlo italiano (one-to-one. Can be informal or formal)
Scusatemi, non parlo italiano (one-to-one. Can be informal or formal)
Mi dispiace, non parlo italiano (For speaking to a group. Whether formal or not)
When you might need to say “Sorry I don’t speak Italian” in Italian
When in Italy
The most obvious example of when you might want to tell someone that you don’t speak Italian is when you go on holiday to Italy. As you can imagine, Italy is filled with Italians, and if someone walks up to you expecting help, you will need to let them know that you don’t know what they are saying.
When in an Italian area
Another time when you might need to know when to say “Sorry, I don’t speak Italian” is when you’re in Italian parts of America.
In the past, many people fled the poverty of Italy to start a new life in America. Many of these people formed communities known as “Italian Americans”. During their personal lives, these people might talk to one another in their mother tongue.
Should you ever visit one of these areas, people might not automatically know that you’re not Italian, or that you don’t speak it. Should this happen, you will need to know how to let these people know that you don’t speak their language.
Informal ways of saying “Sorry I don’t speak Italian”
Unlike English, in many other languages (including Italian), there are different words that you would use for speaking informally and formally.
In Italian, when speaking to a friend or stranger at a bar, you might say….
Scusa, non parlo italiano (directed to one person)
Scusami, non parlo italiano (directed to one person)
Scusate, non parlo italiano (directed to more than one person).
scusatemi, non parlo italiano (directed to more than one person)
Mi dispiace, non parlo italiano (directed to anyone)
If you’re a tourist, chances are, you don’t need to be formal too often.
Formal ways of saying “Sorry I don’t speak Italian”
However, there might be times when you need to speak formally, and address people with respect. For example, if you’re speaking to a police officer, or you end up in court. You might even need to go to Italy on a business trip.
Scusi, non parlo italiano (directed to one person)
Mi scusi, non parlo italiano (directed to one person)
Scusate, non parlo italiano (directed to more than one person).
scusatemi, non parlo italiano (directed to more than one person)
Mi dispiace, non parlo italiano (directed to anyone)
Speaking to one person vs groups
From reading all the examples above, you might also have noticed that there are different ways to address groups of people, and one-on-one. This isn’t only in Italian, but also in several other languages.
Most of the time, we will only end up speaking to one person. It’s unlikely you will have to tell a whole crowd of people you don’t speak Italian. But, if you know how to, then should the situation ever arise, at least you will have a rough idea of what to do.
Even if you use the incorrect version, it shouldn’t matter too much.
Learn more Italian than just “Sorry I don’t speak Italian”
I have not written this article so that you can learn this one phrase and nothing else. If you have a trip to Italy planned, you should at least make an effort to learn the essentials of their language.
Some of the most important words to know are “hello”, “please”, “thank you”. But whatever words you can learn, it will be better than learning nothing at all. Even if you aren’t fluent, so long as you can have a super basic conversation, you should be fine at what you do.
Conclusion
And that is how you say “Sorry, I don’t speak Italian” in Italian. I would like to take this chance to apologize to anyone who clicked on this article supposing it would be one sentence long. But languages are sometimes a bit more complicated than we initially think. Translating doesn’t always work by merely changing the words, and then sometimes the order.
If you want to learn Italian, there are plenty of courses out there.
Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.
