If you’ve just had a long conversation in Italian, it is important to know how to neatly wrap it up in a friendly and natural way that won’t offend your conversation partner. One closing phrase that suits this objective perfectly is Alla prossima! which translates as Until next time!
Ciao ragazzi, alla prossima!
Bye guys, until next time!
Let’s break this greeting down into its component parts:
1. Alla
Alla is the combination of a + la. It’s a so-called articulated preposition (or preposizione articolata in Italian), which is a preposition conjoined with an article.
A corresponds to the English at or to whereas la is the feminine singular definite article that equates to the in English. This means that alla as a whole translates as at the.
2. Prossima
Prossima is the feminine form of the adjective prossimo. Without any surrounding context, it means next or close.
In this specific case however, prossima actually means prossima volta (next time). The word volta (time) has been omitted because it is implied from the context.
Note that it is possible to say Alla prossima volta! as a closing phrase in Italian but it isn’t as common.
A few other greetings with a similar meaning in Italian include:
- Ci vediamo la prossima volta! = See you next time!
- A dopo! = See you later!
- A presto! = See you soon!
- Ci vediamo più tardi! = See you later!
- Ci vediamo presto! = See you soon!
Find out more about how to say goodbye in Italian in our dedicated article!
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
