Italian phrases for the train station
Verba is built around a station in Florence, so these are the phrases it knows best. Italian trains are easy once you can read the board and ask three questions: which platform, is it late, and do I have to change.
The phrases follow a journey: buying il biglietto, the departures board, the little green machine, your seat, and the days when things go wrong.
Buying the ticket
- Un biglietto per Roma.A ticket to Rome
- Un biglietto di andata.A single ticket
- Andata e ritorno, per favore.A return, please
- Due biglietti.Two tickets
- A che ora parte il treno per Napoli?What time does the train to Naples leave?
- Il prossimo treno per Milano?The next train to Milan?
- È diretto o devo cambiare?Is it direct or do I have to change?
- Devo cambiare a Bologna?Do I have to change at Bologna?
The board and the platform
- Quale binario?Which platform?
- Da quale binario parte?Which platform does it leave from?
- Il binario è cambiato.The platform has changed
- Il treno parte tra venti minuti.The train leaves in twenty minutes
- Il treno è in orario.The train is on time
- Il treno è in ritardo.The train is late
- Quanto ritardo ha?How late is it?
Validating
- Devo convalidare il biglietto?Do I have to validate the ticket?
- Dove si convalida il biglietto?Where do I validate the ticket?
- La macchinetta non funziona.The machine isn't working
On board
- Questo posto è libero?Is this seat free?
- Scusi, questo è il mio posto.Excuse me, this is my seat
- Carrozza cinque, posto dodici.Coach five, seat twelve
- Dove metto la valigia?Where do I put my suitcase?
- Biglietti, prego.Tickets, please
- Ecco il mio biglietto.Here's my ticket
- Questo treno ferma a Pisa?Does this train stop at Pisa?
- Mi dice quando devo scendere?Will you tell me when to get off?
When it goes wrong
- Il treno è soppresso.The train has been cancelled
- C'è sciopero oggi?Is there a strike today?
- Ci sono treni garantiti?Are there guaranteed trains?
- Ho perso la coincidenza.I missed my connection
- Ho sbagliato treno.I got on the wrong train
- Vorrei un rimborso per il ritardo.I'd like a refund for the delay
Binario, not piattaforma
The platform is il binario, literally the track. The departures board (partenze) shows it a little before the train leaves, and it can change: il binario è cambiato is an announcement worth knowing by ear.
Validate a paper regional ticket
A paper ticket for a regional train has no time on it, so you stamp it in a machine on the platform before you board: convalidare. A ticket for a fast train, or one bought in the app for a set train, already has its seat and time and needs nothing.
Sciopero means strike
Strikes are announced days ahead, and even on the day some trains run: the treni garantiti, usually at the start and end of the day. If yours is soppresso (cancelled), the staff at the ticket office can move you to another one.
Biglietto · Try it
What does it mean?
Question 1 of 5: Quale binario?
Verba prints lessons like these as train tickets out of Florence, and Selene, its AI tutor, talks them through with you out loud.
