Face-to-face
Italian interpreters on site for appointments, hearings and meetings.
European languages
Italian interpreting and translation
Italian is the official language of Italy, San Marino and Vatican City and one of Switzerland's national languages. SILA Linguists provides Italian interpreters and certified translators for legal, healthcare, design, food, engineering and business work.
italiano
- Script
- Latin
- Direction
- Left to right
- ISO 639-3
ita
Italian is a Romance language based historically on the Tuscan of Florence. It is the official language of Italy and San Marino, an official language of Vatican City, and a national language of Switzerland, used in Ticino and parts of Graubünden. Italian minorities live in Slovenia and Croatia, and Italian communities are found worldwide, including the UK, Argentina, the United States, Australia and Germany.
Italy is home to many regional languages and dialects, such as Neapolitan, Sicilian, Venetian, Lombard and Friulian, while Sardinian is usually treated as a separate Romance language. Most people speak standard Italian, often with a regional accent, and older people in some areas may be more comfortable in their local language. Swiss Italian uses some different vocabulary, often influenced by French and German, especially in administration.
Italian uses the Latin alphabet with accented vowels (à, è, é, ì, ò, ù). The accent on final vowels is part of the spelling, as in città and perché.
- Main areas: Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, Switzerland (Ticino)
- Also used: Switzerland (Grisons)
Communities abroad are not shown. Point to an area to see its name.
How we help
Italian services
Video (VRI)
Secure video interpreting when people are in different places.
Telephone, 24/7
Telephone interpreting 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Certified translation
Certified Italian translation accepted by UK authorities.
SILA Linguists®
Italian interpreting and translation services from SILA Linguists®
Italian, rooted in the Tuscan of Florence, is the official language of Italy and San Marino, an official language of Vatican City and a national language of Switzerland, used in Ticino and parts of Graubünden. Italian minorities live in Slovenia and Croatia, and large Italian communities live in the UK, Argentina, the United States, Australia and Germany. SILA Linguists® provides Italian interpreters, translators and transcribers to courts, solicitors and notaries, healthcare and elderly care, fashion and luxury houses, food and wine producers, engineering firms and citizenship applicants.
Italian interpreting with the right formality
Italian distinguishes formal Lei from familiar tu, and professional titles such as dottore, avvocato and ingegnere are widely used, so our interpreters keep the speaker's level of formality. For older clients from southern Italy or the islands, or from long-established emigrant communities, regional speech may differ markedly from the standard; mention the client's region and we will match it, which matters in elderly care and hospital settings.
We provide Italian legal and medical interpreting face to face, by telephone at any hour, and by video through the SILA Linguists® video app or your organisation's video system. Our interpreters are prepared for buying meetings, showroom events and press days in fashion, design and luxury; trade fairs and tastings for food and wine producers; and technical visits for engineering and manufacturing firms. Conferences and business events can have consecutive, simultaneous or remote simultaneous Italian interpreting.
Italian translation, codice fiscale and sworn translation
Italian documents often carry the codice fiscale and follow legal and administrative formats that need consistent, accurate rendering. Italian text tends to run longer than English, which affects layout and subtitling. Certified translations of birth, marriage and death certificates, wills, property deeds, court judgments and degree certificates carry a statement of accuracy, signed and dated by us, accepted by colleges, employers, the Home Office and other UK authorities, and we support citizenship applications by descent with complete document sets. Italian records for US files carry a certificate of accuracy, and for Australian authorities we arrange NAATI-certified translation.
Italy has no single national register of sworn translators; a translation becomes sworn, traduzione giurata, when the translator swears an oath on it before a court official or notary, so check what an Italian authority needs. For brands, we translate and adapt fashion copy, product descriptions, menus, wine labels and e-commerce sites.
Italian transcription and subtitling
We transcribe Italian interviews, hearings, fashion and food media and research recordings with timestamps and a parallel English text, and subtitle films, campaigns and corporate video.
Sectors we support in Italian
Our vetted, trained and qualified Italian linguists can support courts, solicitors and notaries, healthcare and elderly care, fashion, design and luxury goods, food, wine and hospitality, engineering and manufacturing, and property, inheritance and citizenship. SILA Linguists® provides one coordinator and Italian specialists by sector, with confidentiality under NDAs and UK GDPR. Italian interpreters can assist courts, hospitals, estates and businesses in the United States and Australia as well as in the UK.
Good to know
Working with Italian
Interpreting
- Italian distinguishes formal Lei from familiar tu, and professional titles such as dottore, avvocato and ingegnere are commonly used. Interpreters keep the speaker's level of formality.
- For older clients from southern Italy or the islands, or from long-established emigrant communities, regional speech may differ markedly from the standard. Mention the client's region when booking. We provide Italian conference, business, legal and medical interpreting face to face, by video and by telephone.
Translation
- Italian documents often contain the codice fiscale (tax code) and use legal and administrative formats that must be rendered consistently. Italian text tends to be longer than English, which affects layout and subtitling.
- Italy does not have a single national register of sworn translators. A translation becomes a sworn translation (traduzione giurata or asseverata) when the translator swears an oath on it before a court official or a notary, after which it may also need legalisation or an apostille for use abroad. Our certified translations are accepted by UK authorities such as the Home Office, courts and universities, and by international bodies; for Italian authorities, check whether a sworn translation made in Italy is required. Where a document is needed in the United States or Australia, we arrange the certification the receiving authority expects, from a translator's certificate of accuracy for US immigration authorities to NAATI-certified translation for Australia.
Related languages
Italian and its neighbours
Choose a language to see its page. Getting the right variety matters: tell us the region or dialect if you know it.
Where Italian is often needed
- Courts, solicitors and notaries
- Healthcare and elderly care
- Fashion, design and luxury goods
- Food, wine and hospitality
- Engineering and manufacturing
- Property, inheritance and citizenship applications
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Get in touch
Need a Italian interpreter or translator?
Our bookings team will confirm the details with you and arrange the right linguist. Have the language (and dialect, if you know it), the type of assignment and the date ready.