felice di vederti

[jobu]

When meeting someone you haven't see for a while is it correct to say: felice di vederti, or is there a better phrase.
Thanks

 

[walnut]

Hi Jobu and welcome

"Son felice (or contento, a bit more formal) di vederti" is correct, it's what I would say.

Son(o) felice di (ri)vederti! = I'm happy to see you again!
Sono così felice di (ri)vederti! = I'm so happy to see you again!
Che bello rivederti! (more informal) = So fine to see you again!

Rivedere means "to see again" while vedere means "to see, to meet". For this, if you use "rivederti" you can add some emphasis on the idea of "meeting again".

Ciao Walnut

 

[Silvia]

"Son felice (or contento, a bit more formal) di vederti"

Did you mean contento is more formal than felice? I guess it's just the other way round...

Che bello rivederti! (more informal) = So fine to see you again!

I'm taking this opportunity to say that che + adjective is a common mistake we often make, especially in spoken language, since that "che" should only be used before nouns. I guess English speaking people should not incur into this danger, since they already use the correct construction in their native language:

How beautiful it is!
Com'è bello!

How lovely!
Com'è carino!
Che carino! (used in spoken language, but wrong)

What beautiful view!
Che bel panorama! (che obviously refers to the noun panorama)

What patience!
Che pazienza!

 

[lsp]

...che + adjective is a common mistake we often make, especially in spoken language, since that "che" should only be used before nouns. [snip]

How lovely!
Che carino!

Doesn't this example contradict your declaration about che + adjective?

 

[DDT]

Doesn't this example contradict your declaration about che + adjective?

This case is correct in spoken Italian, for written Italian would better be "Com'è carino"

DDT

 

[Silvia]

Yes, sorry, it's like DDT said

 

[walnut]

Did you mean contento is more formal than felice? I guess it's just the other way round...

Eggià, è vero... I wasn't accurate: the meaning is almost identical; in my opinion felice is a bit more informal because it's a bit stronger. To mean the same thing I would say "Sono piuttosto contenta" to a person I don't know so much and "Sono felice" to a friend of mine. I guess the difference is more cultural than linguistic.

I guess English speaking people should not incur into this danger, since they already use the correct construction in their native language:

Thank you Silvia for pointing it out. How could I specify? "Very common in spoken language but quite incorrect?" Would it work? What do you think?

Ciao! Grazie! Walnut

 

[Silvia]

walnut, credo che contento si usi molto molto di più rispetto a felice, ma non per questioni culturali, credo che essere contenti sia più facile che essere felici, che tra l'altro avviene molto meno, in quanto la felicità rappresenta l'apice della contentezza, è un appagamento totale, quindi è come dici tu più forte, o meglio in italiano è così, credo sia così anche in inglese con glad/happy.

felice: detto di persona, che ha piena contentezza d'animo, temporaneamente o in modo duraturo