Italian has at least three words for "company" — la compagnia (lah kohm-pah-nyee-ah), la ditta (lah deet-tah) (which also means "the firm"), and la società (lah soh-cheh-tah). These words are virtually interchangeable.
L'ufficio (loof-fee-choh) is Italian for "office," but people often use stanza (stahn-tsah) (room) to refer to their personal office.
The following sentences give you a taste of the phrases you hear in uffici (oof-fee-chee) (offices) everywhere:
- La mia scrivania è troppo piccola. (lah mee-ah skree-vah-nee-ah eh trohp-poh peek-koh-lah) (My desk is too small.)
- È una grande società? (eh oo-nah grahn-deh soh-cheh-tah) (Is it a big company?)
- Non proprio, diciamo media. (nohn proh-pree-oh dee-chah-moh meh-dee-ah) (Not really, let's say medium-sized.)
- Lavora per una piccola agenzia. (lah-voh-rah pehr oo-nah peek-koh-lah ah-jehn-tsee-ah) (He works for a small agency.)
- Amo il mio lavoro. (ah-moh eel mee-oh lah-voh-roh) (I like my job.)
| Conjugation | Pronunciation |
| io lavoro | ee-oh lah-voh-roh |
| tu lavori | too lah-voh-ree |
| lui/lei lavora | loo-ee/lay lah-voh-rah |
| noi lavoriamo | noh-ee lah-voh-ree-ah-moh |
| voi lavorate | voh-ee lah-voh-rah-teh |
| loro lavorano | loh-roh lah-voh-rah-noh |
S.p.A. is the Italian abbreviation for Società per Azioni (soh-cheh-tah pehr ah-tsee-oh-nee) (joint-stock company), whereas a S.A.S., Società in Accomandita Semplice (soh-cheh-tah een ahk-koh-mahn-dee-tah sehm-plee-cheh) is a limited partnership. Another type of company is an S.r.l. (Società a responsabilità limitata) (soh-cheh-tah ah rehs-pohn-sah-bee-lee-tah lee-mee-tah-tah) (public limited company, also know as a p.l.c.).