✅ La banconota (The banknote/bill – paper money) ✅ La moneta (The coin – metal money) ✅ I contanti (Cash – general term, plural only) ✅ Il denaro / I soldi (Money – general concepts)
Commonly Confused Words:
❌ Il biglietto → Usually means “ticket” (train, cinema) or a written note. ⚠️ Exception: In older Italian or specific contexts, biglietto da banca meant banknote, but today just say banconota.
❌ La carta → Usually means “paper” or “card” (playing card, ID card). ✅ La carta di credito / La carta bancomat → Credit card / ATM card. Never just “carta” for money!
Il conto → Means “the bill” (at a restaurant) or “bank account”. ✅ Pagare il conto (Pay the bill), Avere un conto in banca (Have a bank account). Slang & Informal Terms:
SLANG
💰 I quattrini (Old-fashioned slang for money, like “bucks”) 💰 La grana (Literally “grain”, slang for cash – very common!) 💰 I soldoni (Big money, augmentative of soldi) 💰 Essere al verde (To be broke – literally “to be at the green”, from old theater flags)
Verbs for Money:
✅ Pagare (To pay) ✅ Spendere (To spend) ✅ Risparmiare (To save) ✅ Guadagnare (To earn) ❌ Comprare i soldi → Wrong! You guadagni (earn) or ricevi (receive) money, you don’t buy it!