How to Ask for an Audio Guide in Italian (and Understand Rental)
Learn to ask 'Do you have an audio guide in Spanish?' in Italian, understand rental terms like noleggio and cauzione, and distinguish an audio guide from a guided tour.
By SofiaGetting around · Yapr Learn
If you want to explore a museum or historic site at your own pace, you need to ask for an audio guide, not a guided tour. In Italian, the audio guide is called an audioguida, and it is usually rented rather than given for free. This lesson teaches you the exact question for asking whether an audio guide is available in Spanish, how to ask about other languages, and the key words you will hear about rental, deposits and returns. You will also learn how to say that you do not need a human guide, which is a different service with a different word.
By the end, you can…
- ask whether an audio guide is available in a specific language.
- understand and respond to questions about renting an audio guide, including price and deposit.
- distinguish an audioguida from a visita guidata with a human guide.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
Avete un'audioguida in spagnolo?
Do you have an audio guide in Spanish?
ah-VEH-teh oon ow-dee-oh-GWEE-dah een SPAH-nyoh-loh
Use this at a ticket desk or information point. Avete is the polite 'you have' form for a group or an institution. C'è un'audioguida in spagnolo? is also correct and common at a single desk.
Sì, ne abbiamo una in spagnolo.
Yes, we have one in Spanish.
see, neh ab-BYAH-moh OO-nah een SPAH-nyoh-loh
Ne means 'of it' and replaces 'di audioguide'. The answer uses una because audioguida is feminine. This is the natural reply you will hear at the desk.
Quanto costa il noleggio?
How much is the rental?
KWAHN-toh KOH-stah eel noh-LEHD-joh
Noleggio means 'rental' and is the standard word for renting an audio guide, a bike or a car. Do not use affitto, which is for renting an apartment or a room long-term.
Devo lasciare una cauzione?
Do I have to leave a deposit?
DEH-voh lah-SHAH-reh OO-nah kow-TSYOH-neh
Cauzione is a deposit or security. Many museums ask for an identity document or a small cash deposit. The verb lasciare here means 'to leave' or 'to hand over'.
Vorrei una visita guidata, non un'audioguida.
I would like a guided tour, not an audio guide.
vor-RAY OO-nah VEE-zee-tah gwee-DAH-tah, non oon ow-dee-oh-GWEE-dah
Use this to make the distinction clear. Visita guidata means a tour with a human guide. Vorrei is the polite conditional of volere, softer than voglio.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
To ask about a language, use 'un'audioguida in' plus the language name: un'audioguida in spagnolo, in inglese, in francese, in tedesco, in italiano. The preposition in stays the same for all languages. To ask whether it exists, start with Avete or C'è: Avete un'audioguida in spagnolo? or C'è un'audioguida in spagnolo? Both are correct. C'è is singular and more common at a small desk; Avete is plural and very natural when speaking to a museum or a company.
When to use it
Use these questions at the ticket office before you pay, because the language availability can change. If the answer is no, ask 'In quali lingue c'è?' (In which languages is there one?). If you want to rent it, say 'Vorrei noleggiare un'audioguida' (I would like to rent an audio guide). Remember that audioguida is feminine, so you say una audioguida or un'audioguida before a vowel, and the rental is il noleggio. A guided tour, visita guidata, is feminine too, but it is a different service with a person speaking to a group.
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
Buongiorno, avete un'audioguida in spagnolo?
Good morning, do you have an audio guide in Spanish?bwon-JOR-noh, ah-VEH-teh oon ow-dee-oh-GWEE-dah een SPAH-nyoh-lohSì, ne abbiamo una. Il noleggio costa cinque euro.
Yes, we have one. The rental costs five euros.see, neh ab-BYAH-moh OO-nah. eel noh-LEHD-joh KOH-stah CHEEN-kweh EH-oo-rohDevo lasciare una cauzione o un documento?
Do I have to leave a deposit or an ID document?DEH-voh lah-SHAH-reh OO-nah kow-TSYOH-neh oh oon doh-koo-MEHN-tohSì, un documento. Restituisca l'audioguida entro le sei.
Yes, an ID document. Return the audio guide by six o'clock.see, oon doh-koo-MEHN-toh. reh-stee-TWEESH-kah low-dee-oh-GWEE-dah EHN-troh leh SAYA little context goes a long way
In Italian museums and sites, audioguida almost always means a rented device or app, while visita guidata means a live guide with a group. At smaller sites the staff may simply say 'Non c'è' or offer a QR code instead. Using Avete and Vorrei keeps your request polite; Lei forms like Restituisca are common in written or formal instructions. Regional speech varies, but these words are understood throughout Italy.
One thing to watch for
Using affitto for renting an audio guide, as in 'Quanto costa l'affitto dell'audioguida?'
Try this instead: Use noleggio for equipment and short-term rentals: 'Quanto costa il noleggio?' Affitto is for long-term housing or rooms, for example 'L'affitto dell'appartamento è alto.' For an audio guide, noleggio is the correct and natural word.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1How do you ask whether an audio guide is available in German?
Show a sample answer
Avete un'audioguida in tedesco?
This uses the polite plural Avete plus un'audioguida in tedesco. C'è un'audioguida in tedesco? is also correct and common at a single desk.
2You want to know the rental price. What do you say?
Show a sample answer
Quanto costa il noleggio?
Noleggio is the standard word for renting equipment. Quanto costa l'audioguida? would ask the price of the guide itself, which is less precise.
3A staff member asks for a deposit. How do you confirm that you will leave one?
Show a sample answer
Sì, lascio una cauzione.
Lascio is the first-person form of lasciare, 'I leave'. You could also say 'Sì, va bene' if you simply agree, but naming cauzione shows you understood the request.
Ask 'Avete un'audioguida in spagnolo?' for the language, use noleggio for the rental and cauzione for the deposit, and remember that a visita guidata is a human-guided tour, not an audio guide.
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