Question words
The main question words in Italian are:
– Chi è Beatrice? – Beatrice è mia nonna.
–Who is Beatrice? –Beatrice is my grandma.
– Che/Cosa/Che cosa studi? – Studio italiano.
–What are you studying? –I'm studying Italian.
– Dove vivi? – Vivo a Bologna.
–Where do you live? –I live in Bologna.
– Quale vuoi? – Questo.
–Which one do you want? –This one.
– Quando torni? – Torno sabato.
–When do you get back? –I get back on Saturday.
– Quanto costa questa camicia? – Costa 50 euro.
–How much does this shirt cost? –It costs 50 euros.
– Come stai? – Molto bene, grazie.
–How are you? –I'm very well, thank you.
– Perché stai studiando italiano? – Perché mi piace questa lingua.
–Why are you studying Italian? –Because I like this language.
Note:
- Che, cosa and che cosa (all meaning “what”) are all correct and are all widely used.
Che fai? Cosa fai? Che cosa fai?
What are you doing?
- Quanto (how much) has to agree in gender and number with the noun it corresponds to:
Quanto zucchero metti nel caffè?
How much sugar do you take in your coffee?
Quanti anni hai?
How old are you? (literally “How many years do you have?”)
- Quale (which) has to agree in number (quali for both masculine and feminine plurals) and it becomes qual if it comes before a word that begins with e:
Quali sono i tuoi amici?
Which (ones) are your friends?
Quali case preferisci?
Which houses do you prefer?
Qual è il tuo colore preferito?
What is your favourite color? (literally “Which one is your favourite color?”)
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