Professor Dave again, let’s learn how to ask questions in Italian.
The word interrogative derives from the Latin ROGARE, which means to ask, so interrogative
clauses are sentences that end with a question mark.
The simplest questions in Italian don’t really need any interrogative words, they
can be asked by using the same words and word order you would use in a normal statement.
This will require just a slight change in the intonation.
For example, we could make a statement:
To turn this into a question, we just make it sound like one.
One may wonder how to translate simple phrases like do you, did you, will you, or would you,
thinking some form of “to do” is required, but in Italian these phrases are built into
the verbal form.
A slightly modified version of this approach involves using subjects or objects in strange places.
This can be done to place emphasis on a particular word.
Using the previous example, we could ask:
This asks did you eat it, as opposed to someone else.
Or another way:
This asks whether you’ve eaten the chicken as opposed to something else.
But again, this question is of a type that requires only a simple yes or no answer, so
just the intonation of your voice can be enough to let the listener know that you are asking
a question.
Let’s move on to more complex situations.
The majority of interrogative clauses are introduced by special words called interrogative
pronouns, adjectives or adverbs.
One important word to know will be “chi”, the personal pronoun that means who or whom.
Unlike English, where who is used as a subject and whom is used as an object, in Italian
there is no difference, it will always be chi.
Here are some examples with chi.
Now that we know how to ask who, how do we ask what?
For this we typically use che cosa, but we can also use cosa, or che.
Suprisingly, these all mean the same thing, and just like chi, they can be used as a subject
or object.
Now that we can ask who and what, let’s learn to ask how.
For this, we use come.
Let’s first differentiate come from com’e`.
Come, with emphasis on the O, simply means how.
If we want to ask “how is”, we shorten come by replacing the E with an apostrophe,
and then add the word “è”, which means is.
This E is open and stressed.
Let’s use both of these now.
That covers who, what, and how.
Now we must ask where.
This will require the word dove, with stress on the O, and a closed vowel sound.
Dove can be used for both where and to where.
Also, just like come, it can be used with the verb to be, which shortens dove to become
Now let’s learn how to ask when.
This will require the word quando.
Another word we need to know is why.
This will be perchè.
This will be used any time you want a reason for something.
Finally, there are some adjectives we need to know that will help us ask questions.
We may want to ask which one.
This will require the word quale for the singular, and quali for the plural.
Quale also has the variation, qual’è, which means which is.
We may also want to ask how much or how many.
This will require the word quanto, which unlike quale, has four forms, quanto and quanta for
masculine and feminine singular, as well as quanti and quante for masculine and feminine plural.
So now we know how to ask questions regarding who, what, how, when, where, why, which, and
how many.
To wrap things up, let’s recall that interrogative pronouns and adjectives can easily be used
with prepositions.
Here are some examples.
And now you’re ready to ask all kinds of questions in Italian.
Let’s check comprehension.