Question Words in Italian: The 8 You Need

18th March 2025

Learn key Italian question words like “dove”, “quando”, and more to help you get the info you need while traveling in Italy.

No.177

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When you travel in Italy, it’s normal to have lots of questions. Like: where’s the best ice-cream shop or why are Italians always so well-dressed?  You might even have questions for Italians to make small talk and connect with them. 

Here, you’ll find all the Italian question words you need.

Key Italian Question Words

Here are the 8 question words in Italian that you’ll need for almost any type of question. 

Che / Cosa What KEH / KOH-zah
Chi Who Kee
Come How KOH-meh
Dove Where DOH-veh
Perché Why Pehr-KEH
Quando When KWAHN-doh
Quale Which KWAH-leh
Quanto How much/how many KWAHN-toh

Che / Cosa - What 

To ask “what” in Italian you can say che or cosa. You can also put both of them together and say che cosa, which literally means “what thing”. 

For example:

Che cosa vuoi vedere oggi? -What do you want to see today? (lit. what “thing” do you want to see today)

So if there are three words for “what” in Italian ( che , cosa , and che cosa ), how do you know which one to use?

Great news! You can use any three of them. They’re usually interchangeable. 

Here’s how you might say “what” in Italian:

Che cosa c’è in questo piatto? -What is there in this dish? 

Cosa mi consiglia? -What do you (formal) recommend?

Che vuoi vedere oggi? -What do you want to see today? 

Chi - Who

The Italian word for “who” is chi (pronounced “kee”). Here’s how you might say “who” in Italian:

Chi è la guida? -Who is the guide? 

Chi è il contatto per il tour? -Who is the contact for the tour? 

Chi vuole un gelato? -Who wants an ice-cream? 

Come - How

Come in Italian means “how”. 

You might have already seen it in the very common question: 

Come stai? -How are you?

Here are some other ways you might say “how” in Italian:

Come si dice “ticket” in italiano? -How do you say “ticket” in Italian? 

Come posso prenotare? -How can I book? 

Come arrivo in centro? -How do I get to the center? 

Dove - Where

If you’re trying to get around Italy (without getting lost) the word for “where” is a very important one. To say “where” in Italian it’s dove. 

Here’s how you might use “where” in Italian:

Dove posso comprare i biglietti? -Where can I buy the tickets?

Dov’è la fermata dell’autobus? -Where is the bus stop?

Dov’è la stazione? -Where is the station?

Notice how dove has been spelt in two different ways: dove and dov’è ? That’s because when dove gets put in front of è (is) in Italian, the two words get squished together and become dov’è . Similar to how “where” and “is” can go to “where’s” in English.

Perché - Why 

Perché is a really useful question word in Italian because it means “why”, but it can also mean “because”. So you can use it to both ask and answer a question in Italian.

For example:

Perché il supermercato è chiuso? -Why is the supermarket closed?

Perché è domenica. -Because it’s Sunday.

You just change the tone of your voice to emphasise whether or not you’re asking a question. 

Here are some other ways you might use “why” in Italian:

Perché non andiamo al mare? -Why don’t we go to the seaside? 

Perché devo prenotare online? -Why do I have to book online?

Perché il treno è in ritardo? -Why is the train late?  

You can find a full breakdown of perché in our blog posts all about “why” and all about “because” in Italian. 

Quando - When

Quando is the Italian word for “when”. It’s very useful for planning, whether you’re asking about schedules or figuring out when to meet up with friends.

Here’s how you might use “when” in Italian: 

Quando parte l’autobus? -When does the bus leave? 

Quando comincia il tour? -When does the tour start?

Quand’è l’ultimo treno? -When is the last train?

Like we saw with dov’è (dove + è), when you have quando in front of è (is) it becomes quand’è. 

Quale - Which 

To say “which” in Italian, it’s quale

For example:

Quale autobus devo prendere? -Which bus do I need to take?

Qual è l’ultima fermata? -Which is the last stop?

Like with dov’è and quand’è, when quale is next to è (is) it gets abbreviated and becomes qual è. Only in this case there’s no apostrophe. 

There’s just one tricky difference between Italian and English with this question word. 

Quale ristorante consiglia? -Which restaurant do you (formal) recommend?

Quali ristoranti consiglia? -Which restaurants do you (formal) recommend

Did you notice how in these examples the last letter of quale changed? 

That’s because in Italian, if you are asking about “which” and the next word is plural, you have to change the last letter of quale from an “e” to an  “i”.

Quanto - How much/ how many

Quanto is Italian for “how much” or “how many”. 

It’s in the very useful question:

Quanto costa? -How much does it cost? 

Here’s how it’s also used:

Quanto zucchero vuole? -How much sugar do you (formal) want? 

Quanta pasta devo comprare? -How much pasta should I buy?

Quanti biglietti vuole? -How many tickets do you (formal) want?

Quante persone ci sono alla festa? -How many people are at the party?

Notice how in each of these sentences with quanto, there’s a different letter on the end. That’s because you have to make quanto  agree in gender and number with the word after it. Here’s how it works:

Quanto  How much (masculine singular) KWAN-toh
Quanta  How much (feminine singular) KWAN-tah
Quanti How many (masculine plural)  KWAN-tee
Quante How many (feminine plural) KWAN-teh

How to Ask Questions in Italian: The 8 You Need: Review

  • Che / Cosa / Che cosa

    All three are words for “what” in Italian and are usually interchangeable. 

    For example:

    Che / cosa / che cosa c’è in questo piatto? -What is there in this dish?

  •   Chi

    Chi is used to ask about people. It’s Italian for “who”.

    For example:

    Chi è la guida? -Who is the guide? 

  • Come

    Come is Italian for “how”. 

    For example: 

    Come posso prenotare? -How can I book?

  • Dove 

    Dove is Italian for “where”. You’ll need it to ask for directions. 

    For example:

    Dov’è la stazione? -Where is the station? 

  • Perché

    Perché is Italian for both “why” and “because”

    For example: 

    Perché il supermercato è chiuso? -Why is the supermarket closed? 

    Perché è domenica. -Because it’s Sunday.

  • Quando 

    Quando (meaning “when”) is the question word you need for scheduling and planning. 

    For example: 

    Quando parte l’autobus? -When does the bus leave?

  • Quale

    Quale is Italian for “which”. We change the “e” to an “i” if the word is plural. For example: 

    Quale ristorante consiglia? -Which restaurant do you (formal) recommend?

    Quali ristoranti consiglia? -Which restaurants do you (formal) recommend

  • Quanto 

    Quanto means “how much” or “how many”. We change the final letter depending on the gender and number of the word after it. 

    For example: 

    Quanto zucchero vuole? -How much sugar do you (formal) want? 

    Quanta pasta devo compare? -How much pasta should I buy? 

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