Learning how to say and use why in Italian is really simple.
There’s one word you can always use.
You can also pick up some other really common ways to say why. Learning them will make it easier to follow and join Italian conversations because they get used so often.
How Do You Say Why in Italian?
To say why in Italian, there’s one word you can always use:
| Perché | Pehr-KEH |
It’s really that easy!
To get the pronunciation right (and sound more Italian) remember to put the emphasis on the last part. So it’s pehr-KEH and not PEHR-keh.
Here’s how you might use it on your travels around Italy:
Perché il museo è chiuso oggi? -Why is the museum closed today?
Perché è così famosa questa chiesa? -Why is this church so famous?
Perché non prendiamo un altro gelato? -Why don’t we have another ice-cream?
Like in English, you can also use why inside a sentence, not just at the beginning:
Non so perché il treno è in ritardo -I don’t know why the train is delayed
Is Perché the Only Word for Why in Italian?
There are some other really common ways to say why in Italian. Learning them will help you understand Italians better and using them yourself will make you sound more Italian.
Come mai?
Pronounced: KOH-meh my
There’s only a very subtle difference between come mai and perché.
Come mai is a bit more like saying “how come” or “why’s that?”. It shows you’re surprised and want to know more.
Come mai literally means “how never”.
It’s one of those ones that doesn’t make sense literally, so it’s best just to learn it as it is.
For example:
Come mai non ci sono più biglietti? -How come there aren’t any more tickets?
Come mai devo prenotare in anticipo? -How come I have to book in advance?
Or you might give it as a reply, for example:
Non mi piace il vino -I don’t like wine
Come mai? -Why / why’s that?
Per quale motivo?
Pronounced: Pehr KWAH-leh moh-TEE-voh
This is a slightly more formal way to ask why. It literally means “for what reason”
For example:
Per quale motivo non c’è il treno oggi? -Why is there no train today?
Per quale ragione?
Pronounced: Pehr KWAH-leh rah-JOH-neh
This also literally means “for what reason” and is also a more formal way to ask why.
For example:
Per quale ragione oggi tutti i negozi sono chiusi? -Why are all the shops closed today?
E perché?
Pronounced: Eh pehr-KEH
This literally means “and why?”.
It’s used to show that something doesn’t make a lot of sense to you. If you use a certain tone when you ask it, it could also be used to say that you’re annoyed.
For example:
Non devi mangiare tutta la pizza -You shouldn’t eat the whole pizza
E perché? -And why?
(You’d definitely be right to question why you shouldn't)
How Do You Reply to Why in Italian?
It gets even easier, because if you get asked perché (“why”) you can also reply with:
| Perché | Pehr-KEH |
That’s because perché means both why and because in Italian. You just have to change the tone of your voice to show whether you’re asking a question or making a statement.
For example:
Non mangio carne perché sono vegetariano -I don’t eat meat because I’m vegetarian
Vado al mare perché fa caldo - I’m going to the seaside because it’s hot
And here’s how it would work in a dialogue with perché being used as both a question (why) and answer (because):
Perché non andiamo al museo? -Why don’t we go to the museum?
Perché la fila è troppo lunga -Because the line is too long
Why in Italian: How to Say and Use It in Conversation. Review
You’ve seen how to say and use why in Italian, including how to reply. Let’s review the key phrases.
Perché means both why and because:
Perché non prendiamo un altro gelato? -Why don’t we have another ice-cream?
Non mangio carne perché sono vegetariano -I don’t eat meat because I’m vegetarian
There are also some other really common ways to say why:
Come mai non ci sono più biglietti? -How come there aren’t any more tickets?
Per quale ragione oggi tutti i negozi sono chiusi? -Why are all the shops closed today?
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
M: In this episode, we’ll look at how to say “why” in Italian. There’s one word you can almost always use, but there are two other ways that Italians use all the time. So you’ll get to see those as well.
K: Before we get started, can we ask you a quick favore? if you’re listening to this on your podcast app, could you hit the subscribe or follow button? This way you’ll get notified when we release a new episode and you’ll help our podcast grow so that we can keep making free lessons like this. Grazie!
K: So I’ve been living in Italy for over 10 years. But I still have lots of questions about why Italians do things a certain way, especially when it comes to food.
M: It’s true, in Italy there are lots of food rules that are really specific and so it’s common for tourists to get them wrong.
K: In this conversation, you’ll hear me asking Matteo to explain some of these food rules. How many of them have you heard already?
K: Voi italiani avete troppe regole sul cibo…
M: No, perché?
K: Ad esempio, niente Parmigiano sul pesce.
M: Perché il pesce ha un sapore delicato.
K: E come mai non posso bere lo Spritz con la pizza?
M: Perché è dolce.
K: E la Coca-Cola allora?
M: La Coca-Cola va bene.
K: E perché?
K: I said:
M: Voi italiani avete troppe regole sul cibo… (you Italians have too many food rules). Literally:
Voi - you (this is the plural “you” as in “you all”, “you Italians”)
Italiani - Italians
Avete - have
Troppe - too many
Regole - rules
Sul - about the
Cibo - food
K: Italians are so used to their food rules, they think they’re completely normal. That’s why Matteo said:
M: No, perché? - No, why? Literally:
No - no
Perché - why?
K: You’ve seen how you can say why in Italian. All you need to say is perché .
M: Perché x 2
K: It’s spelt p-e-r-c-h-e. The e on the end has an accent, that apostrophe looking punctuation mark on top of some Italian letters. That accent is there just to tell us to put the emphasis on the last part of the word.
M: So it’s not PER-che, but per-CHÉ. Per-CHÉ.
K: I gave Matteo an example:
M: Ad esempio, niente Parmigiano sul pesce. - For example, no parmesan on fish. Literally:
Ad esempio - for example
Niente - nothing
Parmigiano - parmesan
Sul - on the
Pesce - fish
K: In general in Italy, cheese and fish don’t get mixed. If, like me, you’re wondering why, the explanation is:
M: Perché il pesce ha un sapore delicato - Because fish has a delicate flavour. Literally:
Perché - because
Il - the
Pesce - fish
Ha - has
Un - a
Sapore - flavor
Delicato - delicate
K: So you’ve seen that perché means why, but did you notice that Matteo also used perché to say “because”?
M: That’s what makes perché such a great word to know because you get two words in one. It can mean “why” and also “because”.
K: All you have to do is change your voice to show whether you’re asking a question or not. So if Matteo was asking “why”, he would say it like this:
M: Perché ? (*question tone*)
K: And if he was using perché to mean “because”, he would say it like this:
M: Perché… (*answering tone*)
K: Then I asked about another food rule:
M: E come mai non posso bere lo Spritz con la pizza? - Why can’t I drink Aperol spritz with pizza? Literally:
E - and
Come - how
Mai - never
Non - not
Posso - I can
Bere - drink
Lo - the
Spritz - spritz
Con - with
La - the
Pizza - pizza
K: You’ve seen that you can use perché to say “why”. Here, I could have used it as well, but I used another way instead:
M: Come mai x 2
K: This is another word for “why” that Italians say all the time. There’s not really a big difference between come mai and perché. Come mai is just a bit more like asking “how come?” or even “why is it that…”. It’s used to show you’re surprised or curious about something.
M: For example, if Katie said, “I don’t like olives on pizza,” I might respond with come mai ? to show I’m surprised and curious—like saying, “Oh, really? Why’s that?”
K: Then Matteo replied to my question about having a spritz with pizza with:
M: Perché è dolce - Because it’s sweet. Literally:
Perché - because
È - it’s
Dolce - sweet
K: Again, we saw how Matteo used the word perché to mean “because”. So, in theory, you’re not meant to have a cocktail like a spritz with a pizza in Italy.
M: Yes, you can have it for a pre-dinner drink with some snacks, but it’s not a dinner drink, because it’s sweet.
K: But like many Italian food rules the logic doesn’t always hold up. That’s why I asked:
M: E la Coca-Cola, allora? - And what about coke then? Literally:
E - and
La - the
Coca-Cola - coke
Allora - then
K: Since coke is sweet, surely it wouldn’t go with pizza then. But then Matteo replied:
M: La Coca-Cola va bene - Coke goes well. Literally:
La - the
Coca-Cola - coke
Va - goes
Bene - well
K: See what I mean about these rules not always making sense? Why spritz no, but coke sì?
K: I found it confusing, so I asked:
M: E perché - And why? Literally:
E - and
Perché - why
K: We might sometimes say “and why” in English, but in Italian, you hear this expression a lot.
M: It doesn’t mean anything complicated, it just means “and why”, but it adds a slight tone of saying that something doesn’t make much sense to you. With a certain tone, it might even show you’re annoyed.
K: Like if I said to Matteo, you should probably stop playing computer games, he’d probably say:
M: E perché? Or if I said to Katie that she should stop eating Parmigiano with a cheese knife in her hand and her head in the fridge, she might turn around and say:
M: E perché?
K: We should stop this game before we reveal anything too incriminating. Now you’ve seen a few different expressions for “why” and how you can use it as an answer as well as a question. Let’s review what you’ve heard so far.
What’s the classic way to say “why” in Italian?
[...]
M: Perché (x2)
K: Perché means “why”, but also another word in English.
[...]
M: Because
K: There’s another way of asking “why” in Italian. It’s like saying “how come?”
[...]
M: Come mai (x2)
K: And finally, if you feel that something really doesn’t make sense, and you’re maybe a bit annoyed about it, what could you say?
[...]
M: E perché?
K: Let’s listen to the whole conversation again:
K: Voi italiani avete troppe regole sul cibo…
M: No, perché?
K: Ad esempio, niente Parmigiano sul pesce.
M: Perché il pesce ha un sapore delicato.
K: E come mai non posso bere lo Spritz con la pizza?
M: Perché è dolce.
K: E la Coca-Cola allora?
M: La Coca-Cola va bene.
K: E perché?
M: Now that you know how to use perché , we hope you get plenty of chances to use it while you're in Italy.
K: It’s a great way to connect with Italians, you can ask them to explain all the quirky things you start to notice, not just on the topic of food.
M: Although being in Italy, it’s the most important topic of course.
K: Head over to our blogpost to see some phrases with “why” that you might use on your next trip to Italy.
M: To find out more, click the link in the description or go to italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for episode 167.
M - See you next time.
K - Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Why in Italian
Vocabulary
Perché non prendiamo un altro gelato? = Why don’t we have another ice-cream?
Perché il museo è chiuso oggi? = Why is the museum closed today?
Non mangio carne perché sono vegetariano = I don’t eat meat because I’m vegetarian
Come mai non ci sono più biglietti? = How come there aren’t any more tickets?
Flashcards: Why in Italian
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
