Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)
PRONOUNS
7. Interrogative pronouns
What is an interrogative pronoun?
In English the interrogative pronouns are who…?, which…?, whose…?, whom…? and what…?. They are used without a noun, to ask questions.
1 The interrogative pronouns in Italian
These are the interrogative pronouns in Italian:
|
Chi? |
Who?, Whom? |
|
Che? |
What? |
|
Cosa? |
What? |
|
Che cosa? |
What? |
|
Quale? |
Which?, Which one?, What? |
|
Quanto? |
How much? |
|
Quanti? |
How many? |
Chi, che, cosa and che cosa never change their form.
|
Chi è? |
Who is it? |
|
Chi sono? |
Who are they? |
|
Che vuoi? |
What do you want? |
|
Cosa vuole? |
What does he want? |
|
Che cosa vogliono? |
What do they want? |
Note that there is no difference between che, cosa and che cosa.
Quale is used for the masculine and feminine singular, and quali is used for masculine and feminine plural.
|
Conosco sua sorella. – Quale? |
I know his sister. – Which one? |
|
Ho rotto dei bicchieri. – Quali? |
I broke some glasses. – Which ones? |
For more information on Question words, see page 155.
Quanto and quanti have feminine forms.
|
Farina? Quanta ce ne vuole? |
Flour? How much is needed? |
|
Quante di loro passano la sera a leggere? |
How many of them spend the evening reading? |
2 che cos’è or qual è?
che cos’è? and qual è? both mean what is? but are used in different ways:
Use che cos’è? or che cosa sono? when you’re asking someone to explain or identify something.
|
Che cos’è questo? |
What’s this? |
|
Che cosa sono questi? – |
What are these? – |
|
Sono funghi. |
They’re mushrooms. |
Use qual è? or quali sono?, not che, when you ask what is? or what are? to find out a particular detail, number, name and so on.
|
Qual è il suo indirizzo? |
What’s her address? |
|
Qual è la capitale della Finlandia? |
What’s the capital of Finland? |
|
Quali sono i loro nomi? |
What are their names? |
Note that quale becomes qual in front of a vowel.
3 chi?
Use chi for both who and whom.
|
Chi ha vinto? |
Who won? |
|
Chi hai visto? |
Whom did you see? |
When there is a preposition in your question put it in front of chi.
|
A chi l’hai dato? |
Who did you give it to? |
|
Con chi parlavi? |
Who were you talking to? |
|
A chi si riferiva? |
To whom was he referring? |
Use di chi è? or di chi sono? to ask who things belong to.
|
Di chi è questa borsa? |
Whose is this bag? |
|
Di chi sono queste chiavi? |
Whose are these keys? |
Key points
chi, che cosa, quale and quanto are the interrogative pronouns in Italian.
Use chi for both who and whom.