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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.
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? |
| 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/she 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? |
- Quanto and quanti have feminine forms.
| Farina? Quanta ce ne vuole? | Flour? How much is needed? |
| Quante persone passano la sera a leggere? | How many people spend the evening reading? |
Che cos’è or qual è?
They 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? – Sono funghi. | What are these? – 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 indirizzi? | What are their addresses? |
Note that quale becomes qual in front of a vowel.
Need help with Reflexive Verbs in Italian? Watch my video!
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? |
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