Italian Question Words: Chi, Cosa, Dove, Quando & More

You can survive a whole trip to Italy on a handful of small words. Directions, prices, times, names, reasons — they all start with one of seven question words. The trouble is that English collapses several Italian distinctions into a single “what” or “which,” so beginners freeze at exactly the moment they most need to speak. This guide is a usage-first toolkit, not a glossary: every word comes with real sentences, and the middle of the article finally untangles the che / cosa / quale knot with rules you can apply in real time.

The 7 question words at a glance

Italian interrogatives are mostly invariable — one form, no matter the gender or number of what follows. There are only two exceptions, and we’ll handle both below.

Italian	English	Watch out for
chi	who / whom	people only; never goes plural
cosa / che	what	three interchangeable forms
dove	where	elides to dov’è
quando	when	invariable
perché	why and because	same word for both
come	how	elides to com’è
quanto	how much / how many	agrees: quanto/-a/-i/-e
quale	which (from a set)	qual è, NO apostrophe

The core seven, with real sentences

Chi — who

Chi refers to people only, never things, and it never changes shape — even when the answer is plural, chi stays singular. The useful trick is pairing it with a preposition: di chi means “whose,” a chi means “to whom.”

Italian	English
Chi è quella ragazza?	Who is that girl?
Con chi parli?	Who are you talking to?
Di chi è questa macchina?	Whose car is this?

Dove — where

Dove asks about place. Before the verb è (“is”), it elides to dov’è — the dropped e is replaced by an apostrophe. Stick a preposition in front for origin: da dove means “from where.”

Italian	English
Dove abiti?	Where do you live?
Dov'è la casa?	Where is the house?
Da dove vieni?	Where do you come from?

Quando — when

Quando is the workhorse for time, both as a question and as a linking word (“when”). For clock time specifically, Italians prefer a che ora (“at what hour”) — more on that in the preposition section.

Italian	English
Quando parte il treno?	When does the train leave?
Quando torni?	When are you coming back?

Come — how

Come means “how,” and like dove it elides before è to give com’è. Watch for one famous idiom: “What’s your name?” is Come ti chiami? — literally “how do you call yourself” — not cosa. If that reflexive ti chiami looks unfamiliar, the guide to reflexive verbs walks through it. And the textbook first phrase, come stai, lives in the everyday greetings article.

What vs which — che, cosa, che cosa & quale

Here’s the section other guides skip. English has only “what” and “which”; Italian splits the same territory four ways. Use this decision procedure.

They all mean “what”

There is no difference in meaning between che, cosa and che cosa — all three are correct for “what.” The split is regional and stylistic: cosa is common in the North, che in the Centre and South, and che cosa is the neutral written form. Pick one and stay consistent; cosa is the safest single choice for a beginner.

che + noun, cosa + verb

The reliable rule is what comes next. Before a noun, use che. Before a verb, use cosa (or che cosa).

Italian	English
Che libro leggi?	What book are you reading?
Che lavoro fai?	What work do you do?
Cosa vuoi?	What do you want?
Cos'è questo?	What is this?

So Cosa libro leggi? is wrong — a noun follows, so it must be Che libro.

quale = choosing from a set

Use quale when you’re picking from a known set of options. It’s the one with a plural: quale (singular), quali (plural).

Italian	English
Quale vino preferisci, rosso o bianco?	Which wine do you prefer, red or white?
Quali sono i tuoi passatempi?	What are your hobbies?

The ora / giorno / anno rule

One crisp, testable rule: with ora (time), giorno (day) and anno (year), Italian always uses che, never quale.

• Correct: Che ora è? / Che ore sono? — What time is it?
• Wrong: Quale ora è?
• Correct: Che giorno è oggi? — What day is it today?

Quick decision summary

• Next word is a verb → cosa / che cosa (Cosa fai?)
• Next word is a noun → che (Che libro?)
• Choosing from known options → quale / quali (Quale vino?)
• With ora / giorno / anno → che (Che ora è?)
• “What is…?” with essere → Qual è or Cos’è

Perché — why AND because

Perché is one word with two jobs. At the start of a question it means “why”; in the middle of a statement it means “because.” A whole exchange can run on the same word: — Perché studi italiano? — Perché mi piace. (“Why do you study Italian?” / “Because I like it.”)

Italian	English
Perché piangi?	Why are you crying?
Non vengo perché sono stanco.	I'm not coming because I'm tired.

Quanto — the one that agrees

Quanto is the everyday interrogative that changes its ending to agree with the noun, in both gender and number.

Form	Used with	Example	English
quanto	masc. sing.	Quanto pane vuoi?	How much bread do you want?
quanta	fem. sing.	Quanta pasta hai mangiato?	How much pasta did you eat?
quanti	masc. pl.	Quanti giorni resti?	How many days are you staying?
quante	fem. pl.	Quante persone vengono?	How many people are coming?

When quanto stands before a verb, it stays in the base form: Quanto costa? (“How much does it cost?”) is your essential shopping question, and Quant’è? (“How much is it?”) elides before è.

qual è or qual’è? The apostrophe rule

This is the most-asked Italian spelling question, and the rule is mechanical once you see the why.

• dov’è, com’è, cos’è, quant’è all involve elision: a final vowel is dropped before another vowel and replaced by an apostrophe.
• qual è is different. Qual is apocope (troncamento) — a word that exists on its own. Nothing was elided away, so no apostrophe is written.

✅ Correct	❌ Wrong	Why
qual è	qual’è	apocope — no apostrophe
dov’è	dove è / dovè	elision — apostrophe required
com’è	come è / comè	elision — apostrophe required
cos’è	cosa è / cosè	elision — apostrophe required

The mnemonic: “qual è” is two clean words with a space; the others glue together with an apostrophe.

Put the preposition first (the English trap)

English loves to leave a preposition dangling at the end of a question: “Who are you going with?”, “Where are you from?” Italian never does this. The preposition must lead, sitting right in front of the question word. If prepositions still feel slippery, the guide to a, in, di, da and su is the natural next step.

Italian	English
Con chi vai?	Who are you going with?
Di dove sei?	Where are you from?
A che ora ti alzi?	What time do you get up?

The rule for the learner: find the English preposition dangling at the end and move it to the front, glued to the question word (with → con, from → di/da, to → a, about → di/su). This is also why clock time is a che ora (“at what hour”) and “whose” is di chi (“of whom”).

Your turn

Try these out loud before you close the tab: ask the time (Che ora è?), ask a price (Quanto costa?), and ask someone’s name (Come ti chiami?). Three questions, three patterns, and you’re already conversational. Next time you open the dictionary, pick one new word and build a question around it — that’s how these stop being a chart and start being speech.