Sometimes interrogatives replace nouns altogether, and act as interrogative pronouns that introduce a question. They are:
ITALIAN INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS | ||
ITALIAN |
ENGLISH |
EXAMPLE |
Chi? |
(Who? Whom?) |
Chi sei? |
Che/Che cosa/Cosa? |
(What?) |
Cosa dici? |
Quale? |
(Which (one/s)?) |
Quale giornali vuoi? |
Che? or che cosa? refers only to a thing and has the significance of quale/i cose? Che (che cosa) vuoi? Che cosa desideri di più dalla vita?
Che often appears in the interrogative phrase che cosa? (what/which thing?), though sometimes one of these two words may be dropped. The following three phrases are all equally correct:
Che cosa bevi? (What are you drinking?)
Che dici? (What are you saying?)
Cosa fanno i bambini? (What are the children doing?)
Quale? is used to indicate people, animals, or things. It expresses "What is...?" when the answer involves a choice, or when one requests information such as a name, telephone number, or address. Quale? is invariable in gender. Quale di voi ha studiato a Parigi? Quale vuoi conservare di queste due fotografie?
Interrogative Prepositions
In Italian, a question never ends with a preposition. Prepositions such as a, di, con, and per always precede the interrogative chi (who).
A chi scrivi? (To whom are you writing?)
Di chi sono queste chiavi? (Whose keys are these?)
Con chi escono stasera? (Who(m) are they going out with tonight?)