Questions: directions, prices, times
Magenta week. Seven question words, and enough fixed phrases to find a station, ask a price and understand the answer.
The question words
- Dove?Where?Dove è la stazione?Where is the station?
Written dov'è before a vowel.
- Quando?When?
- Come?How?Come sta?How are you?
- Perché?Why?
The same word also means because. Italian does not bother to distinguish them.
- Chi?Who?
say: kee — the ch is hard
- Quanto?How much?Quanto costa?How much does it cost?
- Quale?Which?A quale ora?At what time?
Becomes qual before è — qual è il problema?
What the colours above mean
10 of 10 colours so farA thing, a person or a place.
An action or a state — what is happening.
Describes a noun.
Modifies a verb or an adjective.
the / a / some — and possessives like mon, ma.
Stands in for a noun — I, you, he, it.
Links words together — to, in, of, for.
Joins two parts of a sentence.
Opens a question — where, when, how, why.
Learn it whole. Do not take it apart.
Direction phrases stay as grey chunks. A sinistra is one unit — you will never need to take it apart.
Perché does both jobs
Perché is why and because, the same word with the same spelling. Perché non mangi? Perché non ho fame. Where French needs pourquoi and parce que and Spanish needs por qué and porque, Italian just repeats itself — and nobody is ever confused.
Asking directions
All chunks. Say them whole.
- [Dov'è… ?]Where is…?
- [a sinistra]on the left
- [a destra]on the right
- [sempre dritto]straight on
Literally always straight.
- [accanto a]next to
- [di fronte a]opposite
- [vicino a]near to
- [lontano da]far from
- [cerco…]I'm looking for…
Prices, times and opening hours
- Quanto costa?How much does it cost?
- [Quant'è?]How much is it?
The shorter, more common version.
- [È troppo caro]It's too expensive
- Che ora è?What time is it?
- A che ora?At what time?
- aperto / apertaopenIl bar è aperto.The bar is open.
- chiuso / chiusaclosedLa banca è chiusa.The bank is closed.
Adjectives agree, and the sign tells you which
Aperto and chiuso are adjectives, so they are purple and they agree with whatever they describe — bold for a masculine noun, slanted for a feminine one. Watch for chiuso per ferie on a shop door in August: closed for the holidays, and it may well mean the whole month.
Sentence frames
- 1
Cerco la stazione.
I'm looking for the station.
- 2
Dove è la farmacia?
Where is the pharmacy?
- 3
Quanto costa?
How much does it cost?
Daily mini-tasks
Listening this week
Podcast Italiano — the principiante episodes
Podcast apps and YouTube
Davide speaks slowly and entirely in Italian, with transcripts. The beginner episodes are pitched almost exactly here.
What stuck?
Check it before you close the page.
Up to 10 of this week's words and frames. Say each one out loud before you look, and say whether you think you have it. Guessing first and then checking is what makes it stick — reading the answer feels better and does less.