Learn how to make questions in Italian
Making questions is an aspect of the English language that is actually quite complicated if you think about it.
We use something called an auxiliary which is a verb that ‘helps’ the main verb become interrogative. In the present this auxiliary is ‘do’, in the past, ‘did’, future ‘will’ and so on. Plus, if we are using the verb ‘be’ we don’t need an auxiliary because…… enough! Too complicated! All you need to know is that making questions in Italian is SIMPLE!
First take the verb you want to use.
Next put it into the right tense, with the right subject ending, then…. do nothing! You’re done!
Let’s look at an example:
I want to ask ‘do you live here?’. The verb live is vivere. In the present, 2nd person it’s vivi. I add the word for here ‘qui‘ and I get:
Vivi qui?
Another example. ‘Are they going to the cinema tonight?’ The verb go is andare. In the future, 3rd person plural, andranno. To the cinema, al cinema and tonight, stasera. We get:
Andranno al cinema stasera?
If you want to add words like what, when, why and so forth, just add them before the verb.
When - quando
Where - dove
What - (che) cosa
which - quale
Who - chi
why - perche
How - come
How much - quanto/a (depending on whether the object is masculine or feminine)
How many - quanti/e (depending on whether the object is masculine or feminine)
Some examples:
When did you buy that bag? Quando hai comprato quella borsa?
Where do you do the shopping? Dove fai la spesa?
