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looh -ee vah ahl chee -neh-mah?) ( Does he go to the movies? ) There’s no word for does, just as there’s no word for are in the following sentence: Vai alla partita? (vahy ahl -lah pahr- tee -tah?) ( Are you going to the game? )
    In Italian, forming questions is easy: A question has the same structure as an affirmative statement. You identify a question only by the intonation in your voice and by the use of a question mark in written language. For example:
    Luca va a scuola. ( looh -kah vah ah skwoh -lah.) ( Luca goes to school. )
    Luca va a scuola? ( looh -kah vah ah skwoh -lah?) ( Luca goes to school? ) ( Does Luca go to school? )
    Mangi la carne. ( mahn -jee lah kahr -neh.) ( You eat/You’re eating meat. )
    Mangi la carne? ( mahn -jee lah kahr -neh?) ( Do you eat/Are you eating [the] meat? )
    Italian also has interrogative pronouns ( when, where, what, and so on). You use these pronouns to start questions.
    Chi? (kee?) ( Who? )
    Che? (keh?) ( What? )
    Cosa? ( koh -sah?) ( What? )
    Quando? ( kwahn -doh?) ( When? )
    Quanto/a? ( kwahn -toh/tah?) ( How much? [masculine/feminine])
    Quanti/e? ( kwahn -tee/teh?) ( How many? [masculine/feminine])
    Quale/i? ( kwah -leh/ee?) ( Which/what? [singular/plural])
    Dove? ( doh -veh?) ( Where? )
    Perché? (pehr- keh? ) ( Why? )
    Come? ( koh -meh?) ( How? )
    Che , cosa , and che cosa are often used interchangeably.
    Here are some sample questions, using these interrogative pronouns:
    Chi è? (kee eh?) ( Who is it/this? )
    Cosa stai facendo? ( koh -sah stahy fah- chehn -doh?) ( What are you doing? )
    Quando arrivi? ( kwahn -doh ahr- ree -vee?) ( When do you arrive? )
    Dov’è la stazione? (doh- veh lah stah- tsyoh -neh?) ( Where is the station? )
    Perché non sei venuto? (pehr- keh nohn sahy veh- nooh -toh?) ( Why didn’t you come? )
    Come stai? ( koh -meh stahy?) ( How are you? )
    Come si dice “rain” in italiano? ( koh -meh see dee -cheh “rain” in ee-tah-lee- ah -noh?) ( How do you say “rain” in Italian? )
    Asking simple questions
    When you ask a question using an interrogative pronoun, you don’t need the interrogative pronoun in the response. For example:
    Dov’è la Cappella Sistina? (doh- veh lah kahp- pehl -lah sees- tee -nah?) ( Where is the Sistine Chapel? )
    La Cappella Sistina è a Roma. (lah kahp- pehl -lah sees- tee -nah eh ah roh -mah.) ( The Sistine Chapel is in Rome. )
    Quante regioni ci sono in Italia? ( kwahn -teh reh- joh -nee chee soh -noh in ee- tah -lee-ah?) ( How many regions are there in Italy? )
    Ci sono 20 regioni. (chee soh -noh vehn-tee reh- joh -nee.) ( There are 20 regions. )
    The interrogatives dove ( doh -veh) ( where ) and come ( koh -meh) ( how ) can be contracted with the verb essere ( ehs -sehr-reh) ( to be ) in the third person singular. Note that the pronunciation and stress also change. Take a look at these interrogatives with third person singular and third person plural verbs.
    Dov’è Mario. (doh- veh mah -ryoh?) ( Where’s Mario? )
    Dove sono i ragazzi? ( doh -veh soh -noh ee rah- gahts -tsee?) ( Where are the boys? )
    Com’è quel ristorante? (koh- meh kwehl rees-toh- rahn- teh?) ( How is that restaurant? ) ( What’s that restaurant like? )
    Come sono gli gnocchi? ( koh -meh soh -noh lyee nyohk -kee?) ( How are the gnocchi? )
    Use quale ( kwah -leh) ( what/which ) in the singular, quali ( kwah -lee) in the plural, but qual è (kwahl- eh ) when combined with the third person singular of essere. See these examples:
    Quale ( kwah -leh): Quale film vuoi vedere? ( kwah -leh feelm vwohi veh- deh -reh?) ( What/which film do you want to see? )
    Qual è (kwahl- eh ): Qual è il mare più profondo in Italia? (kwahl- eh il mah-reh pyooh proh- fohn -doh in ee- tah- lee-ah?) ( What is the deepest sea in Italy? )
    Quali ( kwahl -ee): Quali amici hai invitato? ( kwahl -ee ah- mee -chee ahy in-vee- tah -toh?) ( Which friends did you invite? )
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    C’è and ci