Forma affermativa, negativa, interrogativa

Read the grammar note, then click on the Audio to listen to the sentence intonation.

Sentences have specific functions. They can be used to affirm something, ask questions, give commands, express moods, and so on.

Declarative (or affirmative) sentences generally are simple sentences with one verb in the indicative mood; they allow the speaker to make statements and communicate information in a straightforward way:
Francesco è italiano - Francesco is Italian

In declarative sentences with object nouns, word order is similar in both Italian and English:
Io mangio le mele - I’m eating apples
Alberto suona la chitarra - Alberto plays the guitar

To transform an affirmative sentence into a negative sentence, place the word non directly before the conjugated verb:
Leggo molto - I read a lot
Non leggo molto - I do not read a lot
La ragazza parla l’italiano - The girl speaks Italian
La ragazza non parla l’italiano - The girl does not speak Italian

In written language, an interrogative sentence always ends in a question mark. In spoken Italian, a rising voice intonation signals that a question is being asked:
Giulia è la sorella di Anna - Giulia is Anna's sister
Giulia è la sorella di Anna? - Is Giulia Anna's sister?
Giulia ha un gatto - Giulia has got a cat
Giulia ha un gatto? - Has Giulia got a cat?

Yes-no questions can also be formed by putting the subject at the end of the sentence:
Giovanni è a casa? or È a casa Giovanni? - Is Giovanni at home?

As in English, you can change a declarative sentence into an interrogative one by using question tags, that is by adding a short phrase like no?, vero?, giusto?, non è vero? at the end of the sentence:
Giovanni e Francesco sono italiani, non è vero? Giovanni and Francesco are Italian, aren’t they?
Tu sei Anna, giusto? - You are Anna, aren’t you?

To elicit information, you can use many different interrogative words like chi ‘who’, che cosa (often shortened in che, or in cosa) ‘what’, dove ‘where’, come ‘how’, perché ‘why’, quando ‘when’, quanto ‘how much’, quale ‘which’. On the whole, these interrogative words work in the same way as their English equivalents:
Chi è l’amico di Lucia? - Who is Lucia’s friend?
Che cosa vuol dire ‘benvenuto’? - What does ‘welcome’ mean?
Che mangi? - What are you eating?
Cosa preferisci? - What do you prefer?
Dove abitano gli amici di Lucia? - Where do Lucia’s friends live?
Come stai? - How are you?
Perché siete in Italia? - Why are you in Italy?
Quando arriva l’aereo? - When does the plane arrive?
Quanto costa un caffè? - How much is a coffee?
Quale treno prendi? - Which train do you take?

N.B.
Come+è…? = Com’è…?
Com’è la camera? - What is the bedroom like?
Dove+è…? = Dov’è…?
Dov’è il bagno? - Where is the bathroom?

Quanto agrees in gender and number with the noun it refers to:
Quanto tempo hai? - How much time do you have?
Quanti fratelli hai? - How many brothers have you got?
Quanta pazienza hai? - How much patience do you have?
Quante sorelle hai? - How many sisters have you got?