Lesson 20 – Una vacanza romantica

1) Listen to the following dialogue:

UNA VACANZA ROMANTICA

Alice: Ciao Laura, sei in partenza?
Laura: Sì, parto per una breve vacanza.
Alice: E per quanto tempo starai via?
Laura: Non lo so ancora; credo che starò via per qualche settimana, ma non ho un programma ben preciso e… beh, l’itinerario non dipende solo da me!
Alice: Perché? Con chi parti?
Laura: Si chiama Alessandro; l’ho conosciuto all’università e… mi piace un sacco!
Alice: Che dire? Buone vacanze.

2) In the dialogue between Alice and Laura you encountered some common questions (pronouns, adverbs and adjectives):

E per quanto tempo starai via?

“Quanto/a/i/e”is an interrogative adjective that serves to have information on a quantity and, like any adjective, agrees in kind and number with the noun to which it refers.

Perché? Con chi parti?

“Perché”, in sentences with the question mark, it is a questioning adverb with which you ask the reason for an action and it is invariable in form.

“Chi”, Instead, in question mark sentences, it is a interrogative pronoun that serves to know a person’s identity (and is only used for people). It is invariable.

Che dire?

“Che” can be a interrogative pronoun (as in this sentence) or a interrogative adjective, as in the following sentence:

Che vino preferisci? Bianco o rosso?

In this case, the question “che” replaces the interrogative adjective “quale/i”. The latter agrees in number (singular and plural) with the name; while it is invariable in gender.

Both as a pronoun and as an adjective, ” che” is invariable.

3) Want to know more interrogatives?

 Interrogative adverbs, pronouns and adjectives

Italian Interrogative and Exclamatory Adverbs

4) Now test what you’ve learned:

Esercizio N°20