Saying no, and asking questions
Italian has the simplest negation in any major European language: just stick non in front of the verb. Parlo italiano → Non parlo italiano. For yes/no questions, you don't change the word order at all — just raise your tone (and add a question mark in writing). For information questions, lead with one of the seven question words: chi, cosa / che, dove, quando, come, perché, quanto.
Negation: non + verb
Non goes immediately before the verb. Parlo francese → Non parlo francese. = I don't speak French. Marco è qui → Marco non è qui. = Marco isn't here. Hanno fame → Non hanno fame. = they're not hungry. There's no auxiliary 'do' — Italian doesn't say non faccio parlare, just non parlo. Nothing comes between non and the verb except a small set of pronouns we'll meet later.
Yes/no questions: just intonation
Italian doesn't invert subject and verb. The statement and the question look the same — only the rising tone (and the question mark) tell them apart. Tu sei italiano. = you're Italian. Tu sei italiano? = are you Italian? Marco lavora a Roma. / Marco lavora a Roma? Drop the pronoun the same way you would in a statement: Sei italiano?, Lavora a Roma?
The seven question words
chi = who. cosa or che or che cosa = what (all three are interchangeable). dove = where. quando = when. come = how. perché = why (and also 'because' — same word for question and answer). quanto = how much / how many (changes for gender and number: quanti, quanta, quante). Question words start the sentence; the verb comes right after.
Word order in information questions
Question word + verb + (subject if needed). Chi è? = who is it? Cosa mangi? = what are you eating? Dove abita Marco? = where does Marco live? Quando lavori? = when do you work? Come stai? = how are you? Perché studi l'italiano? = why are you studying Italian? Quanti anni hai? = how old are you? When the subject is a noun (not a pronoun), it usually comes after the verb: Dove abita Anna? not Dove Anna abita?
Answering with non … and perché vs perché
To say 'no', use No + non + verb: No, non parlo francese. The two no's aren't a duplication — the first is the answer, the second is the negation marker. To answer 'why?', use perché again — it doubles as 'because': Perché studi l'italiano? — Perché abito in Italia. = Why are you studying Italian? — Because I live in Italy. Same word, same spelling, same accent.
