Come: How in Italian

Come is the Italian interrogative adverb for how. Like dove and quando, it is invariable — one form, no gender, no number. The basic uses are immediate: Come stai? (How are you?), Come si dice? (How do you say?), Come si scrive? (How do you spell it?). What makes come worth a dedicated page is that it lives in a small but dense network of fixed expressions and idioms — come mai (how come?), come? alone for "pardon?", come ti chiami? literally "how do you call yourself?" for "what's your name?" — plus a critical secondary life as a comparative meaning "like" or "as" (alto come te, "tall like you"), which sits side-by-side with the interrogative use and must be distinguished.

This page covers the basic interrogative use, the fixed everyday expressions, the idiomatic come mai, the polite Come? for asking someone to repeat, the indirect-question form, and the comparative come. By the end of it you should be able to say Come stai? without a second thought and recognise instantly when come is asking how and when it is comparing.

1. Come as a question word — the basic uses

In its simplest use, come asks how something is done, how something feels, or in what manner something happens. The word order is come + verb + (subject), like every Italian wh-question. There is no auxiliary do / does / did; the verb stands alone.

The English speaker will notice the absence of do-support: Come hai dormito? — literally "how have you slept?" — uses the perfect tense directly, where English needs did you sleep with an auxiliary. This is true of every Italian wh-question; come is no exception.

A note on Come si dice and Come si scrive. These two questions are the everyday tools for asking how to say or spell a word — they use the impersonal si construction (si dice, "one says"; si scrive, "one writes"). They are how Italians ask each other for vocabulary or spelling help, and how foreign learners ask their teachers.

The si in these constructions is the impersonal si, not a reflexive — see Impersonal Si Constructions for the deeper grammar.

2. Come stai? and the greeting system

The greeting question Come stai? uses come with the verb stare (not essere). This is one of the contexts where Italian prefers stare over essere — in questions about feeling, mood, or general well-being, stare is the verb. The form changes according to the person of the addressee:

The Come va? form is the most flexible: it works regardless of who you're talking to (it doesn't conjugate for person), and it has a slightly more casual feel than Come stai? In a workplace, Come va? is the breezy "how's it going?" you might say to a colleague; Come sta? is what you'd say to your colleague's grandmother.

3. Come ti chiami? — "what's your name?"

A famous case where Italian's come corresponds to English what: the question for asking someone's name. Italian asks Come ti chiami? — literally "How do you call yourself?" — using the reflexive verb chiamarsi (to call oneself, to be called). English asks "What is your name?" with what; Italian asks "How do you call yourself?" with come. The two languages choose different question words to extract the same information.

The same logic applies to asking what something is called: Come si chiama? literally asks how the thing calls itself, and is the standard way of saying "What's it called?" English speakers must train themselves out of saying Cosa è il tuo nome? — which is grammatically possible but awkward and obviously a translation. The native form is Come ti chiami?

4. Come mai — "how come"

The idiom come mai is one of the most useful expressions in everyday Italian. Literally "how ever," it functions exactly like English how come or why on earth, asking for an explanation with a slight note of surprise or curiosity.

The difference between come mai and plain perché is one of register and tone: perché is the neutral "why?", while come mai carries a hint of surprise, mild reproach, or genuine curiosity. Come mai sei in ritardo? is more sympathetic than Perché sei in ritardo?, which can sound accusatory. Come mai is what a friend says; perché is what a teacher says. Both are correct; come mai is warmer.

The expression is fixed: you cannot break it apart, you cannot say come mai mai, and the mai always follows come. Treat it as a single chunk. For more on how perché and come mai relate, see Perché: Why/Because.

5. Come? alone — "pardon? sorry?"

When you didn't catch what someone said and you want them to repeat, the polite Italian response is Come? with rising intonation. This corresponds to English Pardon? or Sorry? and is the standard polite form. It is more formal than Cosa? (which is also possible but more abrupt) and far more polite than Eh? (which is colloquial and somewhat blunt).

The bare Come? is the polite default in shops, restaurants, on the phone, and in any context where you are addressing someone you don't know well. Cosa? alone is acceptable among friends but slightly less polite. Eh? is informal and should be reserved for relaxed contexts. The fuller form Come ha detto, scusi? (formal) or Come hai detto? (informal) is even more polite — what you'd say to your in-laws or a senior colleague.

6. Come fai / come fa a — "how do you manage to"

A common idiomatic structure: come fai a + infinitive (informal tu) or come fa a + infinitive (formal Lei / 3rd person), meaning "how do you manage to [verb]?" or "how can you [verb]?" It is the standard way to ask in surprise how someone accomplishes something difficult or unexpected.

The structure is come + form of fare + a + infinitive. The a is obligatory between fare and the infinitive when fare means "manage to" or "be able to" in this sense. Without a — Come fai ricordare? — the structure is wrong. With a — Come fai a ricordare? — it is the natural form.

7. Come in indirect questions

When a come question is embedded inside another sentence — as the object of sapere, chiedere, dire, capire — the structure stays the same, but the rising intonation and question mark are dropped.

In careful or formal Italian, the verb in an indirect question may take the congiuntivo to mark the embedded nature of the question. The indicative is also acceptable in everyday speech.

A useful indirect-question pattern is come + infinitive, meaning "how to [verb]." Non so come arrivare (I don't know how to get there), Non so come dire (I don't know how to say it), Non so come spiegarlo (I don't know how to explain it). The infinitive is the simplest form; it does not require a finite verb after come.

8. Come as a comparative — "like, as"

This is the section where careful attention pays off. The same word come has a second life as a comparative preposition meaning "like" or "as." This is not asking a question — it is comparing one thing to another, and the structure is completely different from the interrogative use.

In comparative use, come is a function word linking two things — typically adjective + come + noun (alto come te) or verb + come + noun (corre come un fulmine). The clue that distinguishes the comparative from the interrogative is the absence of a question mark and the presence of an adjective or verb that come is comparing.

A common construction is così... come... for "as... as...," though in modern Italian the comparison can be made with come alone:

The così is optional in modern speech and often omitted. Note that the prescriptive partner of tanto in this construction is quanto, not come — the standard pairings are così... come and tanto... quanto. For full coverage of comparative constructions, see Comparatives (forthcoming).

Telling interrogative come from comparative come

The two uses can look similar at first glance, but the surrounding clues are different:

The exclamative use, sometimes overlooked, is also worth flagging:

The exclamative come fronts an adjective or verb to express strong emotion. Come sei bello! — admiration; Come piove! — surprise at the weather; Come mi piace! — emphatic enthusiasm. The clue is the exclamation mark and the strong evaluative tone.

9. Comparison with English

A consolidated view of how Italian come compares to English how:

The structural lesson: where English uses different words for "how?" (interrogative), "like" (comparative), and "how!" (exclamative), Italian uses the same word come for all three, and you tell them apart by context, intonation, and punctuation. Where English asks "What's your name?", Italian asks "How do you call yourself?" — come, not cosa.

A worked dialogue: come in action

A short conversation between two friends that uses every major come construction.

That dialogue uses come in seven different functions: interrogative greeting (Come stai?), interrogative idiom (Come va?), comparative (come al solito, come te), interrogative for name (Come si chiama?), polite request to repeat (Come?), causal idiom (Come mai?), and exclamative (Come sei carino!). All seven are everyday Italian.

Common Mistakes

Key takeaways

• Come is invariable — no gender, no number, one form for all uses.
• Come stai? uses stare, not essere — Come sei? literally asks "what kind of person are you?", not "how are you?"
• Come ti chiami? is "what's your name?" — Italian asks how you call yourself, not what your name is.
• Come mai is the idiomatic "how come?" — softer and more curious than plain perché.
• Come? alone is the polite request for repetition. More polite than Cosa?, far more polite than Eh?
• Come fai a + infinitive is "how do you manage to..." — note the obligatory a.
• Come is also a comparative ("like, as") — alto come te, corre come un fulmine. Distinguished from the interrogative by context, intonation, and absence of a question mark.
• In indirect questions, the same form applies, but the question mark is dropped and the verb may shift to the congiuntivo in careful speech.

For other interrogative adverbs, see Interrogative Adverbs. For comparative come and full comparative grammar, see Manner Adverbs. For "why" questions and the relationship to come mai, see Perché: Why/Because. For the question system as a whole, see Italian Questions: Overview.