Asking "How" and "When"
To ask for details about an action, place the question word at the beginning of the sentence, usually followed right away by the verb.
Let's look at come (how) and quando (when). In these examples, you will also see two new regular -are verbs: arrivare (to arrive) and tornare (to return).
| How does the new colleague work? | Come lavora il nuovo collega? |
| When do you arrive at the office? | Quando arrivi in ufficio? |
| When do the children return? | Quando tornano i bambini? |
Adding Detail with Adverbs
To give more detail about how or when something happens, you can use adverbs. Words like presto (early), tardi (late), and male (badly) generally go right after the verb.
If someone is running behind schedule, you can use the phrase in ritardo (delayed or late). Let's see some of these in action with another new verb, iniziare (to start):
| They start the work very early. | Iniziano il lavoro molto presto. |
Perché: Why and Because
Perché is an incredibly useful word because it does double duty: it means both why in a question and because in a statement! Just like the other question words, it goes at the beginning of a question.
| Why do you start the project late? | Perché inizi il progetto in ritardo? |
| Why does the new colleague work badly? | Perché il nuovo collega lavora male? |
| He works badly because he is sleepy. | Lavora male perché ha sonno. |
