Learn Italian: Voglio sapere com'è il suo carattere ideale. - I want to know what his ideal character is like.

Voglio sapere com'è il suo carattere ideale.

I want to know what his ideal character is like.

Breakdown of Voglio sapere com'è il suo carattere ideale.

Questions & Answers about Voglio sapere com'è il suo carattere ideale.

Why doesn't the word order change in the second half of the sentence?

In English, reporting a question changes the word order (from "what IS his character like" to "what his character IS like"). In Italian, the word order in an indirect question stays exactly the same as in a direct question. You just take the direct question (Com'è il suo carattere ideale?) and put Voglio sapere in front of it.

Why do we use com'è to mean "what is it like"?

When asking for a description of someone's qualities in Italian, you use come (how) plus the verb essere (to be). English uses "what is... like?", but Italian literally asks "how is...?". Here, come and è combine into com'è.

Does carattere refer to a character in a movie or book here?

No, carattere refers to a person's personality, temperament, or nature. If you want to talk about a character in a story, you must use the word personaggio instead.

The translation says "his", but couldn't il suo mean "her"?

Yes! Il suo can mean "his", "her", or even the formal "your". Without more context from a conversation, this sentence could equally mean "I want to know what her ideal character is like." The English translation just picked "his" as one valid option.