Learn Italian: Dov'è la chiave? È qua! - Where is the key? It's here!

Dov'è la chiave? È qua!

Where is the key? It's here!

Breakdown of Dov'è la chiave? È qua!

Questions & Answers about Dov'è la chiave? È qua!

Why is it la chiave instead of il chiave if it ends in -e?

Nouns ending in -e in Italian can be masculine or feminine, so you just have to memorize their gender. Chiave happens to be feminine, which is why it uses the feminine article la. To make it plural, it becomes le chiavi (the keys).

What does the apostrophe in Dov'è stand for?

Dov'è is a contraction of dove (where) and è (is). Italian often drops the final vowel of a word when the next word starts with a vowel to make the sentence flow better.

What is the difference between qua and qui?

Both qua and qui mean "here" (close to the speaker) and are generally interchangeable. You will hear Italians use both all the time, though qua can sometimes imply a slightly wider or less specific area around the speaker.

Since this lesson is about quello (that), how would I say "Where is that key?"

Because chiave is a feminine singular noun starting with a consonant, you use the feminine form quella. The sentence would be: Dov'è quella chiave?

Why is the second sentence just without a word for "it"?