How to Ask How Much Something Is

Learn how to ask how much something is

Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Italian by ItalianPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask how much something is in Italian.

For example, "How much does this cost?" is

Adam Russo : Quanto costa questo?

Adam Russo is at a small grocery store.

He sees a snack with no visible price tag, and asks for the price.

Before you hear the conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

questo

"this"

questo

costa

"costs"

costa

Quanto costa questo?

Costa due euro.

Once more with the English translation.

Quanto costa questo?

"How much does this cost?"

Costa due euro.

"It costs two euro."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Adam asks,

"How much does this cost?"

Quanto costa questo?

Let’s start with the word, questo, "this." Questo. Questo.

You can use this word while pointing at something near you. It’s useful when you want to refer to something you don't know the Italian word for.

In Italian, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Questo is masculine and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Next is costa. "Costs" as in “this costs.” Costa.Costa.

Costa is from the verb costare, “to cost.” Costare.

Last is Quanto, "how much," in this context. Quanto. Quanto.

All together, it's Quanto costa questo? This literally translates as, “How much costs this?” But translates as "How much this cost?"

Quanto costa questo?

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how the shop clerk says,

"It costs two euro."

Costa due euro.

Let’s start with due euro, “two euro.” Due euro.

First is due, "two." Due. Due.

Next is euro. "Euro," the name of the currency. Euro. Euro.

Note the singular and plural form of euro are the same.

Together it’s due euro, “two euro.” Due euro.

Before this is costa, "[it] costs." Costa. Costa.

The word "this" is omitted as it is understood from context.

All together, it's Costa due euro. Literally, this means “Costs two euro,” but it translates as "It costs two euro."

Costa due euro.

The pattern is

Quanto costa ITEM?

"How much does ITEM cost?"

Quanto costa ITEM?

To use this pattern, simply replace the {ITEM} placeholder with the thing you’d like to know the price of.

Note: This pattern requires a noun phrase, in which a definite article is followed by a noun. The gender of the article depends upon the noun that follows it. The noun phrase can also be replaced by a demonstrative pronoun, as in the dialogue. This pronoun will depend on the location, gender, and number of the desired item.

For example, in the case of coffee

Imagine you’d like to know the price of a coffee, un caffè.

Caffè. “coffee.” Caffè. Caffè.

Note that caffè is masculine and singular.

Un is also masculine and singular to agree with caffè.

Un. Think of this like "a," in English. Un. Un.

Ask, “How much does a coffee cost?”

Ready?

Quanto costa un caffè?

"How much does a coffee cost?"

Quanto costa un caffè?

Note: If you ask for un caffè, “a coffee,” it is assumed you are asking for an espresso.

If you’d like a less strong coffee, you would request a caffè lungo or caffè americano.

The word, questo, can be used to discuss an item without knowing its name in Italian. Questo can be used for things close to you, and quello, “that,” for things farther from you. Quello.

If you don't know the name of an item and consequently its gender, you can use these masculine pronouns.

When you want to ask for an item by name, rather than by pointing it out, you need to include an article. In this lesson, we’ll focus on the indefinite article.

The indefinite article is like the English “a,” as in “a menu”.

The masculine indefinite articles are un, as in un menù, and uno, when the following word starts with st, sp, gn, ps, z, y, x or pn, as in uno yogurt.

The feminine indefinite article is una, as in una pizza margherita, a margherita pizza, and un’, when the following word begins with a vowel, as in un’ occasione, an occasion.

Again, the pattern is,

Quanto costa ITEM?

"How much does ITEM cost?"

Quanto costa ITEM?

Let’s look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

Quanto costa questo?

"How much does this cost?"

Quanto costa questo?

Quanto costa un caffè?

"How much does a coffee cost?"

Quanto costa un caffè?

Quanto costa una torta?

"How much does a cake cost?"

Quanto costa una torta?

Quanto costa quello?

"How much does that cost?"

Quanto costa quello?

Quanto costa?

"How much does it cost?"

Quanto costa?

Did you notice how he omitted the word questo?

Quanto costa? Literally means “how much this costs,” but translates as "How much does this cost?"

The word "this" is understood from context.

When you’re asking how much something is, and it’s understood what you’re speaking about, for example, when asking by pointing at something, you can omit the subject.

This pattern is

Quanto costa?

"How much does it cost?"

You should be aware of this pattern, but for this lesson, we’ll use the sentence pattern,

Quanto costa ITEM?

"How much does ITEM cost?"

Let's review the new words.

Caffè.

“Coffee”

Caffè.

Torta.

“Cake.”

Torta.

Quello.

“That.”

Quello.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speakers, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

When you don’t know the word for something, do you remember how to say “this?”

Questo.

And how to say “how much?”

Quanto.

Do you remember how Adam Russo asks,

"How much does this cost?"

Quanto costa questo?

Do you remember how to say "euro?"

Euro.

And how to say "two?"

Due.

Do you remember how the clerk says,

"It costs two euro."

Costa due euro.

Do you remember how to say "coffee?"

Caffè.

And how to say "a coffee?"

Un caffè.

Do you remember how to say "cake?"

Torta.

And how to say "a cake?"

Una torta.

Do you remember how to say "that?"

Quello.

Let's practice.

Imagine you’re Adam , and you’re at a farmers’ market. You'd like to try a snack with no price tag and that is located out of reach. Ask for the price using the word for "that," or quello.

Ready?

Quanto costa quello?

Costa cinque euro.

Listen again and repeat.

Quanto costa quello?

Let’s try another.

Imagine they’re also selling artisan coffee. Ask for the price of a coffee, or un caffè.

Don’t forget the article.

Ready?

Quanto costa un caffè?

Costa un euro.

Listen again and repeat.

Quanto costa un caffè?

Let’s try one more.

They’re also selling cake, or una torta.

Ready?

Quanto costa una torta?

Costa cinque euro.

Listen again and repeat.

Quanto costa una torta?

In this lesson, you learned how to ask how much something costs. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of shopping at a grocery store. Let’s review.

Do you remember how to say "please?"

Per favore.

And do you remember how to say,

"This, please."

Questo, per favore.

Do you remember how to say "salt?"

sale

And how to say "the salt?"

il sale

Do you remember how to ask,

"Excuse me, do you have any salt?"

Scusi, avete il sale?

Imagine you're Jack Jones , and you're at a grocery store, and you'd like to buy an Item located far away from you. You point at it and request "that."

Do you remember how to say "that" in Italian?

quello

Request "that" from the waiter.

Quello, per favore.

Prego!

Listen again and repeat.

Quello, per favore.

You remembered that you also wanted to buy milk

Do you remember how to say "the milk" in Italian?

il latte

Now ask the clerk if the store has milk.

Ready?

Scusi, avete il latte?

Sì, è qui.

Listen again and repeat.

Scusi, avete il latte?

In a cafe nearby you'd like to buy a coffee.

Do you remember how to say "a coffee" in Italian?

un caffè

Now ask for the price of a coffee.

Quanto costa un caffè?

Costa un euro.

Listen again and repeat.

Quanto costa un caffè?

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Shop at a Grocery Store unit of this course.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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