Sometimes interrogatives replace nouns altogether, and act as interrogative pronouns that introduce a question. They are:

　　Che? or che cosa? refers only to a thing and has the significance of quale/i cose? Che (che cosa) vuoi? Che cosa desideri di più dalla vita?

　　Che often appears in the interrogative phrase che cosa? (what/which thing?), though sometimes one of these two words may be dropped. The following three phrases are all equally correct:

　　Che cosa bevi? (What are you drinking?)

　　Che dici? (What are you saying?)

　　Cosa fanno i bambini? (What are the children doing?)

　　Quale? is used to indicate people, animals, or things. It expresses "What is...?" when the answer involves a choice, or when one requests information such as a name, telephone number, or address. Quale? is invariable in gender. Quale di voi ha studiato a Parigi? Quale vuoi conservare di queste due fotografie?

　　Interrogative Prepositions

　　In Italian, a question never ends with a preposition. Prepositions such as a, di, con, and per always precede the interrogative chi (who).

　　A chi scrivi? (To whom are you writing?)

　　Di chi sono queste chiavi? (Whose keys are these?)

　　Con chi escono stasera? (Who(m) are they going out with tonight?)