What does Quando Mean in Italian?

If you’ve ever heard the famous line “Dimmi quando tornerai, dimmi quando… quando… quando…” from an Italian song, you may have wondered what the word “quando” means.

In Italian, “quando” is one of the Five Ws, and as one of the most basic Italian words, “quando” means “when” and is used in a variety of contexts, including as a question-word and conjunction.

Understanding “quando” is essential for anyone who wants to learn Italian and start forming time-related sentences.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the different ways “quando” is used in Italian and why it’s a must-know word.

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What does quando mean in Italian? We’ve all heard this word at least once. It’s featured in the most famous line of the most famous 20th-century Italian song.

Dimmi quando tornerai, dimmi quando… quando… quando…

Sounds familiar? Turns out, quando is one of the first words you should learn when you start learning Italian. Let’s see why.

quando is one of the Italian five ws

The Meaning of Quando

Quando is one of the Italian Five Ws (chi, cosa, dove, quando, perché) – questions that are the basis of information-gathering and problem-solving processes.

As you can guess, this makes it a must-know for everyone who wants to start speaking and writing in Italian.

If you think about the hierarchy of the Five Ws, the meaning of quando is quite clear: it is the Italian word for “when”. Just like in English, you can use it:

  • as a question-word, like in: “When will we meet again?”
  • as a conjunction, like in: “I love it when you smile.

Quando sei libero per un caffè?

When are you free for a coffee?

Da quando si è iscritto a quel corso di Filologia Germanica non parla d’altro. Se sento un’altra parola sulla rotazione consonantica divento matto!

Since when he signed up for that German Philology class, he doesn’t talk about anything else. If I hear one more word about the consonant shift, I’m gonna lose my mind!

Quando can also be used to make a comparison between two opposite situations. In these cases, it implies some incompatibility between the two.

E’ assurdo che lui faccia l’offeso, quando dovrei essere io ad arrabbiarmi.

It’s absurd that he acts like he’s offended when I should be the one getting angry.

Finally, you can also pair it with mai (“never”) in a rhetorical question to imply that something has never happened for sure.

Quando mai ho fatto una cosa del genere?

When did I ever do such a thing?

Quando Italian question words

Dimmi quando… tornerai a leggere questo blog

Knowing the meaning of quando is important to start forming sentences with time-related words in Italian.

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Learn more about making questions in Italian.

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FAQs on What does Quando Mean in Italian?

What does quando mean in Italian?

Quando is the Italian word for "when". It can be used as a question word or a conjunction, just like in English.

How is quando used in Italian sentences?

Quando can be used in a variety of ways, including as a question word, a conjunction, or to make a comparison between two opposite situations. It can also be paired with mai ("never") in a rhetorical question to imply that something has never happened for sure.

Stefano

Italian language tutor, course author, and polyglot. After learning 12 languages, I can tell you that we all master languages by listening and mimicking. With my method, you'll be speaking Italian from Lesson 1.

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