The Italian word CHE

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Today lesson will focus on one tiny but very much used word in Italian: the word CHE. It’s super common and I want you to know how to use it and I will also teach you specific Italian expressions that have this word in them!

Download the lesson in PDF format here!

Che has many different uses and meanings. I will show you the most common ones and the ones that you should start using immediately! 

Let’s begin with the most common use of Che. 

CHE As A Relative Pronoun

Keep in mind that Relative pronouns are used to link two sentences, with a common element, together. Since I’m taking about pronouns also these types of pronouns the Relative pronouns will refer to the nouns already mentioned in the sentence. (In English these are that, which, who, whom and whose).

Example:

I like the girl that has brown hair. That would be your pronoun. 

Che as That

• La macchina che mi piace di più è quella rossa. (The car that I like the most is the red one).
• La serie tv che sto guardando è molto interessante. (The TV series that I’m watching is very interesting). 
• La ragazza che mi piace si chiama Sofia. (The girl that I like is called Sofia).

Che with the meaning of Who 

Please note that in this case of in Italian Che can be both subject and object in the sentences.

• Paola è una mia amica che vive in Australia. (Paola is a friend of mine who lives in Australia. --> In this sentence, che refers to the subject in the sentence which is Paola.
• La bimba che è vicino a mia mamma è mia sorella.The girl who is sitting next to my mom is my sister. --> In this example, che refers to the object in the sentence which is la bimba.

Che in Italian can also be used in questions. Similarly to the English question word WHAT. In this case it can be an interrogative adjective and pronoun. What does this mean? Simply that you can use it to introduce a question. They can be adjectives when the are followed by a noun or pronouns when the substitute a noun. You will use it to ask for further information 

• Che macchina hai? (What car do you have?)
• Che cosa mangi? (What are you eating?)
• Che film vuoi vedere? (What film do you want to watch?)
• Che vuoi? (What do you want?)
• Che succede? (What’s going on?)
• Di che parlavano? (What where they talking about?)

In this last case you have a preposition before it. It can be used but remember to always place it before CHE.

CHE can also be used to describe an indefinite quantity or quality, and in this case it becomes an indefinite adjective or pronoun

Let’s see some examples:

• Questo pollo ha un che di piccante. (This chicken has a bit of a spicy flavor to it).
• Non riesco a capire un gran che. (I can’t understand very well)

Always remember that I told you that you can use it to connect sentences… so obviously Che can be a Conjunction between an objective clause and an independent clause. 

• Dice che non lo sa (He says that he doesn’t know).

For sure you remember che from my subjunctive video that the little word CHE can introduce a subjective clause and here we may use the indicative or the subjunctive depending on the level of certainty we have.

• È ora che tu faccia il tuo lavoro! (It’s time for you to do your work!)

Che in Italian can introduce limitation (in this case, is always followed by a subjunctive):

• Che io sappia, non esiste (As far as I know, it doesn’t exist).

You can use CHE to talk about Time

• Il giorno che siamo partiti nevicava! (It was snowing on the day when we left).

You can use CHE with wishes and commands, exceptions, or as the the English word weather:

• Wishes and commands: Spera che non dica niente (Hope that he won’t say anything!)
• Exception: Non ci resta altro che pregare! (Nothing left but to pray!)
• Whether Che lo faccia o meno, non lo sapremo mai! (Whether he does or not we will never know!)

CHE can also be a causal conjunction and it will be used to explain why things happen: it can have the meaning of “because/ since/ due to the fact that“:

• poiché
• giacché
• dacché
• visto che
• dato che

Examples:

• Dato che eri in ritardo ho iniziato da solo. Since you were late I started alone. non 
• Visto che sei qui aiutami a spostare il tavolo! Since you are here help me move the table!
• Scusa, avrei dovuto avvisarti il permesso di usarla, poiché è la tua bici!
• Sorry, I should have asked your permission to use it since it’s your bike.

Here is a list some fun and common expressions with the word CHE that you can start using immediately to sound more Italian.

• che bello! (how beautiful!)
• che brutto! (how ugly)
• che noia! (how boring!)
• che fame! (I’m so hungry!)
• che stanchezza! (I’m so tired!)
• che caldo! (how hot!)
• che stress! (what a stress!)
• che palle! (this isn’t actually a nice expression… but it’s very common to say “how annoying / how boring”… it’s borderline cussing!)
• che schifo! (how gross)
• Che figo! (how cool!)

Very often these expression can be translated to “what a…” let me give you some more details:

• Che bella giornata! (What a beautiful day!)
• Che brutto cosa! (What an horrible thing!)
• Che peccato! (What a pity!)
• Che disordine! (What a mess!)