Italian is refreshingly simple here — question formation usually just changes intonation, and negation only needs placing 'non' before the verb. No auxiliary verb juggling like in English.
Yes/no questions
Italian yes/no questions have the same word order as statements. Rising intonation (spoken) or a question mark (written) signals the question.
- Parli italiano?Do you speak Italian?
- Luca è a casa?Is Luca home?
Question words
chi (who), che / cosa / che cosa (what), dove (where), quando (when), perché (why), come (how), quanto (how much/many), quale (which).
- Dove abiti?Where do you live?
- Che cosa mangi?What are you eating?
- Quanti anni hai?How old are you?
Negation
Place 'non' immediately before the verb. That's it — no extra word changes.
- Non parlo francese.I don't speak French.
- Non ho fame.I'm not hungry.
- Non è vero.It's not true.
Double negatives
Italian uses double negatives naturally — and they stay negative. With 'mai', 'niente', 'nessuno', etc., keep 'non' before the verb.
- Non mangio mai carne.I never eat meat.
- Non vedo nessuno.I see no one.
- Non c'è niente.There's nothing.