Italian Steps - Buying presents - Language notes

Quanto costa?
È troppo cara

• To find out how much something costs you ask Quanto costa? 'How much does it cost?' If there's more than one thing the question is Quanto costano? 'How much do they cost?'



• You may want to say it's too expensive, troppo caro, or troppo cara for feminine items. To ask for something that's less expensive, you say meno caro or meno cara.



• To ask for a smaller one, you say più piccolo (lit 'more small') if you're referring to a masculine thing, or più piccola if it's feminine.



• If what you need is something bigger, then you say più grande, which stays the same in the masculine and feminine.



See how this works



La maschera è  Ne ha una  L'orologio è  Ne ha uno

troppo grande più piccola? troppo piccolo più grande?

The mask is too big Do you have a smaller one? The watch is too small Do you have a bigger one?