How do I ask for the price of an item in Italian
To ask for the price of an item in Italian, the most common phrase is Quanto costa?, which means “How much does it cost?” If you are asking about multiple items, you can say Quanto costano?, meaning “How much do they cost?” Another way to ask is Qual è il prezzo?, which means “What is the price?”
These expressions are the best starting point, but in real shopping situations, it helps to know a few variations depending on what you are pointing at or how formal you want to sound.
Useful ways to ask for the price
If you want to sound natural in a shop, market, or restaurant, you can use short, direct questions:
- Quanto costa questo? — How much does this cost?
- Quanto costa quello? — How much does that cost?
- Quanto costa questa borsa? — How much does this bag cost?
- Quanto costano questi? — How much do these cost?
- Quanto costa al pezzo? — How much is it per piece?
In Italian, questo is used for masculine singular nouns, questa for feminine singular nouns, questi for masculine plural nouns, and queste for feminine plural nouns. If you are not sure of the gender, you can simply point and say Quanto costa? or Quanto viene?, another common informal way to ask the price.
More natural alternatives
Depending on the situation, Italians may also say:
- Quanto viene? — How much does it come to?
- Me lo può dire? — Can you tell me?
- Quanto viene in totale? — How much is it in total?
- Mi fa un prezzo? — Can you give me a price?
Quanto viene? is very common in everyday conversation, especially in shops and markets. It sounds a little less direct than Quanto costa?, but both are perfectly correct.
Polite phrases to use with shopkeepers
If you want to be especially polite, you can add a greeting or softening phrase:
- Buongiorno, quanto costa questo? — Hello, how much does this cost?
- Scusi, quanto costa? — Excuse me, how much does it cost?
- Per favore, quanto viene? — Please, how much is it?
In Italian, Scusi is a polite way to say “excuse me” to one person. Using it before your question is a simple way to sound respectful, especially in stores, cafés, and markets.
Common mistakes to avoid
A few small mistakes can make your question sound less natural:
- Using qual è with the wrong form: Qual è il prezzo? is correct, but in everyday shopping, Quanto costa? is usually more natural.
- Forgetting to match the item you are asking about: Questo, questa, questi, and queste change depending on number and gender.
- Being too formal in a casual setting: Qual è il prezzo? is correct, but in a market it may sound more like a translated phrase than everyday speech.
If you are unsure, Quanto costa? is the safest and most versatile option.
Example shopping dialogue
Here is a simple conversation you might hear in Italy:
- Customer: Scusi, quanto costa questo?
- Shopkeeper: Costa dieci euro. — It costs ten euros.
- Customer: Grazie. — Thank you.
If you are asking about several items:
- Customer: Quanto costano queste scarpe? — How much do these shoes cost?
- Shopkeeper: Costano cinquantacinque euro. — They cost fifty-five euros.
Quick pronunciation tip
Quanto is pronounced roughly like kwan-toh, and costa like koh-sta. The c in costa is a hard k sound, not a soft ch sound.
These phrases are widely understood and useful for shopping or dining in Italian-speaking regions.