cos'è?
The Italian phrase for "what is it?" is cos'è?
cos'è? is a question used to ask for the identity or definition of an object.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is a contraction of cosa è? The word cosa means "what" and è is the third-person singular form of the verb essere (to be).
Which one should you use?
You may also see the uncontracted, full form che cosa è?, which literally means "what thing is it?" Additionally, che cos'è? is a more complete version of the phrase, though both are used interchangeably in daily speech.
How does it change in a sentence?
In the form cos'è?, the apostrophe is mandatory because the vowel in cosa is dropped before the vowel in è to avoid a hiatus.
Did you know?
- Using cos'è? to refer to a human being is an insult, as it implies the person is an object or a strange creature rather than a person.
- While cos'è? is the standard, speakers in southern Italy and various regional dialects often use the shorter che è? in daily conversation.
- The word cosa is an ancient term for 'a thing', appearing in very old and poetic Italian texts with structures different from modern speech.
Examples in context
- Che cosa è quella cosa?What is that thing?
- Cos'è quella roba?What is that stuff?
- Scusa, cos'è quest'opera?Excuse me, what is this artwork?
- Cos'è questo?What is this?
- Scusa, cos'è?Excuse me, what is it?
