Che e VS Chi e

Hi,

i have a little confusion with the meanings of  "Chi e?" and "Che e?"
I would appreciate an explanation on their meanings and when to use them.

Grazie!
 

Hi jingling,

The right spelling of these two questions is Chi è? and Che è?. Always remember to put an accent on the third singular person of essere (lui è, lei è), as the vowel without the accent means and (and it has a different pronunciation, too: è is an open vowel, as in bed, e is close.

That said, Chi è literally means Who is (he, she)?, "he, she" being in brackets because Italian subjects are very often left out.
Che è, on the other hand, means What is (it)?. It is a contracted form of Che cos'è?, which is another contracted form for Che cosa è?. Che è is a bit informal.

Hope this helps!