Adjectives

Question 1

Difference with adjectives in Italy vs England

Answer 1

In English you put adjectives IN FRONT OF the noun you’re describing, but in Italian you usually put them AFTER it.

In English, adjectives don’t change according to the noun they go with. In Italian you have to ask: ● Is the noun masculine or feminine? ● Is it singular or plural?

Question 2

How to make adjectives feminine ➤ If the masculine adjective ends in –o, change –o to

Answer 2

–a. un ragazzo simpatico a nice boy una ragazza simpatica a nice girl

Question 3

if the masculine adjective ends in –e

Answer 3

You don’t change the ending for the feminine:

un libro inglese an English book

una famiglia inglese an English family

Question 4

Some colours don’t change

Answer 4

Rosa, blu, beige

Question 5

● if the adjective ends with a consonant

Answer 5

Ending won’t change

Question 6

How to make adjectives plural- ➤ If the masculine singular adjective ends in –o, change –o to

Answer 6

–o to –i. un fiore rosso a red flower dei fiori rossi red flowers

Question 7

Plurals ➤ If the feminine singular adjective ends in –a, change –a to

Answer 7

change –a to –e.
una strada pericolosa a dangerous road
delle strade pericolose dangerous roads

Question 8

Plurals- If the adjective ends in –e,

Answer 8

change –e to –i for both masculine and feminine plural.
un esercizio difficile a difficult exercise
degli esercizi difficili difficult exercises

un sito interessante an interesting site dei siti interessanti interesting sites

Question 9

Remember that spaghetti, ravioli, lasagne and so on are plural nouns in Italian, so you must

Answer 9

must use plural adjectives with them. Sono buoni gli spaghetti? Is the spaghetti nice? Le lasagne sono finite. The lasagne is all gone.

Question 10

Irregular adjectives- bello used before a noun

Answer 10

bel(m), bella (f), bei (mPlural), belle (fPlural)

Question 11

Irregular adjectives- bello used after a verb or a noun

Answer 11

bello (m), bella (f), belli (mPlural), belle (fPlural)

Question 12

Bell’ ?

Answer 12

bell’ is used before vowels in the masculine and feminine singular forms. un bell’albero a beautiful tree

Question 13

Bello?

Answer 13

bello is used in front of z and s + another consonant in the masculine singular form. un bello strumento a beautiful instrument

Question 14

Begli? (Irregular bello)

Answer 14

begli is used in front of vowels, z and s + another consonant in the masculine plural form. begli alberi beautiful trees begli strumenti beautiful instruments

Question 15

Buono? Meaning good (irregular adjective)

Answer 15

The adjective buono (meaning good) is usually shortened to buon when it comes before a masculine singular noun. Buon viaggio! Have a good journey! un buon uomo a good man

➤ The shortened form of buono is not used in front of nouns that start with z or s + another consonant. un buono studente a good student

Question 16

The adjective grande- irregular

Answer 16

➤ The adjective grande (meaning big, large or great) is often shortened to gran when it comes before a singular noun starting with a consonant. la Gran Bretagna Great Britain un gran numero di macchine a large number of cars

Question 17

if you have two adjectives

Answer 17

you link them with e (meaning and). ragazze antipatiche e maleducate = nasty rude girls

Question 18

Note that if you add molto (meaning very) to an adjective,

Answer 18

the adjective always goes after the noun.
una bella casa a nice house
una casa molto bella a very nice house

Question 19

Some types of adjectives always go in front of the noun:

Answer 19

● a questo (meaning this) and quello (meaning that)

● possessive adjectives such as mio (meaning my), tuo (meaning your) and suo (meaning his or her)

● ogni (meaning each, every), qualche (meaning some) and nessuno (meaning no)

● question words

Question 20

How to make a comparative adjective in Italian

Answer 20

più in front of the adjective. More
Less- meno in front of the adjective.

Question 21

How to compare one person or thing with another

Answer 21

➤ Put either più or meno in front of the adjective and use di to translate than.
Sono più alto di te. I’m taller than you.

Milano è più grande di Genova. Milan is bigger than Genoa.

(Note that di combines with the article to make one word: di + il = del)

Question 22

How to make a superlative adjective in Italian

Answer 22

Making a superlative adjective is very easy: you simply put a definite article in front of the comparative adjective. il più alto the tallest
il meno interessante the least interesting

Question 23

Superlative rules

Answer 23

1. The definite article must agree with the person or thing you’re describing. Matteo è il più alto. Matteo is the tallest.
   Lidia è la più alta. Lidia is the tallest. Queste scarpe sono le più These shoes are the most comode. comfortable.
   Gianni è il meno ambizioso. Gianni is the least ambitious.
2. ➤ If there is a definite article in front of the noun, do not put a second definite article in front of più or meno. il ragazzo più alto the tallest boy la banca più vicina the nearest bank