ADJECTIVES — Aggettivi
This page is divided into 4 sections dealing with:
- regular adjectives
- irregular adjectives
- possessive adjectives
- comparative and superlative adjectives
- REGULAR ADJECTIVES
Adjectives in Italian must match the noun they describe in gender and number.
This means that if the noun is feminine, the adjective must be feminine, and
if the noun is plural, the adjective must be plural.
Gender means making the adjective masculine or feminine to agree with the noun.
Number means making the adjective singular or plural to agree with the noun.
Adjectives make their plurals in the same way that nouns make their plurals, so go back and revise the page about nouns if you are not sure.
In Italian, adjectives usually come after the noun they are describing but a few always stand before their noun; these are as follows:
- possessive adjectives (my, your, his/her etc.) which are dealt with below.
- demonstrative adjectives (this/that) also dealt with below.
- the adjectives “molto” (much) and “troppo” (too much)
- some adjectives denoting size can come before or after their noun.
In dictionaries, adjectives are always given in the masculine singular and this may not be the form in which you need the adjective and you may have to change it.
There are only 3 irregular adjectives which you need to know; they are dealt with at the end of this page.
Italian adjectives are of 3 basic types:
TYPE 1
1. Agrees in number & gender – hence has 4 forms: MS MP FS FP
| ends in o (masculine singular) MS |
ends in i (masculine plural) MP |
| ends in a (feminine singular) FS |
ends in e (feminine plural) FP |
The dictionary form for these adjectives ends in –o
This type has 4 forms:MS MP FS FP
It agrees in gender: it is either masculine or feminine
It agrees in number: it is either singular or plural
This type therefore has 4 forms: 2 singular MS & FS + 2 plural MP & FP
| piccolo (masculine singular) | piccoli (masculine plural) |
| piccola (feminine singular) | piccole (feminine plural) |
SOMETHING TO WATCH OUT FOR:
ENDS in -co or -go
When an adjective ends in co or go, a spelling adjstment needs to be factored in to maintain the sound of the hard consonant before the ending: for example:
| ends in co/go (masculine singular) MS |
ends in chi /ghi (masculine plural) MP |
| ends in ca/ga (feminine singular) FS |
ends in che/ghe (feminine plural) FP |
|
(masculine singular) MS |
(masculine plural) MP |
|
(feminine singular) FS |
(feminine plural) FP |
ENDS in -ico
When an adjective ends in –ico, in the masculine this becomes -ici
BUT in the feminine plural, a spelling adjustment needs to be factored in to maintain the sound of the hard consonant before the ending: for example:
| (masculine singular) MS ends in –ico simpatico drammatico |
(masculine plural) MP ends in –ico simpatici drammatici |
|
(feminine singular) FS |
(feminine plural) FP ends in –iche simpatiche drammatiche |
| –ico | –ici |
| –ica | –iche |
TYPE 2
The dictionary form for these adjectives ends in –e
This type agrees in number only – hence has 2 forms: it is either singular or plural
These adjectives in the singular all end in –e which becomes –i in the plural.
We’ll look at 2 nouns – one masculine, one feminine
l’appartamento = the apartment (masculine singular)
la casa = the house (feminine singular)
è = is (singular)
sono = are (plural)
ADJECTIVES that belong to this type that ends in -e
grande (big)
verde (green)
interessante (interesting)
importante (important)
grande (big)
verde (green)
interessante (interesting)
importante (important)
| ITALIAN adjectives that are fairly easy to understand/learn |
ENGLISH |
| difficile | difficult |
| grande (think of grand final – the ‘big’ game/final) | big/large/great |
| forte (think of ‘to fortify/strengthen, strong point = forte) | strong |
| facile (think of ‘to facilitate – to make it easier to use/learn) | easy |
| importante (when you take off the final e = important) |
important |
| intelligente (when you take off the final e = intelligent) |
intelligent |
| interessante (looks like interesting) |
interesting |
| veloce (think of velocity/speed) | fast, speedy |
| canadese (Think of from Canada = Canad + ese) |
Canadian |
| Adjectives endings in -e which you may have to learn | |
| irlandese | Irish |
| felice | happy |
| triste | sad |
| inglese | English |
| giapponese | Japanese |
| cinese | Chinese |
| giovane | young |
| francese | French |
| veloce | fast, speedy |
Now let’s see some examples …
|
singular L’appartamento è grande |
singular |
|
plural |
plural |
TYPE 3
The dictionary form for these adjectives is the same as all forms as they do not change. There is only 1 form – it is invariable. A few colours fall of this type as do some idiomatic adjectival phrases in Italian.
This type requires no change of ending for either number or gender.
We’ll look at some adjectives of this type
blu = blu
rosa = pink
viola = purple
all’antica = old fashioned
in gamba = on the ball
alla mano = easy going