How to Use Italian Adjectives

The big piazza, the clear sky, and the  handsome Italian man are all examples with an adjective, or something that gives more information about a noun. Oftentimes this is a description. In Italian an adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies, and there are two groups of adjectives: those ending in -o and those ending in -e. Adjectives ending in -o in the masculine have four forms: Maschile Femminile Singolare -o -a Plurale -i -e Singolare il libro italiano la signora italiana Plurale i libri italiani le signore italiane Singolare il primo giorno la mesa universitaria Plurale i primi giorni le mense universitarie COMMON ITALIAN ADJECTIVES ENDING IN -O allegro cheerful, happy buono good, kind cattivo bad, wicked freddo cold grasso fat leggero light nuovo new pieno full stretto narrow timido timid, shy Adjectives ending in -o have four forms: masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, and feminine plural. Observe how the adjectives nero and cattivo change to agree with nouns they modify. Note that when an adjective modifies  two nouns of different gender, it keeps its masculine ending. For example: i padri e le madre italiani (Italian fathers and mothers). If an adjectives ends in -io, like vecchio - old, the  o is dropped to form the plural. labito vecchio - the old suitgli abiti vecchi - the old suitsil ragazzo serio - the serious boyi ragazzi seri - the serious boysUli à ¨ tedesco. - Uli is German.Adriana à ¨ italiana. - Adriana is Italian.Roberto e Daniele sono americani. - Robert and Daniel are American.Svetlana e Natalia sono russe. - Svetlana and Natalia are Russian. Adjectives ending in -e are the same for the masculine and the feminine singular. In the plural, the -e changes to an -i, whether the noun is masculine or feminine. il ragazzo inglese - the English boyla ragazza inglese - the English girli ragazzi inglesi - the English boysle ragazze inglesi - the English girls ENDINGS OF -E  ADJECTIVES SINGULAR PLURAL il ragazzo triste - the sad boy i ragazzi tristi - the sad boys la ragazza triste - the sad girl le ragazze tristi - the sad girls ITALIAN ADJECTIVES ENDING IN  -E abile able difficile difficult felice happy forte strong grande big, large, great importante important intelligente intelligent interessante interesting triste sad veloce fast, speedy There are quite a few other exceptions for forming plural adjectives. For instance, adjectives that end in -io (with the stress falling on that ) form the plural with the ending -ii: addio/addii; leggio/leggii; zio/zii. The table below contains a chart of other irregular adjective endings you should know. FORMING PLURAL ADJECTIVES SINGULAR ENDING PLURAL ENDING -ca -che -cia -ce -cio -ci -co -chi -ga -ghe -gia -ge -gio -gi -glia -glie -glio -gli -go -ghi -scia -sce -scio -sci Where do the adjectives go? Unlike in English, descriptive adjectives in Italian are usually placed after the noun they modify, and with which they agree in gender and number. 1. Adjectives generally follow the noun. È una lingua difficile. - It is a difficult language.Marina à ¨ una ragazza generosa. - Marina is a generous girl.Non trovo il maglione rosa. - I cant find the pink sweater. TIP: Note that adjectives of colors that derive from nouns, like â€Å"rosa†, â€Å"viola†, or â€Å"blu† are invariable. 2. Certain common adjectives, however, generally come before the noun. Here are the most common: bello - beautifulbravo - good, ablebrutto - uglybuono - goodcaro - dearcattivo - badgiovane - younggrande - large; great TIP: When you place â€Å"grande† before a noun, it means â€Å"great†, like â€Å"una grande piazza†, but if you place it after, it means â€Å"big†, like â€Å"una piazza grande†. lungo - longnuovo - newpiccolo - small, littlestesso - samevecchio - oldvero - true Here are some examples: Anna à ¨ una cara amica. - Anna is a dear friend.Gino à ¨ un bravissimo dottore. - Gino is a really good doctor.È un brutto affare. - Its a bad situation. But even these adjectives must follow the noun to emphasize or contrast something, and when modified by an adverb. Oggi non porta labito vecchio, porta un abito nuovo. - Today he is not wearing the old suit, he is wearing a new suit.Abitano in una casa molto piccola. - They live in a very small house. Click here, here and here  to get practice with adjectives.