Here we come to the Italian adjectives. I think the use of adjectives is almost
the same across several languages, so I won't bother you with this stuff.
Because they have to refer to masculine and feminine, singular and plural nouns, Italian adjectives take a
lot of shapes. The general rules are the following:
If the noun is masculine, the adjective is masculine;
If the noun is feminine, the adjective is feminine;
If the adjective refers to two or more nouns of both genders, you have to use the masculine form.
You can find more information about them on the
Modern Italian Grammar by Ann Proudfoot,
in my opinion the best Italian grammar around for self-learners.
There're a some adjectives that can be used as pronouns.
In Italian, adjectives can both precede and follow the name they refer to:
Una bella ragazza
Una ragazza bella
Both the sentences above mean "a nice girl", and are both correct. Adjectives which
indicate the color of something are usually placed after the name:
A black cat; Un gatto nero
Moby Dick, the white whale; Moby Dick, la balena bianca
Adjectives which indicate moral qualities are usually placed after the name with the exception of "bravo"(good, in a moral sense):
Un amico leale;A loyal friend
Un bravo ragazzo;A good guy
All the combinations are possible tough. At the worst, you will sound a bit unusual. But sometimes the change
of position of an adjective can change the whole meaning of the sentence:
Era una domanda semplice; It was a simple question;
Era una semplice domanda; It was only a question;
You can find more information about them on the
Modern Italian Grammar by Ann Proudfoot,
in my opinion the best Italian grammar around for self-learners.
[Top]
Sometimes adjectives can be used for indicating whole categories of people. In this occasion they have the function of nouns,
and, as nouns, are preceded by the article:
i poveri the poors
i bianchi the whites
The adjectives of nationalities can be a good example:
Gli italiani The Italian people
Gli inglesi The English people
I giapponesiThe Japanese people
Gli AustralianiThe Australian people
Gli spagnoli The Spanish people
[Top]
The desinences of the Italian adjectives are quite easy and straightforward. They look like those of the nouns.
There are four categories of adjectives:
- a) Those which end in -o:
- bèllo(nice),simpàtico(handsome),màgro(thin),àlto(tall),giùsto(right),bàsso(short),
- b) Those which end in -ista:
- egoìsta(selfish), narcisìsta(narcissist), razzìsta(racist)
- c) Those which end in -e:
- fàcile(easy), diffìcile(difficult), grànde(big)
- d) Those which are invariable:
- pàri(draw)
|
Obviously, there're no problems with the adjectives of the fouth group, but the first three groups change their
desinences.
| Table A | Singular | Plural |
| masculine | -o | -i |
| feminine | -a | -e |
The table A refers to the
-o adjectives. As you can see, they have 4 different forms.
The adjectives which end in
-ista(Table B) have only one form for the singular, but in the plural they have
different forms for the masculine and feminine genders. Adjectives of the third group, which end in
-e
(Table C) have only one form for the singular and one for the plural.
Just like nouns, when such adjectives
like "lungo"(long) and "fantastico"(fantastic) can modify the pronunciation or the spelling of the last sillable.
| Table B | Singular | Plural |
| masculine | -ista | -isti |
| feminine | -iste |
So, when you make the plural form of one of these adjectives, you have to follow the rules you have to use when you
form the
plural of nouns. These rules are well explained in the
Modern Italian Grammar by Ann Proudfoot,
in my opinion the best Italian grammar around for self-learners.
| Table C | Singular | Plural |
| masculine & feminine | -e | -i |
Now, the next step is to learn how to
compare something with something else in relation with one
of its characteristics.
[Top][Back to Lesson 02]
The comparision has three degrees:
a) you can say that something is more than something else:
| Italian | X è più adjective di Y |
| English | X is more adjective than Y |
b) you can say that is as something else:
| Italian | X è adjective come Y |
| English | X is as adjective as Y |
c) you can say that is less than something else:
| Italian | X è meno adjective di Y |
| English | X is less adjective than Y |
Read the following examples:
I capèlli di Laura sono più lunghi di quèlli di Maria; Laura's hair are longer than Maria's ones
Quando era pìccolo, Paolo era meno coraggiòso di Laura; When he was young, Paolo was less brave than Laura
Laura è alta còme Marìa; Laura is as tall as Maria.
[Top]
The superlative is used to express that something show a peculiar characteristic in the highset degree.
It's formation is really easy in Italian.
| Table A | Singular | Plural |
| masculine | -ìssimo | -ìssimi |
| feminine | -ìssima | -ìssime |
You only have to follow the following procedure: take an adjective
of whatever class(for example:"gentìle"), remove the final vowel in order to get the verb's stem ("gentil-" in the
example), then add "-issimo"("gentilìssimo"). As you can see from the table on the right, "-issimo" has the same
desinences of the "-o" adjectives. There's an alternative way to form the superlative which is easier than this. just put
the adverb "molto" before the adjective. You're free to choose the way you prefer.
You will find more informations about in this subject in the
Modern Italian Grammar by Ann Proudfoot,
in my opinion the best Italian grammar around for self-learners.
[Top]
There're four adjectives that have irregular comparative and superlative forms:
| Adjective | Comparative | Superlative |
| buono(good) | migliore(better) | ottimo(the best) |
| cattivo(bad) | peggiore(worse) | peggiore(the worst) |
| grande(big) | maggiore(bigger) | massimo(the biggest) |
| piccolo(small) | minore(smaller) | minimo(the smallest) |
Please note that the adjective above have the regular form too, so it's up to
you to choose the form you prefer.
You will find more informations about in this subject in the
Modern Italian Grammar by Ann Proudfoot,
in my opinion the best Italian grammar around for self-learners.
[Top]