Language/Italian/Grammar/Adjectives

Italian Grammar - Adjectives

In today's lesson, we will be discussing Italian adjectives. Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns and pronouns. In Italian, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. This means that the adjective must have the same gender (masculine or feminine) and the same number (singular or plural) as the noun it modifies. We will look at how to form and use adjectives in Italian, as well as some common exceptions. Please feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Forming Adjectives

Italian adjectives can be divided into two categories: regular and irregular.

Regular Adjectives

Regular adjectives follow a set pattern when conjugated. Most regular adjectives end in -o in the masculine singular form and -a in the feminine singular form. To form the plural, the ending changes to -i for masculine nouns and -e for feminine nouns.

For example, the regular adjective 'bello' (beautiful) has the following forms:

• Masculine Singular: bello
• Feminine Singular: bella
• Masculine Plural: belli
• Feminine Plural: belle

Irregular Adjectives

Some adjectives are irregular and do not follow the regular pattern. These adjectives must be memorized. Here are some examples of irregular adjectives:

• buono (good): buono, buona, buoni, buone
• grande (big): grande, grande, grandi, grandi
• vecchio (old): vecchio, vecchia, vecchi, vecchie

Using Adjectives

Adjectives usually come after the noun they modify. For example:

• Il gatto è bello. (The cat is beautiful.)
• La casa è grande. (The house is big.)

When an adjective is used with a noun that begins with a vowel or z, the article lo is used instead of il. For example:

• Lo zaino è vecchio. (The backpack is old.)

When an adjective is used with a noun that begins with a consonant, the article l' is used instead of la. For example:

• L'uomo è buono. (The man is good.)

Common Exceptions

There are some common exceptions to the rules for forming and using adjectives.

Masculine Singular

Some adjectives have different endings in the masculine singular form. For example, the adjective 'bravo' (brave) has the following forms:

• Masculine Singular: bravo
• Feminine Singular: brava
• Masculine Plural: bravi
• Feminine Plural: brave

Feminine Plural

Some adjectives have different endings in the feminine plural form. For example, the adjective 'giovane' (young) has the following forms:

• Masculine Singular: giovane
• Feminine Singular: giovane
• Masculine Plural: giovani
• Feminine Plural: giovani

Irregular Forms

Some adjectives have irregular forms. For example, the adjective 'vecchio' (old) has the following forms:

• Masculine Singular: vecchio
• Feminine Singular: vecchia
• Masculine Plural: vecchi
• Feminine Plural: vecchie

Conclusion

In this lesson, we discussed Italian adjectives. We looked at how to form and use adjectives in Italian, as well as some common exceptions. We hope you found this lesson helpful and that you now have a better understanding of Italian adjectives.

Related Lessons

• Conditional Mood
• Past Tense
• Definite Articles in Italian
• Definite Articles
• Plurals
• Past Participle in Italian
• Gender
• Present Tense
• Questions