Italian Adjectives
Aggettivi | (Adjectives)
As we said, adjectives tell us about an object or person and they normally come after the noun in Italian. For example:
- Il cane nero (masculine; singular)
- La casa rossa (feminine; singular)
- I calzini bianchi (masculine; plural)
- Le matite gialle (feminine; plural)
As you might have noticed, adjectives follow the same logic used for nouns when it comes to endings. However, there are some adjectives that end with “-e” and they always maintain the same form for feminine and masculine (e.g. “felice” – singular & “felici” – plural):
| Singolare | Plurale | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -o | piccolo | -i | piccoli |
| Feminine | -a | cattiva | -e | cattive |
| Masculine or Feminine | -e | felice | -i | felici |
To use them correctly, both in their singular and plural form, they also have to agree with the noun they refer to:
| Singolare | Plurale | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Il topo è piccolo | I topi sono piccoli |
| Feminine | La gallina è bianca | Le galline sono bianche |
| Masculine or Feminine | Il bambino è felice | I bambini sono felici |
| Masculine or Feminine | La bambina è felice | Le bambine sono felici |
- Il ragazzo è bello / I ragazzi sono belli | vs. | Che bel ragazzo (il ragazzo) / Che bei ragazzi (i ragazzi)
- Francesca ha gli occhi molto belli | vs. | Che begli occhi ha Laura (gli occhi)
Aggettivi Possessivi | (Possessive Adjectives)
Adjectives that indicate the person who is doing the possession are called possessivi (possessive). As you will later discover, they have the same form as possessive pronouns.
When we use possessive adjectives we are able to specify relations among people or to whom an object belongs to:
| Singolare | Plurale | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maschile | Femminile | Maschile | Femminile | |
| Io | il mio | la mia | i miei | le mie |
| Tu | il tuo | la tua | i tuoi | le tue |
| Lei / Lui | il suo | la sua | i suoi | le sue |
| Noi | il nostro | la nostra | i nostri | le nostre |
| Voi | il vostro | la vostra | i vostri | le vostre |
| Loro | il loro | la loro | i loro | le loro |
The possessive adjectives always come with the article:
- Il mio cane
- La tua amica Francesca
- Il suo quaderno
- I nostri libri
- Le vostre matite
- I loro abiti
Exceptions
When referring to family members, we do not use the article – except for loro (3rd person plural):
- Mio fratello
- Tua sorella
- Suo padre
- Sua madre
- Nostro zio
- Vostro cugino
- Il loro nipote / la loro nipote
Attention! When using the plural form, family nouns keep the articles:
- I miei fratelli
- Le tue sorelle
- I suoi nonni
- Le sue zie
- I nostri zii
- Le vostre cugine
- I lori nipoti/ le loro nipoti
- Oggi vado a pranzo con i miei - (Today I go to lunch with my parents)
- Dove sono i tuoi? - (Where are your parents?)
- Per Pasqua Marco va a trovare i suoi - (Marco goes to visit his parents for Easter)
Below we compare adverbs and adjectives and show you how they are used in different ways:
| Singolare | Plurale |
|---|---|
| Laura ha lavorato molto | Laura ha molta pazienza |
| Laura è molto simpatica. | Laura ha molti amici. |
| I ragazzi hanno studiato poco. | I ragazzi hanno pochi soldi |
| I ragazzi mangiano poco. | I ragazzi hanno poca esperienza |
Aggettivi Indeterminati | (Indefinite Adjectives)
The adjectives that we use to give very broad or general information about a noun are called indeterminativi (indefinite). We have collected the most popular ones for you in the below chart:
| Notes | ||
| only with singular form | qualche (a few, some) | It stays the same for both maschile and femminile. The subject or object it refers to needs to be singular. Example: qualche ragazzo (some boys) or qualche ragazza (some girls). |
| qualunque (any, whichever, either) | It stays the same for both maschile and femminile. Example: qualunque ragazzo (any boy) or qualunque ragazza (any girl). | |
| qualsiasi (any, whichever, either) | It stays the same for both maschile and femminile. Example: qualsiasi ragazzo (any boy) or qualsiasi ragazza (any girl). | |
| nessuno/a (none, not any, any, no) | It varies based on the noun’s gender – maschile or femminile. When it is placed after a verb it requires the particle non in the sentence. Example: non ha mangiato la pasta nessuna ragazza (none of the girls ate the pasta). However, when placed before the verb it does not require it: Example: nessun ragazzo ha mangiato la pasta (none of the boys ate the pasta). | |
| ogni (each, every) | It stays the same for both maschile and femminile. Example: ogni ragazzo (each boy) or ogni ragazza (each girl). | |
| both singular and plural form | tutto/a/i/e (all) | Example: tutta la settimana (all week). |
| tanto/a/i/e (a lot of, much, many) | Example: c’è tanto spazio qui (there is a lot of space here). | |
| altro/a/i/e (other, different) | It can have different meanings in Italian. Example: un altro giorno (another day). It can also be used with a definite adjective. Example: quest’altra persona (this other person) | |
| troppo/a/i/e (too much, too many) | Example: questa pasta è troppa per me! (this pasta is too much for me!). | |
| molto/a/i/e (many) | Example: mi piacciono molte cose (I like many things). | |
| diverso/a/i/e (several, various) | Example: Marta e Angelo hanno gusti diversi (Marta and Angelo have different tastes). | |
| ciascuno/a/i/e (each) | It is most commonly used as a pronoun and not an adjective. Example: ciascuna donna (each woman). | |
| parecchio/a/chi/chie (quite a lot of, several) | Example: ho parecchie cose da fare (I have quite a lot of things to do). | |
| poco/a/chi/che (little, few) | Example: ho poco tempo (I have little time). | |
| alcuno/a/i/e (some, a few, no, not any) | The subject or object it refers to needs to be plural and it is mostly used in the plural form. Example: ho alcune idee (I have some ideas). When a sentence has a negation it is used in the singular form. Example: non ho alcuna informazione (I don’t have any information). | |
| altrettanto/a/i/e (as many, as much) | Note that it can also function as an adverb. Example: ci sono due piatti con altrettanti bicchieri (there are two plates with just as many glasses). | |
| certo/a/i/e (certain, a certain) | It is generally used with the article in the singular form. Example: un certo tipo (a certain type). It can also be used to refer to someone or something that is unknown. Example: ti ha cercato una certa Carla (a certain Carla looked for you). | |
| tale/i (certain, a certain) | It is used similarly to certo. Example: un tale (a certain person) It can also be used to refer to someone or something that is unknown: Example: ti ha scritto un tale Luciano (a certain Luciano wrote to you). | |
| vario/a/ri/rie (various, several quite a few) | Example: abbiamo varie opzioni (we have various options). |
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