Modern Italian Grammar: A Practical Guide, Third Edition (2013)

Part A. Structures

1. The noun group

1.1 Introduction

Nouns are generally used together with definite or indefinite articles (in English the, a) and/or adjectives (describing physical or other characteristics), which provide information about the entity or concept. Together they form a group of words called the noun group as in the two examples shown below:

Although the noun group may contain other elements (for example, adverbs, prepositional phrases), in this chapter we will only look at the three basic elements of noun/article/adjective, analysing them one by one. In Italian the three components of the noun group also have to be considered as a ‘whole’, in which the three components ‘agree’, so we will also look at how the three elements are used together.

1.2 The noun

1.2.1 What is a noun?

The main function of nouns in any language is to denote an entity (person, object, etc.) or concept (situation, abstract idea, etc.). The noun is the focus of the noun group, so the article and adjectives always agree with the noun in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). The two grammatical features of gender and number determine the form of noun, article and adjective.

1.2.2. Gender

All Italian nouns have either a masculine or a feminine gender. Gender is a purely grammatical term. Nouns referring to human beings or animals sometimes have the same grammatical gender as their natural gender, but not always (see below). Italian native speakers rarely find this a problem. However speakers of other languages often find it difficult to remember the gender of nouns and this creates a problem when it comes to making the other components of the noun group ‘agree’with the noun.

With non-animate objects, there is not always an obvious explanation for their gender. Why, for example, should sera ‘evening’ be feminine, while giorno ‘day’ is masculine? Learners of Italian either have to learn and memorise the genders of words or consult a dictionary. Italian dictionaries usually indicate the gender of nouns with abbreviations such as s.m. (sostantivo maschile) and s.f. (sostantivo femminile).

Grammatically speaking, Italian does not always have a male and a female of each animal species, for example:

una tigre (tiger) is always feminine.

un ippopotamo (hippopotamus) is always masculine.

In order to provide the other half of the species, you have to say:

Some animals - as in English - have two distinct names for the male and the female of the species:

Some, but not all, professional and other titles may have a distinct form for the feminine. Nouns whose masculine form ends in -e have a feminine form ending either in -a or in -essa:

Most nouns with masculine form ending in -tore have a feminine form ending in -trice:

But note the following masculine nouns with a feminine equivalent ending in -essa:

The use of the masculine/feminine forms of professional titles is fully illustrated in 20.9.

1.2.3 Number

Unlike gender, the grammatical concept of singular or plural (‘number’) causes no problem for speakers of English. Occasionally (as in English) a singular noun is used to refer to a collective entity that one might expect to be grammatically plural, for example, la gente ‘people’. On the other hand, some objects that are singular in English may be plural in Italian, for example, i capelli ‘hair’ and most types of pasta: i cannelloni, le lasagne, gli spaghetti, le tagliatelle, i tortellini, which an English speaker would refer to in the singular (‘This spaghetti is delicious’).

1.2.4 Common noun patterns

The gender and number determine the ending of the noun. These patterns of endings are called inflexions. Italian nouns can be divided into several different groups, according to their patterns of inflexion. The three most common patterns, also followed by most adjectives (see 1.4 below), are:

NOTE Nouns ending in -e in the singular, -i in the plural, have the same ending whatever their gender.

Examples

Some nouns, while still following these patterns, present slight variations in their plural endings, as shown below.

Masculine nouns ending in -io

In the plural, nouns ending in -io sometimes double the final i. Here are some guidelines to help you.

When the i is stressed, the plural form has double ii:

When the i is unstressed, the final i does not double in the plural:

In words where the i is not doubled, the final i may have a written accent on it, indicating where the stress lies, to distinguish it from a similar plural form with a different pronunciation:

Tempio (temple) also has an alternative plural ending which distinguishes it from the plural of tempo (time):

(In the following sets of examples, the written accent is only there to demonstrate where the stress falls.)

Masculine nouns ending in -co, -go

Masculine nouns ending in -co or -go in the singular normally form the plural as follows:

•in -chi and -ghi, with the hard c, g sound, if the stress falls on the penultimate syllable:

This also applies to a few nouns where the stress does not fall on the penultimate syllable, for example:

•in -ci and -gi, with a soft c, g sound, if the stress falls on the third last syllable (the written accent is only there to demonstrate where the stress falls):

This also applies to a few nouns where the stress falls on the penultimate syllable, for example:

Masculine and feminine nouns ending in -ca, -ga

Feminine nouns ending in -ca, -ga form their plural in -che, -ghe, with a hard c, g sound:

In 1.2.5 below, we look at nouns ending in -a, which can refer to either men or women. If these nouns end in -ca or -ga, they normally form their plural in -chi, -ghi for male and -che, -ghe for female:

But note this variation:

Feminine nouns ending in -cia, -gia

Feminine nouns ending in -cia, -gia form their plural as follows:

•in -cie, -gie when the stress falls on the i (as indicated in the examples below), and when the last syllable is preceded by a vowel:

•in -ce, -ge when the ending is preceded by a consonant:

Learners often pronounce the endings above incorrectly. The pronunciation of -cia is like the ‘cha’ in English ‘charm’, -gia is like the ‘ja’ in ‘jacket’, -cie like the ‘chai’ in ‘chair’, -gie like the ‘jay’ in ‘jaywalker’. There is absolutely no difference in pronunciation between the -cie of camicie and the -ce of arance. The i is only pronounced and given its full value as a syllable when it is stressed as in farmacìe and bugìe.

1.2.5 Other noun patterns

A large number of Italian nouns do not follow the patterns shown above. Here are some other noun patterns.

Masculine or feminine nouns with singular ending in -a

The nouns in the above group refer to categories of people. The singular ending -a is used whether they are male or female, but the plural form is different according to the ‘natural’ gender. A very large number of these nouns end in -ista (English ‘-ist’) indicating an ideology (socialista, marxista), profession (dentista, giornalista), musician (chitarrista, pianista, violinista) or sport (ciclista, tennista). See also nouns ending in -ca, -ga in 1.2.4 above.

Masculine nouns with singular ending in -a

This pattern is similar to that of masculine and feminine nouns ending in -a shown above, but only has masculine forms in both singular and plural.

Feminine nouns with singular ending in -o, plural in -i

The two nouns shown below are both feminine in the singular, but have different genders in the plural: mani is feminine, while echi is masculine:

► See 1.2.6 for invariable feminine nouns ending in -o.

Nouns with masculine singular in -o, feminine plural in -a

A number of nouns which are masculine in the singular become feminine in the plural, with an irregular ending in -a:

Nouns with masculine singular in -o, masculine plural in -i and feminine plural in -a

Some nouns which are masculine in the singular have both regular masculine plural in -i and irregular feminine plural in -a. Many of these denote parts of the body.

There are differences in the meaning of the two different plurals: the -a plural generally emphasises the collective nature of the plural, while the -i ending tends to denote either a more figurative sense or the plural as a collection of separate and/or individual elements.

For example, le dita are the fingers of your hand, when talked about collectively (ho le dita gelate ‘my fingers are frozen’), while i diti are the fingers considered individually or separately (ho due diti rotti ‘I have two broken fingers’). Le mura are the walls of a city (Lucca è una città circondata da mura romane ‘Lucca is a city surrounded by Roman walls’), while i muri refer to all other kinds of walls. Le ossa is the plural form normally used when talking about the skeletal system (mi fanno male le ossa ‘my bones ache’), while the masculine plural gli ossi is used when talking about separate bones, for example broken bones or dog bones (ho dato due ossi al cane ‘I gave the dog two bones’).

1.2.6 Invariable nouns

Invariable nouns have the same form in the plural as in the singular. These include the following groups.

Nouns with stress falling on last syllable

With few exceptions, these are feminine in gender, coming from an older form of the word, of Latin origin, ending in -tate (civitate, libertate), now abbreviated and ending in -à:

Feminine nouns ending in -i

Feminine nouns ending in -ie

But note:

Feminine nouns with abbreviated singular

These end mainly in -o and are usually abbreviations, derived from longer or compound words (automobile < auto, fotografia < foto):

Nouns of one syllable

Words borrowed from another language

Remember not to add -s in the plural (il film — i film).

1.2.7 Nouns with extremely irregular plurals

Here are a few nouns whose plural forms are extremely irregular:

1.3 The article

1.3.1 What is an article?

There are two main types of article in Italian, as there are in English: the indefinite article (articolo indeterminativo) and the definite article (articolo determinativo). They distinguish the generic from the specific, the known from the unknown (see also 9.2):

In giardino c'è un cane.

There is a dog in the garden. (unknown dog — indefinite article)

In giardino c'è il cane.

There is the dog in the garden. (your own dog or a dog you know about — definite article)

In Italian the form of the article (whether definite or indefinite) has to agree with the gender and number of the noun it relates to, but also depends on the initial letter of the word immediately following it, whether noun or adjective. This rule applies also to a third type of article, the partitive article.

1.3.2. Indefinite article un, uno, una, un'

Indefinite articles only apply to singular nouns and therefore only have singular forms. The form of the indefinite article varies according to the gender of the noun it relates to, but also whether it comes immediately before a word beginning with a vowel, a consonant or a certain combination of consonants, as shown below.

Masculine nouns

The correct form of indefinite article before a vowel or most consonants is un:

The correct form of indefinite article before a word starting with s + a consonant, gn, pn, ps, x, z and the semivowel i (j, y) is uno:

Feminine nouns

The correct form of indefinite article before a word starting with a consonant is una:

Before a word starting with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), the indefinite article una is elided to un':

Here are all the indefinite articles shown in table form:

1.3.3 Definite article il, lo, la, l', i, gli, le

The definite article has both singular and plural forms. The form of the definite article varies according to the number (singular/plural) and gender (masculine/feminine) of the noun it relates to, but also whether it comes directly before a word (whether noun or adjective) beginning with a vowel, a consonant or a particular combination of consonants, as shown below.

Masculine nouns (singular)

The correct form of definite article before a word beginning with a consonant is il (but there are exceptions — see below):

The correct form of definite article before a word starting with s + a consonant, gn, pn, ps, x, z and semivowel i (j, y) is lo:

The correct form of definite article before a word starting with a vowel is l':

Masculine nouns (plural)

The correct form of definite article before most consonants is i:

The correct form of definite article before a word beginning with a vowel or with s + a consonant, gn, pn, ps, x, z and semivowel i (j, y) is gli:

Feminine nouns (singular)

The correct form of definite article before a word beginning with a consonant is la:

The correct form of definite article before a word beginning with a vowel is l':

Feminine nouns (plural)

The correct form of definite article before a word beginning with either vowel or consonant is le, which is never abbreviated:

Here are all the definite articles shown in table form:

1.3.4 Partitive article dei, degli, delle

The partitive article indicates some part (an unspecified number) of a group or category of things/people; it is formed by the preposition di combined with the definite article and, following a similar pattern, changes according to gender, number and the word that follows.

A partitive article can be used in the plural, indicating ‘some’:

A partitive article can also be used in the singular, indicating a quantity of something or else an abstract concept:

The forms of the partitive article have the same endings as those of the definite article, seen above.

► See also 11.6.1 for more details on del, della as ‘some’.

1.3.5 Use of definite, indefinite or partitive articles

The use of the definite, indefinite or partitive article depends on whether the person or object is known or unknown, or whether an individual or class/species is being referred to, as in the examples below.

•A particular, clearly identified thing or things, known or visible to the speaker and to the person(s) addressed (definite article):

Dammi gli stuzzicadenti.

Give me the toothpicks.

•Referring to any toothpicks, without reference to a particular or known set, using partitive article:

Dammi degli stuzzicadenti.

Give me some toothpicks.

Known or unknown, specified or unspecified

(a)The definite article is used to specify known people or things:

Flavia vuole portare l'amico alla festa.

Flavia wants to take her friend to the party. (= particular friend or boyfriend)

Vorrei la camera che abbiamo avuto l'anno scorso.

I would like the room we had last year. (= specific room)

(b)The indefinite article is used, as in English, for an unknown or unspecified individual or thing:

Flavia vuole portare un amico alla festa.

Flavia wants to take a friend to the party. (= an unspecified friend)

Vorrei una camera per stasera, per favore.

I would like a room for tonight. (= any old room, unspecified)

Individual or class/species

(a)The definite article is used when you want to identify a whole class, category or species of things or creatures, distinct from other species or categories, for example an animal species or a category of films:

Il delfino è un mammifero.

The dolphin is a mammal. (= dolphins are mammals)

Mi piacciono i film americani.

I like American films.

Italian usage is different from English, which uses the definite article ‘the’ in the singular (‘the dolphin’) but not in the plural (‘dolphins’).

(b)The indefinite article is used to talk about an individual dolphin or film (unless it is a particular dolphin or film known to us):

Guarda! C'è un delfino!

Look! There is a dolphin!

Ho visto un bel film americano alla televisione.

I've seen a nice American film on television.

These are only general guidelines. In many cases the use or omission of the article depends on different linguistic habits.

Some particular uses of the definite article

Towns, countries and geographical features

In Italian the definite article is always used with the proper names of geographical features such as mountains, rivers, etc.:

but not with the names of cities:

except when qualified in some way:

la Firenze del Settecento

eighteenth-century Florence

The definite article is used with the names of countries or nations:

Amo l'Italia.

I love Italy.

Il Brasile è campione del mondo.

Brazil is world champion.

To talk about living in or going to a country, using the preposition in, the definite article is not normally used:

unless the country is qualified in some way, for example by an adjective:

Si vive meglio nell'Italia meridionale.

One lives better in southern Italy.

The combined form of preposition and definite article is usually used when the name of the country is plural:

For the combined forms of the definite article with the prepositions in, a, etc., see 4.2.

Professions

When speaking of somebody's profession, you should use the article with fare:

but omit it with essere:

► See also 8.3.3 and 8.3.4 for further examples of these points.

We can summarise these patterns as follows:

1.4 The adjective

1.4.1 What is an adjective?

An adjective is a word that qualifies the meaning of a noun by adding some specification or description to it. There are many different categories of adjective including demonstrative (questo, quello), indefinite (alcuni, qualche) including adjectives of quantity (molto, poco, tanto, troppo), interrogative (quale), negative (nessun), and possessive (mio, tuo).

In this section however we only cover aggettivi qualificativi: descriptive adjectives that describe qualities (physical or otherwise) of a person or object, and classifying adjectives, such as nationality, which describe the category or classification that the person or thing belongs to (see also Chapter 10). The other types of adjectives will be shown in Chapter 3, together with the corresponding pronouns.

1.4.2. Common adjective patterns

Almost all descriptive adjectives follow the same basic patterns as the nouns (see 1.2.4 above), with their endings depending on gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural). There are two main groups of adjectives:

Here are some examples:

The gender and number of the adjective must agree with the noun to which it refers (see 1.2.2 and 1.2.3). Here are some examples of how this looks in practice:

1.4.3. Exceptions to these patterns

Only a few descriptive adjectives have a different pattern from those shown above. Adjectives with singular -a (for both masculine and feminine) have masculine plural in -i and feminine plural in -e. Many of these have endings such as -ista, -asta, -ita, -ida, -ota (for nouns with similar endings, see 1.2.5 above):

1.4.4 Invariable adjectives

Invariable adjectives have the same ending, whatever their gender and number, and retain the same form whatever noun they are referring to. The most common invariable adjectives are:

•Certain colours: beige, blu, lilla, marrone, rosa, viola:

•Colours indicated by two words: verde bottiglia, giallo canarino, bianco latte:

•Pari ‘even, equal’, dispari ‘odd’ and impari ‘uneven, unequal’:

•Arrosto (roast):

1.4.5 Position of adjectives

Unlike English, and many other languages, the most common position for the adjective in the Italian noun group is after the noun. This is the usual position occupied by the adjective, when it is not emphatic and simply expresses a basic, intrinsic characteristic of the noun:

Adjectives of shape, colour and nationality almost always come after the noun. Note that adjectives of nationality never have a capital letter in Italian:

There are a few exceptions, for idiomatic phrases:

Adjectives qualified, for example by an adverb or a prepositional phrase, also come after:

As do participles used as adjectives:

However in Italian, unlike in English, where adjectives almost always come before the noun (‘an interesting film’), the order of the noun group is flexible, and changing the position of the adjectives can change the emphasis of the sentence.

Although Italian descriptive adjectives, particularly the most common (for example, nuovo, vecchio, giovane, piccolo, bello, brutto), are placed after the noun when used to specify it or distinguish it from similar objects, they can be placed before the noun when you need to change the emphasis:

Dammi il cacciavite piccolo.

Give me the small screwdriver. (not the big one)

Sul tavolo c'era un piccolo cacciavite.

There was a small screwdriver on the table. (description of screwdriver)

Sandra è una ragazza bella.

Sandra is a beautiful girl. (not merely nice)

Sandra è una bella ragazza.

Sandra is a really beautiful girl.

Ho comprato una macchina nuova.

I bought a new car. (rather than a second-hand one)

Paola si è messa un nuovo vestito.

Paola put on a new dress. (another, a different one)

Some adjectives have a completely different meaning when their position is changed, expressing their literal meaning when used after, but a quite different, often figurative, meaning when used before. Here we look at alto, bello, certo, grande and povero:

Bello, buono

The adjective bello, when positioned before the noun (see example above, un bel problema), changes its endings in the same way as the definite article il, lo, l', la, etc. (see 1.3.3), the partitive article del, dello, dell', della (see 1.3.4) and the demonstrative adjective quel, quello, quell', quella, etc. (see 3.8.1): un bel libro, un bello specchio, un bell'uomo, una bell'esperienza, una bella ragazza.

The adjective buono, on the other hand, follows the pattern of the indefinite article un, uno, una, un' (see 1.3.2): buon esempio, buon film, buono studio, buona fortuna, buon'esperienza, etc.

1.4.6 Comparative adjectives

Più, meno

In making a comparison between two elements (whether people, objects or other), you can use a comparative adjective to express the concept of ‘more’ or ‘less’. The words più; (‘more’) and meno (‘less’) make a descriptive adjective into a comparative adjective:

La mia macchina è più veloce della tua.

My car is faster than yours.

La mia macchina è meno veloce della tua.

My car is less fast than yours.

Quanto, come

The concept of ‘same as’ is expressed by using quanto or come to introduce the second element of the comparison:

La mia macchina è veloce quanto la tua.

My car is as fast as yours.

In Italia le melanzane non sono care come in Inghilterra.

In Italy aubergines are not as dear as in England.

As a reinforcement, you can also use the words tanto, altrettanto or così before the first element of the comparison:

La mia collega è tanto carina quanto efficiente.

My colleague is as pretty as she is efficient.

Di, che

Either di or che introduces the second element of the comparison, where English would use ‘than’:

Sandro è più bravo di Angelo a bridge.

Sandro is better than Angelo at bridge.

è stato meno facile di quanto pensassi.

It was less easy than I expected.

è più facile criticare che risolvere i problemi.

It's easier to criticise than to solve problems.

Sara è più carina che intelligente.

Sara is prettier than she is intelligent.

The choice of di or che depends on what part of speech the second element of the comparison is, and on its position in the sentence:

Further examples of usage are shown in 17.2 and 17.3.

Special forms of comparative

Four of the most common Italian adjectives have a special form of comparative:

The regular comparative form (shown in brackets) is also possible. While there is little difference between più buono/migliore and più cattivo/peggiore, there can be a difference in meaning between maggiore and più grande. Maggiore can mean ‘bigger, older/elder’ in a physical sense, but can also mean ‘greater’ in an abstract sense. Similarly, minore can mean ‘smaller’ or ‘younger’, but can also mean ‘less, the lesser’ when referring to an abstract quality:

Ho due sorelle. La maggiore si chiama Diana.

I have two sisters. The elder is called Diana.

Noi abbiamo una maggiore responsabilità di voi.

We have a greater responsibility than you.

I l mio fratello minore frequenta la scuola elementare.

My little (younger) brother goes to elementary school.

Lui lavora con minore impegno da quando si è sposato.

He works with less commitment since he got married.

1.4.7 Relative superlatives

To refer to something or somebody as having ‘the most’ of a certain quality, in relation to other objects or people, you use il più together with the relevant adjective. This is called the relative superlative:

Silvia è la più brava studentessa della nostra classe.

Silvia is the best student in our class.

Pavarotti era il tenore italiano più famoso del mondo.

Pavarotti was the most famous Italian tenor in the world.

Il Po è il più lungo fiume italiano.

The Po is the longest Italian river.

As with the comparative, the four most common Italian adjectives have a special form of relative superlative, as well as the regular one:

As with the comparative, there can be a difference of meaning between the two forms il maggiore/il più grande and il minore/il più piccolo:

Secondo me, il problema maggiore dei giorni nostri è la droga.

In my opinion, the greatest problem in our time is that of drugs.

1.4.8 Absolute superlatives

Absolute superlatives indicate the greatest possible degree of a quality, but without any comparison being made. Superlative adjectives are formed in Italian by adding the suffix -issimo to the end of the adjective:

However it is also possible in Italian to use the adverb molto to modify the adjective, in a similar way to the English ‘very’:

As seen above, when modified by any adverb (molto, poco, troppo, abbastanza, piuttosto) the adjective generally follows the noun:

Notice how when modified by the superlative suffix -issimo, the endings of the adjectives always have the pattern of adjectives ending in -o/-a/-i/-e (see 1.4.2), even if they belong to the other group of adjectives ending in -e, -i. So we have:

The common adjectives buono, cattivo, grande, piccolo, mentioned above, also have two possible forms of absolute superlative:

For the comparative and superlative of adverbs, see 6.4.

1.5 Agreement of noun, article and adjective

Nearly all Italian descriptive adjectives have the same pattern of endings as the nouns (the two patterns are shown above); only a few are invariable (see 1.2.6). Nouns, adjectives and articles used together in a noun group must agree in number and gender.

For example, if you use a feminine singular noun such as borsa ‘bag’, you have to use a feminine singular article la and adjective rossa:

If you use a masculine plural noun such as sandali ‘sandals’, you have to use a masculine plural article i and adjective rossi:

The English articles and adjectives are identical in both examples (‘the red …’) while in Italian they have very different forms depending on the gender and number of the noun to which they are attached:

1.5.1 Noun and adjective of same pattern

When noun and adjective belong to the same pattern of endings, the agreement will be obvious:

Sul tavolo c'è un piatto rotondo.

On the table there is a round dish.

Ho conosciuto due ragazze italiane.

I met two Italian girls.

1.5.2 Noun and adjective of different patterns

It is more difficult to remember how to make the agreement when the noun and adjective belong to different patterns and therefore have different endings:

1.5.3 More than one noun (same gender)

If an adjective refers to more than one noun of the same gender, it will be plural and have the same gender as the nouns:

Ho comprato un libro e un vocabolario tedeschi.

I bought a German book and German dictionary.

Ho comprato una grammatica e un'agenda tedesche.

I bought a German grammar and a German diary.

1.5.4 More than one noun (different genders)

If the two nouns are of different genders then the adjective is generally masculine plural:

Ho comprato un vocabolario e una grammatica tedeschi.

I bought a German dictionary and a German grammar.

However if the second of the two nouns — the one nearest to the adjective — is feminine plural, the adjective may sometimes agree with it:

Ho comprato un vocabolario e due grammatiche tedesche.

I bought a German dictionary and two German grammars.