Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)
ADJECTIVES
4. Irregular adjectives
There are three very common adjectives which are different from other adjectives – bello, buono and grande.
When the adjective bello (meaning beautiful) is used in front of a masculine noun it has different forms depending on which letter follows it, just like the definite article.
|
bello |
Masculine Singular |
Feminine Singular |
Masculine Plural |
Feminine Plural |
|
|
used before a noun |
bel |
bella |
bei |
belle |
|
|
used after a verb or a noun |
bello |
bella |
belli |
belle |
|
|
bel tempo |
beautiful weather |
||||
|
bei nomi |
beautiful names |
||||
|
Il tempo era bello. |
The weather was beautiful. |
||||
|
I fiori sono belli. |
The flowers are beautiful. |
||||
bell’ is used before vowels in the masculine and feminine singular forms.
|
un bell’albero |
a beautiful tree |
bello is used in front of z and s + another consonant in the masculine singular form.
|
un bello strumento |
a beautiful instrument |
begli is used in front of vowels, z and s + another consonant in the masculine plural form.
|
begli alberi |
beautiful trees |
|
begli strumenti |
beautiful instruments |
The adjective buono (meaning good) is usually shortened to buon when it comes before a masculine singular noun.
|
Buon viaggio! |
Have a good journey! |
|
un buon uomo |
a good man |
The shortened form of buono is not used in front of nouns that start with z or s + another consonant.
|
un buono studente |
a good student |
The adjective grande (meaning big, large or great) is often shortened to gran when it comes before a singular noun starting with a consonant.
|
la Gran Bretagna |
Great Britain |
|
un gran numero di macchine |
a large number of cars |
Key points
In Italian, adjectives agree with the person or thing they are describing.
Adjectives ending in –o in the masculine have different endings in the feminine and plural forms.
Some adjectives don’t have a different feminine or plural form.