Indefinite adjectives - ADJECTIVES - Easy Learning Italian Grammar

Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)

ADJECTIVES

10. Indefinite adjectives

What is an indefinite adjective?

An indefinite adjective is one of a small group of adjectives used to give an idea of amounts and numbers, for example, several, all, every.

The indefinite adjectives ogni (meaning each), qualche (meaning some) and qualsiasi (meaning any) are invariable, that is they do not change their form for the feminine or plural.

ogni giorno	every day
ogni volta	every time
fra qualche mese	in a few months
qualche volta	sometimes
in qualsiasi momento	at any time
qualsiasi cosa	anything

The following indefinite adjectives end in –o, and change their endings in the normal way.

altro	other
tutto	all
molto	much
parecchio	a lot of
poco	a little
tanto	so much
troppo	too much

Put the indefinite or definite article IN FRONT OF altro.

un altro giorno	another day
un’altra volta	another time
gli altri studenti	the other students

Put the definite article AFTER tutto, even when there is no article in English.

tutta la giornata	all day
tutte le ragazze	all the girls

Use molto (masculine) and molta (feminine) to talk about large amounts.

Non abbiamo molto tempo.	We haven’t much time.
C’è molta roba.	There’s a lot of stuff.

Use molti (masculine plural) and molte (feminine plural) to talk about large numbers.

Abbiamo molti problemi.	We’ve got a lot of problems.
L’ho fatto molte volte.	I’ve done it many times.

you can also use parecchio and parecchia to talk about quite large amounts, and parecchi and parecchie to talk about quite large numbers.

Non lo vedo da parecchio tempo.	I haven’t seen him for quite some time.
C’era parecchia neve in montagne.	There was quite a lot of snow on the hills.
Ho avuto parecchi guai.	I had quite a few problems.
Ha parecchie amiche inglesi.	She has several English friends.

Note that the masculine singular ending of parecchio changes to a single –i in the plural.

Use poco and poca to talk about small amounts and pochi and poche to talk about small numbers.

C’è poco tempo.	There’s not much time.
Ha pochi amici.	He has few friends.

Note that the singular endings –co and –ca change to –chi and –che in the plural.

For more information on Spelling, see page 191.

Use troppo and troppa to say too much, and troppi and troppe to say too many.

Questa minestra è troppa per me.	This is too much soup for me.
Ho troppe cose da fare.	I’ve got too many things to do.

Use tanto and tanta to talk about very large amounts, and tanti and tante to talk about very large numbers.

Ho mangiato tanta pasta!	I ate so much pasta!
Abbiamo avuto tanti problemi.	We’ve had a whole lot of problems.

Grammar Extra!

ciascuno (meaning each) and nessuno (meaning no) have no plural and behave like the indefinite article uno.

Before a masculine noun starting with a vowel, or most consonants, use ciascun and nessun.

ciascun candidato	each candidate
ciascun amico	each friend
nessun irlandese	no Irishman
Non ha fatto nessun commento.	He made no comment.

Before a masculine noun starting with z or s + another consonant use ciascuno and nessuno.

ciascuno studente	each student
nessuno spagnolo	no Spanish person

Before a feminine noun starting with a consonant use ciascuna and nessuna.

ciascuna ragazza	each girl
nessuna ragione	no reason

Before a feminine noun beginning with a vowel use ciascun’ and nessun’.

ciascun’amica	each friend (female)
nessun’alternativa	no alternative

Key points

ogni, qualche and qualsiasi always have the same form.

altro, tutto, molto, poco, parecchio, troppo and tanto change their endings in the feminine and plural.