Adjectives - A Guide To Learning The Basics of A New Language

Learn Italian: A Guide To Learning The Basics of A New Language (2015)

Chapter 18. Adjectives

Adjectives, like the nouns they describe, are either masculine or feminine and they undergo changes to agree with the number and gender of the noun they are modifying.

Adjectives have attributive functions and predicative functions.

1. Adjectives perform an attributive function when they are used to directly describe a noun:

Example:

una casa grande	a big house
un bambino intelligente	a smart child
un leader onesto	an honest leader

2. Adjectives perform a predicative function when they are used to describe a noun through a linking verb.

Example:

La casa è grande.	The house is big.
Il bambino è intelligente.	The child is intelligent.
Il leader è onesto.	The leader is honest.

The following are the rules that govern the changes in the endings of adjectives:

1. Adjectives that end in –e

Adjectives ending in –e take the –e ending for masculine and feminine gender in the singular and both changes to –i in the plural from.

Example: grande (big)

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	grande	grande
Plural	grandi	grandi

Exception: Adjectives ending in –one take the ending –ona in singular feminine and –one in plural feminine.

Usage:

Il mio amico Daniel vive in una grande casa.	My friend Daniel lives in a big house.
Ci sono molte grandi case nei sobborghi.	There are many big houses in the suburbs.

2. Adjectives that end in –o

Adjectives ending in –o comprise the majority of Italian adjectives and take on four different endings.

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	-o	-a
Plural	-i	-e

Example: caro (expensive)

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	caro	cara
Plural	cari	care

Usage:

il libro caro	the expensive book
la camicia cara	an expensive shirt
i libri cari	the expensive books
le camicie care	the expensive shirts

3. Adjectives that end in –ista

Adjectives ending in –ista take on three different endings.

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	sta	sta
Plural	sti	ste

Example: ottimista (optimist)

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	ottimista	ottimista
Plural	ottimisti	ottimiste

Usage

un uomo ottimista	an optimistic man
una signora ottimista	an optimistic lady
dei ragazzi pessimiste	some pessimistic guys
le ragazze entusiaste	the enthusiastic girls

4. Invariable adjectives

Invariable adjectives are those that don’t change according to gender and number. The following are invariable adjectives:

1. ‘the monosyllabic color “blu” (blue), the colors “rosa” (pink), “marrone” (brown), and “viola” (violet).

2. adjectives that end in stressed vowels

Example: bantù (bantu), indù (hindu)

3. “Pari” (equal), “dispari” (odd), and “impari” (unequal)

4. Adverbial expressions functioning as adjectives: “dappoco” (insignificant), “dabbene” (honest), and “perbene” (respectable)

5. New compound adjectives with “anti” prefix: antifurto (anti-theft) and “antiruggine” (anti-rust).

5. Adjectives that follow the rules on the formation of the noun they modify

1. Adjectives that end in "-co" and "-go"

2. Adjectives that end in –io

Position of Adjectives

In general, adjectives follow the noun they describe.

Examples:

Maria è una donna coraggiosa.	Maria is a brave woman.
Suo padre è un uomo generoso.	His father is a generous man.
Egli è sposato con una bella signora.	He is married to a beautiful lady.
Non trovo il vestito blue.	I can’t find the blue dress.

However, some common adjectives can come before the nouns:

cattivo	bad
bello	beautiful
caro	dear
buono	good
bravo	good, able
grande	large, great
lungo	long
nuovo	new
vecchio	old
stesso	same
piccolo	small, little
vero	true
brutto	ugly
giovane	young

Examples:

Marina è una bella signora.	Marina is a beautiful lady.
Il suo fidanzato è un vero gentiluomo.	Her boyfriend is a true gentleman.
Ha appena comprato una nuova auto.	He just bought a new car.

However, there are situations where the above adjectives must be placed after the noun:

1. to make emphasis or contrast

2. if the adjective is modified by an adverb

Abitano iu una fattoria molto grande.

They live in a very big farm.

Irregular Adjectives

There are four commonly used Italian adjectives that take on irregular forms when placed before the noun: buono (good), bello (beautiful), santo (saint/holy), grande (great/big).

Buono

The adjective “buono” changes its ending to agree with the noun that follows in this manner:

If the noun is masculine:

Conditions	Singular	Plural
Nouns that begin with s+z and foreign-derived nouns starting with gn, pn, ps, i, x or y+vowel	buono	buoni
Nouns that begin with consonant or vowel other than those that require the adjective “buono”	buon	buoni

Examples: un buon agricoltore (a good farmer), alcuni buoni tempi (some good times)

If the noun is feminine:

Conditions	Singular	Plural
Nouns that begin with a consonant	buona	buone
Nouns that begin wih a vowel	buon	buone

Santo

The adjective “santo” changes its ending to agree with the noun that follows in accordance with the following rules:

If “santo” precedes a masculine noun:

Conditions	Singular	Plural
For nouns that begin with s+z and nouns of foreign origin starting with gn, pn, ps, I, x, or y+vowel	santo	santi
For nouns that begin with a consonant or a vowel except in cases where santo has to be used	san	santi

Examples: San Paolo, Santi Paolo e Stefano.

If “santo” precedes a feminine noun:

Conditions

If the noun begins with a consonant	santa	santé
If the noun begins with a vowel	sant’	sante

Examples:

Sant’ Emiliana, Santa Fabiola, el Sante Emiliana e Fabiola

The Adjective Bello

Bello changes its ending to agree with the noun placed after it by applying the same rules used for definite articles:

If the noun it precedes has a masculine gender:

Conditions	Singular	Plural
If the noun begins with a vowel	beli’	begli
If the noun begins with s+z and a few foreign-derived nouns starting with gn, pn, ps, i, x, or y+vowel	bello	begli
If the noun begins with a consonant except when “bello” and “begli” must be used	bel	bei

Examples:

un bel principe (a handsome prince),

Un bel ragazzo (a handsome guy), dei bei tramonti (some beautiful sunsets), un bello zaino (a nice backpack), che begli specchi! (what beautiful mirrors!), un bell'uomo (a handsome man), che begli occhi (what beautiful eyes!).

If the noun it precedes is feminine:

Conditions	Singular	Plural
If the noun starts with a vowel	bell’	belle
If the noun starts with a consonant	bella	belle

Examples: una bella mattina (a beautiful morning), delle belle flori (some beautiful flowers), mia bell’ amica (my beautiful friend), le belle amiche (the beautiful friends)

Adjectives Ending in –e

Affidabile	trustworthy
Amichevole	friendly
Audace	bold/daring
capace	skilled
confidenziale	confidential
cortese	courteous/kind
debole	weak
difficile	difficult
diligente	hardworking
divertente	amusing
dolce	sweet
eccellente	excellent
elegante	elegant
emozionante	exciting
enorme	enormous, huge
facile	easy
felice	happy
formale	formal
forte	strong
fortunate	lucky
futile	futile
gentile	kind
giovane	young
grande	big
importante	important
indipendente	independent
informale	informal
intelligente	intelligent
interessante	interesting
inutile	useless
megliore	better
originale	original
ostile	hostile
paziente	patient
peggiore	worst
pericolose	dangerous
persistente	persistent
piacevole	pleasant
prudente	careful/cautious
puerile	childish
puntuale	punctual
puzzolente	smelly
scortese	rude
semplice	simple
sensibile	sensitive
sfavorevole	unfavorable
sgargiante	gaudy
sincere	sincere
soffice	soft
sportive	active
terribile	terrible
triste	sad
umile	humble
utile	useful
veloce	fast
Adjectives Ending in –o aagnato	wet
aasso	short
acido	sour
affamato	hungry
aggressivo	aggressive
allegro	happy
alto	tall
altro	other
ampio	wide
annoiato	bored
ansioso	anxious
antico	ancient
antipatico	mean
anziano	old
aperto	open
arrabbiato	angry
attento	attentive
avaro	stingy
bello	beautiful
bravo	capable/talented
brutto	ugly
buffo	funny
buono	good
burrascoso	stormy
calmo	calm
carino	pretty
caro	expensive
cattivo	bad
chiaro	light
chiuso	closed
colorato	colorful
content	glad
coraggioso	courageous
costoso	expensive
curioso	curious
delizioso	delicious
deluso	disappointed
destroy	right (direction)
dinamico	dynamic
diritto	straight
disinvolto	carefree
disonesto	dishonest
distrutto	destroyed
duro	hard
estero	foreign
falso	insincere
frantumato	crushed, shattered
fresco	fresh
frettoloso	hasty
fritto	fried
furbo	shrewd
geloso	jealous
generoso	generous
giusto	right
grasso	fat
grezzo	raw
ifranto	broken
impegnato	busy
ingenuo	naive
leggero	light
lento	slow
lungo	long
lussurioso	luxurious
magro	thin
malatto	sick
mezzo	half
misto	mixed
morto	dead
noioso	boring/tedious
noto	well-known
nuovo	new
nuvoloso	cloudy
occupato	busy
odioso	odious, detestable, hateful
onesto	honest
orgoglioso	proud
ostinato	obstinate
pazzesco	weird
pazzo	crazy
peccaminoso	sinful
peggio	worse
peino	full
perfetto	perfect
piccolo	small
pigro	lazy
piovoso	rainy
povero	poor
preferito	favorite
primo	first
profondo	deep
prossimo	next
quotidiano	daily
religioso	religious
ricco	rich
rumoroso	noisy
ruvido	rough
salato	salty
salvo	safe
sbagliato	wrong
sciocco	silly
scuro	dark
secco	dry
serio	serious
setoso	silky
severo	strict
sfacciato	cheeky
sfinito	exhausted
sfortunato	unlucky
sicuro	secure
simpatico	nice
sinistro	left
slanciato	slender
snello	slim
soleggiato	sunny
spaventato	scared
speranzoso	hopeful
spudorato	shameless
stanco	tired
stesso	same
stressato	stressed
studioso	studious
stupid	stupid
timido	shy
tranquillo	calm, quiet
ultimo	last
umido	humid
Vecchio	old
Vero	true
Vivo	alive
Vuoto	empty
Adjectives Ending in –ista
Egoista	selfish
Entusiasta	enthusiastic
Ottimista	optimistic
Pessimista	pessimistic