Everything You Need to Know About Italian Adjectives
When you want to spice up your sentences, adding some interessante Italian adjectives is a great way to do so. But how do Italian adjectives work? Where do they go in a sentence? And are they different if they're singular or plural? There are many nuances to mastering adjectives in Italian, but with a little practice, you'll be able to describe things in no time. To help you get started, here's everything you need to know about Italian adjectives.
How to Use Italian Adjectives
You use adjectives in Italian the same way they're used in English—to describe a person, place, thing, or situation. There are a few differences, like English adjectives go before the noun and Italian adjectives go after, but other than a few grammatical changes, they're the same! Italian adjectives also have to match the gender and number of the noun, but more on that later.
Where Do Italian Adjectives Go in a Sentence?
In most situations, adjectives are placed directly after the noun they modify in a sentence. This is the opposite of English, where adjectives tend to go before. For example, "the black cat" in Italian is "il gatto nero." Of course, there are exceptions to this rule that you'll need to learn to master Italian grammar. The following types of adjectives will be placed before the noun in most sentences.
- Demonstrative Adjectives
- Indefinite Adjectives
- Possessive Adjectives
When using more than one adjective to modify a noun, it's common to put one before the noun and one after the noun to make the sentence flow. For example, "the big black cat" becomes "il grande gatto nero."
Italian Adjective Gender and Number Agreement
In Italian sentences, adjectives agree with the noun they're modifying in gender and number. This means if a noun is masculine singular, the adjective needs to be in its masculine singular form as well, and if a noun is feminine plural, the adjective needs to be feminine plural too. There are two groups of Italian adjectives that are used to differentiate whether they're masculine or feminine. The first group is adjectives ending in -o, while adjectives ending in -e make up the second group.
Adjectives Ending in -o
Most Italian adjectives end with -o in their infinitive form, but that doesn't mean they stay like that. These adjectives will change based on the gender and number of the noun. The four forms of adjectives ending in -o are as follows:| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | -o | -a |
| Plural | -i | -e |
Consider the beautiful Italian words for tall (alto) and old (vecchio) in examples below.
- Il ragazzo è alto. — The boy is tall.
- I ragazzi sono alti. — The boys are tall.
- La ragazza è alta. — The girl is tall.
- Le ragazze sono alte. — The girls are tall.
- Il libro è vecchio. — The book is old.
- I libri sono vecchi. — The books are old.
- La casa è vecchia — The house is old.
- Le case sono vecchie — The houses are old.
Adjectives Ending in -e
Adjectives ending in -e only have two endings, which are the same for both masculine and feminine nouns. They only change when they go from singular to plural. The two forms of these Italian adjectives are as follows:| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | -e | -e |
| Plural | -i | -i |
Consider the Italian adjectives intelligent (intelligente) and big (grande) in the examples below.
- Il ragazzo è intelligente. — The boy is intelligent.
- I ragazzi sono intelligenti. — The boys are intelligent.
- La ragazza è intelligente. — The girl is intelligent.
- Le ragazze sono intelligenti. — The girls are intelligent.
- Il cane è grande. — The dog is big.
- I cani sono grandi. — The dogs are big.
- La casa è grande. — The house is big.
- Le case sono grandi. — The houses are big.
Common Irregular Italian Adjectives You'll Need to Learn
There are also a few irregular Italian adjectives that don't follow the traditional rules based on adjective endings. These adjectives can also be placed before the noun, but when they are, they will follow the same rules as definite articles in Italian. This means they'll change based on the letter that follows them. The two most common irregular adjectives in Italian are bello (beautiful/handsome) and buono (good). To help you practice all of your Italian adjectives, download Tandem and match with a native speaker today.
The changes for bello will follow the same rules as adjectives ending in -o when placed after the noun. However, when it's before the noun, the changes are as follows:
| Masculine Singular | Masculine Plural | Feminine Singular | Feminine Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bello | -bel | -bella | -bei | -belle |
Some examples include:
-
Che bel ragazzo! — What a handsome boy! -
Che bella casa! — What a beautiful house! -
Quei bei fiori sono per te. — Those beautiful flowers are for you. -
Le belle ragazze stanno cantando. — The beautiful girls are singing.
The changes for buono will follow the same rules as adjectives ending in -o when placed after the noun. However, when it's before the noun, they change in the same manner as un, uno, una, and un'.
So, when placed in front of a noun that doesn't start with z or s + consonant, the changes would be buon, buono, buona, and buan' respectively. Buono follows its regular -o ending pattern if the noun it's modifying starts with a z or s + consonant. The plural forms also do not change even when placed before the noun.
Some examples include:
-
Ho mangiato un buon gelato. — I ate a good ice cream. -
Ho assaggiato un buon'olio d'oliva. — I tasted a good olive oil. -
Quella è una buona idea. — That's a good idea. -
Quei buoni studenti studiano molto. — Those good students study a lot. -
Le buone notizie sono sempre benvenute. — Good news is always welcome.
102 Italian Adjectives to Add to Your Vocabulary
To help you use Italian adjectives in your everyday conversations, we've put together a comprehensive list for you. Here are 102 common adjectives you'll need when learning Italian.
- buono — good
- grande — big
- piccolo — small
- bello — beautiful
- brutto — ugly
- nuovo — new
- vecchio — old
- giovane — young
- alto — tall
- basso — short (height)
- lungo — long
- corto — short (length)
- largo — wide
- stretto — narrow
- grosso — large
- sottile — thin
- facile — easy
- difficile — difficult
- veloce — fast
- lento — slow
- caldo — hot
- freddo — cold
- chiaro — clear
- scuro — dark
- forte — strong
- debole — weak
- ricco — rich
- povero — poor
- felice — happy
- triste — sad
- gentile — kind
- crudele — cruel
- intelligente — intelligent
- stupido — stupid
- contento — content
- arrabbiato — angry
- pulito — clean
- sporco — dirty
- vicino — near
- lontano — far
- pesante — heavy
- leggero — light (weight)
- rumoroso — noisy
- silenzioso — quiet
- chiuso — closed
- aperto — open
- economico — cheap
- costoso — expensive
- pieno — full
- vuoto — empty
- dolce — sweet
- amaro — bitter
- ampio — ample
- stretto — tight
- diritto — straight
- curvo — curved
- morbido — soft
- duro — hard
- secco — dry
- bagnato — wet
- giusto — right
- sbagliato — wrong
- sereno — serene
- agitato — agitated
- fortunato — lucky
- sfortunato — unlucky
- pesante — heavy
- leggero — light (weight)
- attento — attentive
- disattento — inattentive
- importante — important
- insignificante — insignificant
- curioso — curious
- indifferente — indifferent
- naturale — natural
- artificiale — artificial
- sicuro — safe
- pericoloso — dangerous
- divertente — fun
- noioso — boring
- sincero — sincere
- falso — false
- coraggioso — courageous
- codardo — cowardly
- educato — polite
- maleducato — rude
- famoso — famous
- sconosciuto — unknown
- ordinato — orderly
- disordinato — disorderly
- abile — skillful
- goffo — clumsy
- leale — loyal
- sleale — disloyal
- paziente — patient
- impaziente — impatient
- prudente — prudent
- imprudente — imprudent
- allegro — cheerful
- malinconico — melancholy
- sano — healthy
- malato — sick
Where to Practice Your Newfound Love of Italian Adjectives
When you're learning Italian, not only do you need to work on pronunciation, expand your vocabulary, and learn some fun Italian slang words but you also need to get used to adding Italian adjectives to sentences naturally! Unfortunately, if you're not in Italy or living near a native speaker, this can seem impossible. That's why we created Tandem.
Tandem offers a unique language learning experience that will help you deepen your understanding of new vocabulary and improve your Italian pronunciation through real-world conversations. All you need to do is download the app, sign up, and find a native speaker of your target language. Once you match, you’ll begin communicating through language exchange and one-on-one teaching. To join our worldwide community, sign up for Tandem today!
