Italian Language Lessons
Grammar, spelling, and usage
Italian Adjectives
Workbook Exercises About This Topic
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Although the majority of Italian adjectives have four forms (as in italiano, italiana, italiani, italiane) there are exceptions. Not all Italian adjectives have a singular form ending in -o. There are a number of adjectives that end in -e. The singular ending -e changes to -i in the plural, whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
| ENDINGS OF -E ADJECTIVES |
|---|
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|
| il ragazzo triste (the sad boy) | i ragazzi tristi(the sad boys) |
| la ragazza triste (the sad girl) | le ragazze tristi (the sad girls) |
| ITALIAN ADJECTIVES ENDING IN -E |
|---|
| abile | able |
| difficile | difficult |
| felice | happy |
| forte | strong |
| grande | big, large, great |
| importante | important |
| intelligente | intelligent |
| interessante | interesting |
| triste | sad |
| veloce | fast, speedy |
There are quite a few other exceptions for forming plural adjectives. For instance, adjectives that end in -io (with the stress falling on that i) form the plural with the ending -ii: addio/addii; leggio/leggii; zio/zii.
The table below contains a chart of other irregular adjective endings you should know.
| FORMING PLURAL ADJECTIVES |
|---|
| SINGULAR ENDING | PLURAL ENDING |
|---|
| -ca | -che |
| -cia | -ce |
| -cio | -ci |
| -co | -chi |
| -ga | -ghe |
| -gia | -ge |
| -gio | -gi |
| -glia | -glie |
| -glio | -gli |
| -go | -ghi |
| -scia | -sce |
| -scio | -sci |
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