Una Pizza Grande o Una Grande Pizza?
Adjectives in Italian: Form and AgreementWorkbook Exercises About This Topic
An adjective is a word that qualifies a noun; for example, a good boy. In Italian an adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. In Italian there are two groups of adjectives: those ending in -o and those ending in -e.
Adjectives ending in -o in the masculine have four forms:
| Maschile | Femminile | |
|---|---|---|
| Singolare | -o | -a |
| Plurale | -i | -e |
| il libro italiano | la signora italiana | |
| i libri italiani | le signore italiane | |
| il primo giorno | la mensa universitaria | |
| i primi giorni | le mense universitarie |
If an adjective ends in -io, the o is dropped to form the plural.
l'abito vecchio (the old suit)
gli abiti vecchi (the old suits)
il ragazzo serio (the serious boys)
i ragazzi seri (the serious boys)
Uli è tedesco. (Uli is German.)
Adriana è italiana. (Adriana is Italian.)
Roberto e Daniele sono americani. (Robert and Daniel are American.)
Svetlana e Natalia sono russe. (Svetlana and Natalia are Russian.)
Adjectives ending in -e are the same for the masculine and the feminine singular. In the plural, the -e changes to -i.
il ragazzo inglese (the English boy)
la ragazza inglese (the English girl)
i ragazzi inglesi (the English boys)
le ragazze inglesi (the English girls)
An adjective modifying two nouns of different gender is masculine.
i padri e le madre italiani (Italian fathers and mothers)
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