Bel, Quel, Buon (How to Use Them)

Bel or Bello? Quel or Quello?

Everyone knows that quello means “that” and bello means “beautiful” or “nice.”

If you’ve been learning Italian for a while, you may have noticed that sometimes bello and quello appear in different forms.

In fact, it’s not uncommon for bello to become bel, begli, or bei, and for quello to become quel, quegli, or quei.

Many students are unsure about the difference between bel and bello in Italian, or between quel and quello. Their usage is simpler than you might think, and I’ll explain why in the following sections.

Bello, bel, bei, begli

What is the difference between bello and bel/begli/bei?

When bello is placed before a masculine noun, its ending changes in the same way as definite articles (il, l’, gli, i).

In other words, the root of the adjective (be-) merges with the definite articles that would normally precede the noun, resulting in the following variations:

Form	Definite Article	Example Phrase	Translation
Bel	il	Un bel libro	A beautiful book
Bel	il	Un bel fiore	A beautiful flower
Bei	i	I bei libri	The beautiful books
Bei	i	I bei fiori	The beautiful flowers
Begli	gli	I begli occhi	The beautiful eyes
Begli	gli	I begli uomini	The handsome men

If the adjective bello follows the noun or the verb essere, it doesn’t follow the above rule. Instead, it changes its ending just like a regular adjective.

• Questa casa è bella – This house is beautiful.
• Queste case sono belle – These houses are beautiful.
• Quest’uomo è bello – This guy is handsome.
• Questi uomini sono belli – These guys are handsome.

Quello, quel, quei, quegli

When does quello change its form and become quello/quel/ quei/quegli?

The rule for bello applies to quello too. 

If quello is positioned before a noun (and so it is used as an adjective), its spelling changes by merging its root with the definite articles (il, lo, la, i, gli, le) that would normally precede the noun, as in the following examples. 

Form	Definite Article	Example Phrase	Translation
Quel	il	Quel libro	That book
Quel	il	Quel fiore	That flower
Quei	i	Quei libri	Those books
Quei	i	Quei fiori	Those flowers
Quegli	gli	Quegli occhi	Those eyes
Quegli	gli	Quegli uomini	Those men

The variations above are possible only when quello is used as an adjective.

If quello is used as a pronoun instead of an adjective, the changes reflect only the gender and the number of the subject.

• Quello è il mio gatto – That one is my cat.
• Quelle sono le mie amiche – Those are my girlfriends.

Buono, buon, buon’

What is the difference between buon and buono?

The same rule that applies to bello and quello also applies to the adjective buono. Its form changes depending on the gender and the first letter of the noun it modifies.

1. Use buon before masculine singular nouns starting with most consonants or vowels.
   • Un buon libro – A good book.
   • Un buon amico – A good friend.
2. Use buono before masculine singular nouns starting with s + consonant, z, ps, or gn.
   • Un buono studente – A good student.
   • Un buono zaino – A good backpack.
3. Use buona before feminine singular nouns starting with a consonant.
   • Una buona idea – A good idea.
4. Use buon’ before feminine singular nouns starting with a vowel.
   • A good friend (feminine).