What are adjectives?
Adjectives are the words we use to describe something or someone: a person, a place, a situation. Nice, beautiful, small and interesting are common adjectives in English; bello, piccolo and interessante are common adjectives in Italian.
In short
- Italian adjectives agree with the noun in gender and number: un ragazzo alto, una ragazza alta
- -o adjectives have four forms: alto, alta, alti, alte
- -e adjectives have two forms: gentile, gentili
- They usually go after the noun: una storia interessante
- A few common ones often go before: bello, buono, grande, piccolo, nuovo, vecchio
Italian vs. English adjectives
There are two key differences between Italian and English adjectives:
- Position: in English you say “an interesting story,” in Italian una storia interessante. Italian adjectives usually come after the noun.
- Agreement: in English an adjective never changes. In Italian, it changes to match the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the noun: bello, bella, belli, belle.
How Italian adjectives agree
An adjective takes the same gender and number as the noun it describes. There are two main groups of adjectives, depending on how they end in their dictionary form:
- 1st group: adjectives ending in -o, like bello, piccolo, nuovo, moderno, buono
- 2nd group: adjectives ending in -e, like gentile, elegante, interessante
1st group: adjectives ending in -o
Most Italian adjectives belong to this group. They have four forms:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -o: un ragazzo alto | -i: due ragazzi alti |
| Feminine | -a: una ragazza alta | -e: due ragazze alte |
Common -o adjectives: bello (beautiful, handsome), bravo (good, skilled), moderno (modern), antico (ancient), brutto (ugly), caldo (hot), freddo (cold), pulito (clean), sporco (dirty), leggero (light), lento (slow), alto (tall), basso (short), vecchio (old), magro (thin), grasso (fat).
2nd group: adjectives ending in -e
These adjectives have only two forms: one for the singular (masculine and feminine) and one for the plural (masculine and feminine).
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -e: un libro interessante | -i: due libri interessanti |
| Feminine | -e: una storia interessante | -i: due storie interessanti |
Common -e adjectives: gentile (kind), grande (big), interessante (interesting), elegante (elegant), pesante (heavy), veloce (fast), felice (happy), forte (strong), triste (sad), difficile (difficult), facile (easy), importante (important), giovane (young).
How do I know which group an adjective belongs to?
Sadly, there isn’t a rule: you learn it with the word. Since most adjectives end in -o, my tip is to make a list of the ones ending in -e. It’s a much shorter list!
Mixed groups and special cases
- Mixed group: if the adjective refers to masculine and feminine nouns together, use the masculine plural: Marco e Giulia sono alti.
- -co / -go: many add an h in the plural to keep the hard sound: lungo → lunghi, antico → antichi. But some don’t: simpatico → simpatici.
- -ista: same form for masculine and feminine singular, two plurals: un uomo ottimista, una donna ottimista, uomini ottimisti, donne ottimiste.
- Invariable: some adjectives never change, like the colors rosa, blu, viola: le scarpe blu.
Adjectives before the noun
Most adjectives go after the noun, but some very common ones often go before it: bello, buono, brutto, grande, piccolo, nuovo, vecchio, giovane. Before a noun, bello and buono change form, like articles: un bel ragazzo, un buon caffè.
Sometimes the position changes the meaning:
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| un grande uomo | a great man |
| un uomo grande | a big man |
| un caro amico | a dear friend |
| un ristorante caro | an expensive restaurant |
| un vecchio amico | an old (long-time) friend |
| un amico vecchio | an elderly friend |
Exercise: make the adjective agree
- Le ragazze sono molto (simpatico).
- Abbiamo visitato una città (antico).
- I miei amici sono (gentile).
- Ho comprato due borse (nuovo).
- Marco e Sara sono (stanco).
- Questa lezione è (interessante).
Show the answers
- simpatiche
- antica
- gentili
- nuove
- stanchi
- interessante
Frequently asked questions
Do Italian adjectives go before or after the noun?
Most Italian adjectives go after the noun (una storia interessante). Some very common ones, like bello, buono, grande, piccolo, nuovo and vecchio, often go before it, and a few change meaning depending on their position.
How do Italian adjectives agree with nouns?
Adjectives ending in -o have four forms (alto, alta, alti, alte). Adjectives ending in -e have two (gentile, gentili). The adjective always matches the gender and number of the noun.
What do you use for a mixed group of men and women?
The masculine plural: Marco e Giulia sono simpatici.
The best way to learn adjectives is to see how Italians use them to describe people and places. My stories are full of them, with vocabulary support and audio:
Due Amiche e un Album di Fotografie
Level A1
Two friends, an old photo album and a trip through southern Italy.
Read more: Italian personality adjectives · bene, bravo, bello or buono?
