🔍 In short. Italian has two everyday ways to say “both”: entrambi/entrambe and tutti e due / tutte e due. They mean the same thing. Tutti e due is the spoken default; entrambi sounds a touch more written. To say “all three”, “all four”, “all ten”, Italian builds the same pattern: tutti (or tutte for a feminine group) + e + the number. If a noun follows, the definite article slips in after the number: tutti e tre i ragazzi, tutte e quattro le sorelle, entrambe le bici. This A2 guide walks you through the forms, the gender rule, the article trap, the elided tutt’e due, and a Ferrara dialogue between Rina and Ivo touring the Castello Estense and Palazzo Schifanoia.
Get italian entrambi tutti right and you stop saying clunky things like i due ragazzi tutti or entrambi i due. By the end you will pick the right form for any group, from two coffees to ten fingers, without thinking twice.
Cosa impareremo oggi
👆🏻 Jump to section
- Two ways to say “both” in Italian
- The four forms of entrambi
- Tutti e + number: from two to ten
- Where the article goes
- Tutti e due on its own: as a pronoun
- Tutt’e due: the elided form
- Ambedue: the bookish cousin
- Altri tre: “another three”
- Cheat sheet: italian entrambi tutti
- Three common mistakes
- Dialog: a day in Ferrara
- Frequently asked questions
- Related guides
Two ways to say “both” in Italian
Order a coffee for two friends in a pasticceria in Ferrara and you will hear both forms in the same sentence: li prendo entrambi, li prendo tutti e due. They mean the exact same thing. The choice is mostly a matter of register: italian entrambi tutti share the meaning, but tutti e due is the everyday spoken default while entrambi reads a touch more polished, especially in writing.
- Rina e Ivo hanno visitato entrambi i palazzi nello stesso giorno.
Rina and Ivo visited both palaces on the same day. - Tutti e due i biglietti sono validi fino a mezzanotte.
Both tickets are valid until midnight. - Le sale del Castello e quelle di Schifanoia: tutte e due meravigliose.
The rooms of the Castello and those of Schifanoia: both wonderful.
So when you hesitate, default to tutti e due in speech and pick entrambi when the sentence is more formal: an email, a report, a presentation. Neither is wrong in either context; you just sound a little more bookish with entrambi. The italian entrambi tutti pair is one of those rare cases where Italian gives you two doors into the same room and lets you decide which one fits the moment.
A practical sign of how live both forms are: open any Italian newspaper and you will find italian entrambi tutti in the same article, sometimes in the same paragraph. La Repubblica, Il Corriere, even local papers like the Resto del Carlino in Bologna alternate them freely. The choice often comes down to rhythm: tutti e due is longer and more emphatic; entrambi is one word and tighter. Writers pick whichever flows better in the sentence.
The four forms of entrambi
The italian entrambi tutti family is mostly invariable, except for one word that does change for gender. Entrambi agrees with the noun it refers to: masculine or mixed groups take entrambi, all-feminine groups take entrambe. There is no singular: by definition entrambi means “two”, so italian entrambi tutti are always plural.
| Group | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine (or mixed) | entrambi | entrambi i fratelli |
| all feminine | entrambe | entrambe le sorelle |
| masculine (or mixed), spoken | tutti e due | tutti e due i ragazzi |
| all feminine, spoken | tutte e due | tutte e due le ragazze |
- Entrambi i fratelli di Ivo lavorano in una cantina vicino a Comacchio.
Both of Ivo’s brothers work in a winery near Comacchio. - Entrambe le bici hanno una gomma sgonfia.
Both bikes have a flat tyre. - Rina e Ivo: entrambi adorano i mercatini.
Rina and Ivo: they both love flea markets.
🔍 Mixed groups go masculine. A man and a woman together are entrambi, not entrambe: Rina e Ivo sono entrambi di Ferrara. Only when every member of the group is feminine do you switch to entrambe. The same rule applies to tutti e due / tutte e due: a couple is tutti e due, two sisters are tutte e due.
Tutti e + number: from two to ten
Once you climb past “both”, italian entrambi tutti work with a single pattern: tutti (or tutte) + e + the number. The structure stays the same whether the group is three, four, seven, or twenty. You will hear it in shops, in classrooms, at the doctor: tutti e tre i fratelli, tutte e quattro le sorelle, tutti e dieci i candidati.
- Tutti e tre i miei nipoti vivono a Ferrara, vicino al Castello Estense.
All three of my grandchildren live in Ferrara, near the Castello Estense. - Tutte e quattro le stanze del piano nobile sono affrescate.
All four rooms of the main floor are frescoed. - Tutti e sette i giorni della settimana il museo apre alle nove.
All seven days of the week the museum opens at nine. - Ho perso tutte e dieci le foto della gita.
I lost all ten photos from the trip.
One thing to notice about italian entrambi tutti: the e in the middle is a real little word for “and”, not a stray letter. Drop it and the phrase breaks. Tutti tre i ragazzi is not Italian; it has to be tutti e tre i ragazzi. Native speakers feel the e so strongly that they sometimes elide it (tutt’e tre, see below), but they never simply leave it out.
Where the article goes
This is the part learners get wrong most often. When italian entrambi tutti are followed by a noun, the definite article comes after the number, never before. The italian entrambi tutti order is: entrambi or tutti e + number + article + noun.
- Tutti e due i biglietti. (not: i tutti e due biglietti)
Both tickets. - Tutte e tre le sorelle. (not: le tutte e tre sorelle)
All three sisters. - Entrambi i palazzi. (not: i entrambi palazzi)
Both palaces. - Entrambe le bici. (not: le entrambe bici)
Both bikes.
Mind the form of the article: it follows the usual rules for the noun that comes next. Tutti e tre gli studenti (gli before s + consonant), tutte e cinque le amiche, entrambi gli zii (gli before vowel). With italian entrambi tutti the article must match the noun, not the word in front.
🎯 Mini-task #1. Add the right article (or none if not needed).
- Tutti e due ___ fratelli abitano a Ferrara.
- Entrambe ___ sorelle parlano francese.
- Tutti e tre ___ zii lavorano in cantina.
- Tutte e quattro ___ stanze sono affrescate.
- Entrambi ___ biglietti costano dieci euro.
- Tutti e dieci ___ studenti hanno superato l’esame.
👉 Show answers
1. i (tutti e due i fratelli) · 2. le (entrambe le sorelle) · 3. gli (tutti e tre gli zii, gli before z) · 4. le (tutte e quattro le stanze) · 5. i (entrambi i biglietti) · 6. gli (tutti e dieci gli studenti, gli before s + consonant)
Tutti e due on its own: as a pronoun
Drop the noun and italian entrambi tutti still work, this time as pronouns. The group is already clear from context, so you just point at it with the word alone.
- Rina e Ivo? Sono arrivati tutti e due in bicicletta.
Rina and Ivo? They both arrived by bike. - Quale palazzo ti è piaciuto di più? Entrambi, davvero.
Which palace did you like more? Both, honestly. - Le foto del Castello? Le ho stampate tutte e tre.
The Castello photos? I printed all three of them. - I miei nipoti hanno tutti e quattro la febbre.
All four of my grandchildren have a fever.
Notice the third example: le ho stampate tutte e tre. The word sits at the end and still agrees in gender with the noun it refers back to (le foto, feminine, so tutte). This trailing position is very common in spoken Italian, and italian entrambi tutti slot into it naturally: li voglio tutti e due, li ho visti tutti e tre, le abbiamo provate tutte e cinque.
Tutt’e due: the elided form
In writing and in speech you will run into tutt’e due, tutt’e tre, tutt’e quattro. This is the elided form: the final i or e of tutti/tutte falls away and the apostrophe takes its place. Treccani lists examples from Pirandello and Sandro Veronesi, so the form is fully accepted, not slangy.
- Tutt’e due abbiamo dimenticato l’ombrello in albergo.
We both left the umbrella at the hotel. - Le sorelle? Sono partite tutt’e tre stamattina.
The sisters? They all three left this morning. - Tutt’e quattro i candidati sono passati al secondo turno.
All four candidates moved on to the second round.
The elided form sounds a touch more conversational. If you are filling in a form or writing an exam, prefer the full tutti e due / tutte e tre. In a chat, an SMS, a letter to a friend, the elided version of italian entrambi tutti blends in perfectly.
Ambedue: the bookish cousin
One more word for “both” exists alongside italian entrambi tutti, and you will see it in print: ambedue. It means exactly the same as entrambi, but it never changes for gender and it has a distinctly literary flavour. You might find it in a novel, in a legal text, in a museum panel. In everyday speech it is now rare.
- Ambedue le sale conservano gli affreschi originali.
Both rooms preserve the original frescoes. - Ambedue i palazzi appartennero alla famiglia d’Este.
Both palaces belonged to the d’Este family.
For A2, you do not need to use ambedue, but you should recognise it. When you read a guidebook or a wall plaque in Ferrara, italian entrambi tutti and ambedue will all turn up, and now you know they all just mean “both”.
A small footnote for completeness: alongside ambedue you may also spot the very rare ambo (with the variants ambi for masculine and ambe for feminine). You will find it almost exclusively in fixed phrases (ambo i sessi, “both sexes”) or in old documents. In a modern conversation, italian entrambi tutti are the only forms that sound normal; ambo would make a native speaker smile.
Altri tre: “another three”
A close relative worth knowing: altri / altre + number means “another X”, “X more”. It is built like italian entrambi tutti, only with altri in front of the number instead of tutti e. Use it whenever you would say “another two coffees”, “three more days”, “five more pages”.
- Ho comprato altri tre francobolli all’edicola.
I bought another three stamps at the newsagent. - Restiamo a Ferrara altre due notti.
We’re staying in Ferrara another two nights. - Mi servono altri cinque minuti.
I need another five minutes.
The agreement is the same as for the regular plural altri/altre: masculine or mixed groups take altri, all-feminine groups take altre. No article in between: it is altri tre giorni, not altri i tre giorni. So italian entrambi tutti and altri + number are close cousins: same family of expressions, slightly different jobs. Tutti e due takes the whole group; altri due adds more on top of what is already there.
You will also hear the related phrase tutti e due insieme (“both together”), tutti e tre allo stesso tempo (“all three at the same time”). Adding insieme or allo stesso tempo is a natural way to stress that the group acts as one. Italian entrambi tutti combine smoothly with these little reinforcements, and you will hear them all the time in real conversations in Ferrara, in Bologna, anywhere.
Cheat sheet: italian entrambi tutti
One table that holds the whole system. Keep it open while you write your next sentence about a group.
| You want to say | Italian | Example |
|---|---|---|
| both (m or mixed), formal | entrambi + article + noun | entrambi i palazzi |
| both (f), formal | entrambe + article + noun | entrambe le bici |
| both (m or mixed), spoken | tutti e due + article + noun | tutti e due i ragazzi |
| both (f), spoken | tutte e due + article + noun | tutte e due le ragazze |
| all three / four / ten | tutti / tutte + e + number + article + noun | tutte e quattro le stanze |
| elided form (informal) | tutt’e + number | tutt’e due, tutt’e tre |
| as a pronoun (no noun) | same form, no article | li ho visti tutti e due |
| literary “both” | ambedue (invariable) + article + noun | ambedue le sale |
| another / X more | altri / altre + number + noun | altri tre francobolli |
Three common mistakes
Three slips flag a beginner sentence about italian entrambi tutti. Fixing them is quick, and they cover most of the trouble learners have with italian entrambi tutti at A2.
Mistake 1. Saying entrambi i due. The word entrambi already means “the two of them”, so the number is redundant. Wrong: entrambi i due ragazzi. Correct: entrambi i ragazzi, or if you want the number, tutti e due i ragazzi.
Mistake 2. Putting the article first. Wrong: i tutti e due i biglietti, le entrambe le sale. Correct: tutti e due i biglietti, entrambe le sale. The article slips in after the word, never before.
Mistake 3. Dropping the e. Wrong: tutti tre i ragazzi, tutte quattro le sorelle. Correct: tutti e tre i ragazzi, tutte e quattro le sorelle. In italian entrambi tutti the little e in the middle is mandatory.
🎯 Mini-task #2. Fix or confirm each sentence.
- Entrambi i due fratelli vivono a Ferrara.
- Tutte e tre le sorelle sono uscite insieme.
- Le entrambe bici sono in garage.
- Tutti tre i miei nipoti studiano francese.
- Ambedue le sale sono affrescate.
👉 Show answers
1. Entrambi i fratelli (drop “due”, entrambi already = the two) · 2. ✓ correct · 3. Entrambe le bici (article goes after the word entrambi/entrambe) · 4. Tutti e tre i miei nipoti (the “e” is mandatory) · 5. ✓ correct (ambedue is invariable, fine in writing)
Dialog: a day in Ferrara
Rina and Ivo plan a one-day visit to the Castello Estense and Palazzo Schifanoia. They pick up a combined ticket at the tourist office and decide how to organise the day. Watch every italian entrambi tutti form: entrambi, tutti e due, tutte e tre, altri due.
👩🏼🦰 Rina: Allora, prendiamo il biglietto cumulativo? Vale per entrambi i palazzi.
So, shall we get the combined ticket? It’s valid for both palaces.
👨🏽🦱 Ivo: Sì, costa meno. Quanto durano le visite? Tutte e due un’ora?
Yes, it costs less. How long do the tours last? Both one hour?
👩🏼🦰 Rina: Più o meno. Il Castello è più grande, Schifanoia ha tre sale principali, tutte e tre affrescate.
More or less. The Castello is bigger, Schifanoia has three main rooms, all three frescoed.
👨🏽🦱 Ivo: Perfetto. Cominciamo dal Castello, così abbiamo ancora le energie per entrambe le visite.
Perfect. Let’s start with the Castello, that way we still have energy for both visits.
👩🏼🦰 Rina: Buona idea. E in mezzo prendiamo un caffè in piazza Trento e Trieste. Tutti e due ne abbiamo bisogno.
Good idea. And in between let’s grab a coffee in Piazza Trento e Trieste. We both need one.
👨🏽🦱 Ivo: Tutti e due, anzi tutt’e tre con la guida cartacea che voglio comprare. La leggo prima di entrare a Schifanoia.
Both of us, actually all three of us counting the paper guide I want to buy. I’ll read it before going into Schifanoia.
👩🏼🦰 Rina: Ah, mi sono dimenticata: hai preso entrambi i documenti? Carta d’identità e tessera del museo.
Oh, I forgot: did you bring both documents? ID card and museum pass.
👨🏽🦱 Ivo: Sì, li ho presi tutti e due. E ho anche aggiunto altri due biglietti per i miei nipoti, vengono nel pomeriggio.
Yes, I brought both. And I also got another two tickets for my grandchildren, they’re coming in the afternoon.
👩🏼🦰 Rina: Allora siamo a posto tutt’e quattro. Andiamo, il Castello apre fra dieci minuti.
Then we’re all set, the four of us. Let’s go, the Castello opens in ten minutes.
Count the forms: entrambi i palazzi, tutte e due, tutte e tre, entrambe le visite, tutti e due, tutti e due, tutt’e tre, entrambi i documenti, tutti e due, altri due, tutt’e quattro. A single trip to Ferrara exercises every form of italian entrambi tutti you will ever need.
🎯 Mini-challenge. Describe a real day out in five sentences. Use entrambi or entrambe at least once, tutti / tutte e due at least once, tutti / tutte e + a number greater than two at least once, and altri / altre + a number at least once. Read it out loud.
Test your understanding
Take the quiz below to test what you’ve learned about italian entrambi tutti: the four forms, the article rule, and the elided tutt’e due.
–
§
Frequently asked questions
Six questions about italian entrambi tutti come up in every A2 class. The answers below cover italian entrambi tutti in everyday usage and draw on the Treccani entry Tutti e due, tutte e due.
What is the difference between entrambi and tutti e due?
They mean the same thing: both, the two of them. The difference is register. Tutti e due (or tutte e due for a feminine group) is the everyday spoken default; entrambi sounds a touch more polished and turns up more often in writing. In an email or report you might prefer entrambi i candidati; over coffee with a friend you’ll naturally say tutti e due. Both are correct in either context.
Do I need the article with tutti e tre?
Yes, when a noun follows. The order is: tutti / tutte + e + number + article + noun. So it’s tutti e tre i ragazzi (not tutti e tre ragazzi), tutte e quattro le sorelle, entrambi i palazzi. The article slips in after the number and follows the usual rules for the noun: i, gli, le, l’. Without a noun, the article disappears: li ho visti tutti e tre.
How do I pick between entrambi and entrambe?
Entrambi for masculine groups and for mixed groups (a man and a woman together). Entrambe only when every member of the group is feminine. So Rina e Ivo sono entrambi di Ferrara (mixed, masculine wins), le due sorelle hanno entrambe la febbre (all feminine), i fratelli hanno entrambi i passaporti (all masculine). The same gender rule applies to tutti e due vs tutte e due.
Is tutt’e due correct?
Yes, fully correct. It’s the elided form of tutti e due (or tutte e due): the final vowel of tutti / tutte drops and is replaced by an apostrophe. Treccani lists examples from Pirandello and Veronesi. It sounds a touch more conversational, so prefer the full form in exams and formal writing, but use the elided tutt’e due, tutt’e tre, tutt’e quattro freely in chat and informal letters.
Can I say entrambi i due?
No. Entrambi already means the two of them, so adding due is redundant. Say entrambi i fratelli, not entrambi i due fratelli. If you really want to highlight the number, switch form and say tutti e due i fratelli. The two patterns are mutually exclusive: pick one or the other, never both at once.
What is ambedue and should I use it?
Ambedue is a literary, invariable word for both. It does not change for gender (ambedue le sale, ambedue i palazzi). You’ll meet it in novels, in legal texts, on museum panels. In modern everyday speech it sounds bookish, so for A2 you only need to recognise it. Stick with entrambi / entrambe in writing and tutti e due / tutte e due in speech; you’ll always sound natural.
Ready for the next step?
All our classes are live on Zoom with a native Italian teacher, in small groups. If this lesson matches your level, take it further with real practice.
Milano A2-B1
Small group course · live on Zoom · native teacher
Move from the basics to real conversations, step by step, with a native Italian teacher who keeps the group small and the pace right for you.
- Small groups, max 4 students — weekly live Zoom lessons
- Grammar, vocabulary, listening and writing in every cycle
- Materials in Italian + English, beginner-friendly
- Homework after each lesson, corrected by your teacher
Individual classes
One-to-one · any level · live on Zoom
Private lessons with your dedicated native Italian teacher, fully tailored to your goals and schedule, from absolute beginner to advanced.
- 55-minute individual Zoom lessons, your dedicated teacher
- Personalised level assessment included
- Interactive online materials — homework after each lesson
- Flexible weekly schedule or pay-as-you-go package
Related guides
Three guides that pair with italian entrambi tutti, plus an institutional reference from Treccani for italian entrambi tutti in literary use.
- Italian Numbers: Uno, Zero, Mille, Milione: the A1 starting point on cardinals, gender of uno, and mille / mila.
- Italian Numbers: Cardinals, Ordinals, Dates and Age: the full numbers hub with dates, age and the -tré accent.
- Italian Quattro Chiacchiere, Mille Grazie: when small numbers stop counting and become vague emphasis (B1).
- Treccani: Tutti e due, tutte e due: institutional entry with literary examples of tutt’e due.
