Italian Bellissimo: How to Say ‘Very Beautiful’ (A1)

🔍 In short. When Italians love something, they don’t just say it’s buono. They say buonissimo. When a friend looks great, they say bellissimo. The italian bellissimo issimo ending is the Italian way to mean “very”, “extremely”, “really”. The italian bellissimo issimo form attaches to almost any adjective after dropping its last vowel: bello becomes bellissimo, buono becomes buonissimo, grande becomes grandissimo, piccolo becomes piccolissimo. Four common adjectives also have a second, irregular italian bellissimo issimo form: ottimo, pessimo, massimo, minimo. A handful of prefixes do a similar job in informal speech alongside the italian bellissimo issimo suffix: stra-, super-, arci-. This A1 guide shows you how to build, agree, and use the italian bellissimo issimo suffix in everyday sentences, with a Bologna dialogue around mortadella and tortellini.

Once you have the italian bellissimo issimo form in your ear, a whole layer of native Italian opens up. You stop sounding flat. You start sounding like someone who actually enjoys speaking the language.

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The one-liner rule for the italian bellissimo issimo suffix

The italian bellissimo issimo rule is short: take any adjective, drop the last vowel, and add -issimo. That gives you “very + adjective” in one word. Bello ends in -o, so drop the -o and add -issimo: bell- + -issimo = bellissimo. The italian bellissimo issimo word agrees in gender and number with the noun, just like any other adjective: bellissimo, bellissima, bellissimi, bellissime. The italian bellissimo issimo form does not mean “the most”; it means “very”, “extremely”, “really”. Italian has a separate construction for “the most”, and we keep that for the B1 follow-up.

The technical name for this form is the intensified, which simply means a high degree of a quality with no comparison to anything else. Un caffè buonissimo just means “a really good coffee”, not “the best coffee in the world”. This A1 guide stays focused on building the form and using it correctly in everyday speech.

How to build -issimo from any adjective

The italian bellissimo issimo rule fits on a single line: drop the final vowel of the adjective and add -issimo. Both -o adjectives and -e adjectives feed into the italian bellissimo issimo pattern the same way.

• bello → bellissimo. Bologna è bellissima d’autunno.
  Bologna is really beautiful in autumn.
• buono → buonissimo. La mortadella di questo laboratorio è buonissima.
  The mortadella from this workshop is really good.
• alto → altissimo. Roberto è altissimo, due metri.
  Roberto is extremely tall, two meters.
• grande → grandissimo. Veronica ha un grandissimo problema oggi.
  Veronica has a huge problem today.
• piccolo → piccolissimo. Il tortellino classico è piccolissimo.
  The classic tortellino is very small.
• intelligente → intelligentissimo. Mio nipote è intelligentissimo.
  My nephew is extremely intelligent.
• elegante → elegantissimo. Veronica è elegantissima oggi.
  Veronica is extremely elegant today.
• veloce → velocissimo. Il treno per Firenze è velocissimo.
  The train to Florence is very fast.

Notice the pattern across -o and -e adjectives: in both cases you drop the final vowel and add -issimo. The result always ends in -o in the masculine singular, no matter what the original adjective looked like. So elegante (which never changes for gender) gives elegantissimo for masculine and elegantissima for feminine. Once you build the -issimo word, it behaves like any normal four-form adjective in -o.

Agreement: bellissimo, bellissima, bellissimi, bellissime

Once you have the italian bellissimo issimo stem, it agrees in gender and number with the noun, like any standard four-form Italian adjective. Four endings cover every case of the italian bellissimo issimo agreement.

Gender / Number	Ending	Example
masculine singular	-issimo	un caffè buonissimo
feminine singular	-issima	una sfoglia buonissima
masculine plural	-issimi	dei tortellini buonissimi
feminine plural	-issime	delle paste buonissime

• Veronica è simpaticissima.
  Veronica is really nice.
• Roberto e Veronica sono simpaticissimi.
  Roberto and Veronica are really nice.
• La sfoglia oggi è sottilissima.
  The dough sheet today is extremely thin.
• Le sfogline di questo pastificio sono bravissime.
  The tortellini makers at this workshop are extremely skilled.
• I clienti del laboratorio sono affezionatissimi.
  The workshop’s customers are deeply loyal.

One small note. The -issimo word does not change because of the noun’s article. It changes only because of gender and number. Whether you say la sfoglia, una sfoglia, or questa sfoglia, the adjective stays buonissima. Italian keeps adjective agreement clean and consistent.

Spelling tricks: ricchissimo, larghissimo, simpaticissimo

One detail of the italian bellissimo issimo spelling catches every learner: when you add -issimo to an adjective ending in -co, -go, -ca, or -ga, you need to preserve the hard sound of the original word. Italian does this with an h before the new ending, exactly the same trick used in the plural.

• ricco → ricchissimo. Mio zio è ricchissimo.
  My uncle is extremely rich.
• stanco → stanchissimo. Sono stanchissima dopo il turno.
  I’m extremely tired after the shift.
• largo → larghissimo. Via Indipendenza è larghissima.
  Via Indipendenza is very wide.
• lungo → lunghissimo. Il giorno è lunghissimo a giugno.
  The day is extremely long in June.
• bianco → bianchissimo. Il tovagliolo è bianchissimo.
  The napkin is pure white.

One exception lives in this corner: when the masculine plural of the adjective ends in -ci or -gi (without the h), the -issimo form has no h either. The classic example is simpatico, whose plural is simpatici, so the intensified is simpaticissimo, not simpatichissimo.

• simpatico → simpaticissimo. Il fornaio sotto casa è simpaticissimo.
  The baker downstairs is extremely friendly.
• antipatico → antipaticissimo. Quel cliente è antipaticissimo.
  That customer is really unpleasant.
• magnifico → magnifico stays as is in most everyday use.

The rule of thumb: look at the masculine plural first. Ricchi with h gives ricchissimo. Simpatici without h gives simpaticissimo. Once you make this connection, you stop guessing.

The four irregular pairs: ottimo, pessimo, massimo, minimo

Four very common adjectives have two italian bellissimo issimo suffix forms: the regular -issimo form and a special form inherited from Latin. Both are correct, but they cover slightly different meanings.

Adjective	Regular intensified	Latin intensified	Typical use of the Latin form
buono (good)	buonissimo	ottimo	quality, a more detached judgement
cattivo (bad)	cattivissimo	pessimo	poor quality, unacceptable
grande (big)	grandissimo	massimo	maximum, top level
piccolo (small)	piccolissimo	minimo	minimum, smallest amount

The two forms in each pair are not exact synonyms. Buonissimo is personal and warm; you use it for food you love, for a friend who is kind, for a moment that felt great. Ottimo sits one step further away; you use it for a more detached judgement of quality, the kind of word a sommelier or a doctor might pick.

• Questi tortellini sono buonissimi! (personal, enthusiastic)
  These tortellini are really delicious!
• Questi tortellini sono ottimi. (detached, professional)
  These tortellini are excellent.
• Roberto è un cuoco buonissimo. (warm, friendly)
  Roberto is a really nice cook.
• Roberto è un cuoco ottimo. (quality assessment)
  Roberto is a first-rate cook.

The same logic splits cattivissimo and pessimo. Cattivissimo describes an unpleasant person or experience; pessimo describes poor quality or a result you consider unacceptable.

• Quel cliente era cattivissimo con la commessa. (mean, hostile)
  That customer was really nasty to the shop assistant.
• Il servizio in quel ristorante era pessimo. (low quality)
  The service in that restaurant was terrible.
• Veronica ha un umore pessimo stamattina. (very bad mood)
  Veronica is in a terrible mood this morning.

For massimo and minimo, the Latin forms tend to mean “maximum” and “minimum” as abstract limits, while grandissimo and piccolissimo describe the basic sense of size with feeling. Native speakers reach for the regular form when the meaning is concrete, and for the Latin form when the meaning is a threshold.

• Veronica ha un grandissimo appetito stasera. (huge, enthusiastic)
  Veronica has a huge appetite tonight.
• Il volume massimo della radio è troppo alto. (top limit)
  The maximum volume of the radio is too high.
• Il tortellino è piccolissimo, lo mangi in un boccone. (tiny, vivid)
  The tortellino is tiny, you eat it in one bite.
• Non ho la minima idea. (not the smallest)
  I have no idea at all.

You will not be wrong if you pick the regular -issimo form in casual speech. Italians use buonissimo and grandissimo constantly. The Latin pairs are good to recognise and useful in writing or formal contexts.

Informal cousins: stra-, super-, arci-

In casual conversation, Italians have three more ways to push an adjective into the “very” zone, alongside the italian bellissimo issimo suffix: the prefixes stra-, super-, and arci-. None of these replaces the italian bellissimo issimo form, but you will hear them everywhere on the street, on social media, in advertising. Treccani notes that all three work as informal intensifiers added to the front of an adjective.

• stra- (very common, neutral to informal). La mortadella di Roberto è strabuona!
  Roberto’s mortadella is super good!
• super- (informal, often jocular). Roberto è superveloce in cucina.
  Roberto is super fast in the kitchen.
• arci- (informal, slightly jocular or old-school). Quel professore è arcinoto a Bologna.
  That professor is extremely well-known in Bologna.

These prefixes are bolted on without dropping any letters: stra + buono = strabuono. They cannot stack: never combine them with -issimo in formal writing. You will hear strabellissimo on social media, and Treccani notes the form is widespread, but it is considered overkill and slightly silly. For a clean A1 sentence, pick one tool: either -issimo, or one prefix, never both.

• La sfoglia è sottilissima. (clean -issimo)
  The dough sheet is extremely thin.
• La sfoglia è strasottile. (clean prefix, informal)
  The dough sheet is super thin.
• La sfoglia è strasottilissima. (overkill, informal social media style)
  The dough sheet is super-duper thin.

Use the prefix forms with friends, in texts, or when you want a warm informal tone. Use -issimo when you want a form that works in any register, from a postcard to a job interview.

Bellissimo vs molto bello: are they the same?

Almost. Both molto bello and the italian bellissimo issimo form mean “very beautiful”. Molto + adjective is the two-word form; bellissimo is the one-word italian bellissimo issimo form with the suffix doing the work. Italians use them interchangeably in most situations, but the two forms carry a slight difference in feel.

• Bologna è molto bella d’autunno. (neutral, descriptive)
  Bologna is very beautiful in autumn.
• Bologna è bellissima d’autunno. (emotional, enthusiastic)
  Bologna is gorgeous in autumn.
• Il caffè qui è molto buono. (neutral statement)
  The coffee here is very good.
• Il caffè qui è buonissimo. (enthusiastic, personal)
  The coffee here is really delicious.

The -issimo form sounds warmer and more spoken; molto + adjective sounds slightly more measured. In speech, Italians lean toward -issimo when they are excited and toward molto + adjective when they are giving a calm assessment. Both forms are correct; the -issimo form is more native-sounding in everyday conversation.

Five traps for English speakers

Five mistakes catch English speakers when they first build the italian bellissimo issimo form. Each italian bellissimo issimo trap below has a quick fix.

Trap 1: Forgetting agreement

The italian bellissimo issimo word agrees with the noun, like every Italian adjective. Wrong: una sfoglia buonissimo. Right: una sfoglia buonissima. The masculine form is the base; you change the ending to -a, -i, -e to match. English does not have gender agreement, so this slip happens often when you first start using the italian bellissimo issimo form.

Trap 2: Adding più or il più to an -issimo word

Never write il più bellissimo or più bellissimo. The italian bellissimo issimo form is an intensified, not a relative superlative. It already means “very”, so you cannot add “more” or “the most” on top. For “the most beautiful”, Italian uses a different structure with il più + adjective alone: il più bello. This is covered in the B1 guide to comparatives and superlatives.

Trap 3: Forgetting the h in ricchissimo, lunghissimo

Adjectives ending in -co and -go need an h before -issimo to keep the hard sound: ricco → ricchissimo, largo → larghissimo, stanco → stanchissimo. Without the h, you would change the pronunciation entirely: ricissimo would sound like ri-chi-ssimo, which is wrong. Trust the spelling: if the masculine plural has h (ricchi), keep the h.

Trap 4: Putting -issimo on bello when it sits before the noun

The adjective bello has a short form when it goes before the noun (un bel ragazzo, un bel film). The -issimo form does not do that: it always goes after the noun, and it uses the full stem. So you say un ragazzo bellissimo, not un bellissimo ragazzo in most cases. The form is full-length and lives after the noun, like most descriptive adjectives.

Trap 5: Building -issimo from a past participle that looks like an adjective

Past participles in -ato, -uto, -ito often work like adjectives (stancato, perduto, finito), but most do not accept the italian bellissimo issimo suffix directly. A few that have become real adjectives do: educatissimo, affezionatissimo, preparatissimo. The general rule for A1: stick to plain descriptive adjectives until you build a feel for which past participles work with the italian bellissimo issimo form.

Cheat sheet

One table, the whole italian bellissimo issimo system at a glance. Keep this italian bellissimo issimo cheat sheet open while you build your first sentences.

Question	Answer	Example
How to build the form	drop final vowel, add -issimo	bello → bellissimo
Agreement	four endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)	bellissimi tortellini
Spelling -co / -go	insert h to keep hard sound	ricco → ricchissimo
Spelling -ci / -gi (plural)	no h, follow the plural	simpatico → simpaticissimo
“Very good”	buonissimo OR ottimo	tortellini buonissimi / ottimi
“Very bad”	cattivissimo OR pessimo	cliente cattivissimo / servizio pessimo
“Very big” / “max”	grandissimo OR massimo	grandissimo problema / volume massimo
“Very small” / “min”	piccolissimo OR minimo	tortellino piccolissimo / minima idea
Informal prefixes	stra-, super-, arci-	strabuono, superveloce, arcinoto
Never combine	no più / il più with -issimo	NOT il più bellissimo

Dialogue: Veronica and Roberto in via Indipendenza

Veronica works as a sfoglina at a small pastificio near via Indipendenza in Bologna, where she rolls the sheets for tortellini by hand. Roberto works at a laboratorio di mortadella two blocks away. They meet on a short break and chat, and the italian bellissimo issimo form appears in almost every line. Count how many -issimo forms surface in two minutes of normal conversation.

What to notice in the dialogue

• Stanchissima, grandissima, velocissimi, sottilissima: regular -issimo forms, agreeing with the noun.
• Stanchissima, lunghissima: spelling with h to keep the hard sound.
• Buonissimi vs ottima: Veronica uses buonissimi (personal) for the tortellini; she uses ottima (more measured) for Roberto’s mortadella.
• Carissimo, pessimo, simpaticissima: three different intensified forms in two lines, completely natural.
• Strabuono: the informal prefix stra- in casual conversation, perfectly fine between friends.
• Piccolissima: the regular form, not the Latin minima, because the meaning is concrete (a tiny break, not an abstract minimum).

Mini-challenge

The italian bellissimo issimo form is one of the most rewarding pieces of beginner Italian to master, because it instantly makes your speech sound warmer and more native. Practice the italian bellissimo issimo pattern on real things you see every day: the coffee you drink, the people you meet, the weather you feel. After a week of using the italian bellissimo issimo suffix at every opportunity, you will start to hear Italians around you using it too, and the form will lock in. Pair this italian bellissimo issimo guide with the quiz below to test what you have learned, and revisit the italian bellissimo issimo cheat sheet whenever you hesitate.

Test your understanding

Take the italian bellissimo issimo quiz below to test what you have learned about the italian bellissimo issimo suffix.

Frequently asked questions

These questions about the italian bellissimo issimo suffix come from real beginner conversations and from forum threads about the italian bellissimo issimo pattern. The institutional Treccani entry on -issimo covers the historical background of the italian bellissimo issimo suffix.

Related guides

• Italian Comparatives and Superlatives: Più, Meno, -issimo (B1): the full B1 system covering più, meno, il più, plus the irregular pairs.
• Italian Adjective Position: Buon Amico or Amico Buono: where adjectives sit relative to the noun, including bello and buono in their short forms.
• Italian Adjectives into Nouns: The Suffix Rules: how Italian builds nouns from adjectives with -ezza, -ità, and related suffixes.
• Treccani: -issimo: the institutional vocabolario entry on the suffix.