🔍 In short. The italian demonstrative adjectives pronouns system covers questo (this) and quello (that), both used as adjectives (modifying a noun) and as pronouns (replacing a noun). The system has several variant forms (quel, quell’, quello, quei, quegli) that match the article rules you already know. This guide walks through every form, the questo-vs-quello logic, the special Tuscan demonstrative codesto, the catch-all neutral pronoun ciò, and the formal-register variants questi/quegli for “the latter” and “the former”.
You will see how to pick quel vs quello vs quegli the same way you pick il vs lo vs gli, why quello che dice Caterina is a pronoun structure even though it looks like an adjective, and when ciò beats questo in formal writing. Real examples come from a bookshop in Lucca, a sartoria, a market in Padova, and a train to Trieste.
By the end of the guide you will know the full pattern, the colloquial shortcut ‘sto (= questo) you hear in everyday speech, and the cases where Italian uses questo for the most recent of two items mentioned and quello for the older one.
Cosa impareremo oggi
👆🏻 Jump to section
- What italian demonstrative adjectives pronouns do
- Questo: forms and uses
- Quello: forms that follow the il/lo/gli pattern
- Adjective vs pronoun: same word, different job
- Ciò: the neutral catch-all pronoun
- Reinforcers qui, qua, lì, là
- Latter and former: questo and quello
- Sto: the colloquial shortcut of questo
- Codesto: the forgotten Tuscan third option
- Cheat sheet: italian demonstrative adjectives pronouns
- Three common mistakes
- A small dialogue: at Pietro’s bookshop
- Quiz
- Frequently asked questions
What italian demonstrative adjectives pronouns do
The italian demonstrative adjectives pronouns system covers two main words: questo (this) and quello (that). They can act as adjectives (modifying a noun: questo libro, quel palazzo) or as pronouns (replacing a noun: questo è mio, quello rosso). The job depends on whether a noun follows or not.
Italian demonstratives anchor their reference along three dimensions:
- Spatial: questo for what is close, quello for what is far. Questa casa (here), quel palazzo (over there).
- Temporal: questo for now or this year, quello for then or last year. Quest’anno, quella volta.
- Discoursive: questo for what was just mentioned, quello for something earlier. Quel passaggio del romanzo di cui parlavi prima mi è rimasto in mente.
Questo: forms and uses
The form questo agrees with the noun in gender and number, like any Italian adjective. It also takes the elided form quest’ in front of a vowel.
| Function | Masc sing | Masc plur | Fem sing | Fem plur |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aggettivo | questo / quest’ | questi | questa / quest’ | queste |
| Pronome | questo | questi | questa | queste |
| Pronome soggetto persona | questi (formal, “he”) | (no plural) | (no fem) | (no fem) |
- Questo libro di Tabucchi è un regalo di Caterina.
This Tabucchi book is a gift from Caterina. - Quest’orologio di Pietro è un regalo della sua nonna.
This watch of Pietro’s is a gift from his grandmother. - Perché non assaggi questo caffè che ho fatto stamattina?
Why don’t you try this coffee I made this morning? - Queste biciclette di Lucca sono molto vecchie.
These bikes in Lucca are very old.
The elision quest’ is optional in writing but very common to avoid two identical vowels in a row: quest’anima rather than questa anima. The plural forms questi and queste never elide.
Quello: forms that follow the il/lo/gli pattern
The form quello is more complex because, as an adjective, it has six variants that match the definite article rules. If you already know when to say il, lo, l’, i, gli, you already know when to say quel, quello, quell’, quei, quegli.
| Article | Quello (adj) | Used before | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| il | quel | most consonants | quel libro |
| lo | quello | s+cons, z, ps, gn, x, y | quello sciatore, quello zaino |
| l’ | quell’ | vowel | quell’uomo, quell’amica |
| i | quei | most consonants (plural) | quei libri |
| gli | quegli | s+cons, z, vowel (plural) | quegli sciatori, quegli uomini |
| la | quella | fem consonant | quella casa |
| l’ | quell’ | fem vowel | quell’amica |
| le | quelle | fem plural | quelle case |
- Quel romanzo di Tabucchi di cui ti parlavo è ancora sullo scaffale di Pietro.
That Tabucchi novel I was telling you about is still on Pietro’s shelf. - Hai visto quello sciatore caduto sulla pista nera ieri?
Did you see that skier who fell on the black slope yesterday? - Quegli amici di Pietro vengono spesso in libreria il venerdì sera.
Those friends of Pietro’s often come to the bookshop on Friday evenings. - Quei tordelli lucchesi che hai mangiato ieri da Stefano erano squisiti.
Those Lucca tordelli you ate yesterday at Stefano’s were exquisite. - Quell’uomo seduto al bancone è il rappresentante della casa editrice.
That man sitting at the counter is the publishing house representative.
🔍 Article shortcut. For quello, swap the article for the matching demonstrative: il→quel, lo→quello, l’→quell’, i→quei, gli→quegli, la→quella, le→quelle. Same letter-trigger rules (s+cons, z, vowels), same agreement.
Adjective vs pronoun: same word, different job
The same demonstrative word can act as an adjective (with a noun) or as a pronoun (replacing a noun). The distinction matters mostly for quello, because the pronoun form does not follow the article rules: it stays full quello/quelli/quella/quelle regardless of what comes next.
- Adjective: Vedi quegli uomini? (plural before vowel → quegli)
Pronoun: Vedi quelli? Quello vecchio è il proprietario. (no noun → quelli/quello stay full) - Adjective: Quell’uomo è il padre di Pietro.
Pronoun: Quello, con la giacca grigia, è il padre di Pietro. - Adjective: Quei libri sono in offerta.
Pronoun: Quelli sono in offerta, questi no. - Adjective: Quella sartoria è di Caterina.
Pronoun: Quella è di Caterina, l’altra è di sua sorella.
A useful trick: quello + adjective often pronominalises an English “the X one”. Quelli antichi = “the antique ones”, quella nuova = “the new one”. This compresses quel mobile antico into quello antico when the noun is already understood from context.
Ciò: the neutral catch-all pronoun
The pronoun ciò is a neutral demonstrative that means “this thing” or “that thing” without specifying gender. It refers to an abstract idea, a previous statement, or a whole situation. Conversation uses questo or quello for the same purpose; ciò stays mostly in formal writing.
- Ciò che dice Elena del libro è una recensione equilibrata.
What Elena says about the book is a balanced review. - Di ciò parlerà l’articolo di domani sul giornale di Trieste.
The article in tomorrow’s Trieste paper will talk about this. - Pietro ha deciso di chiudere la libreria a Pasqua, e ciò mi sembra una buona idea.
Pietro has decided to close the bookshop at Easter, and this seems like a good idea to me. - Caterina ha rifiutato il lavoro a Padova: per ciò resterà a Lucca un altro anno.
Caterina turned down the job in Padova: for this reason she will stay in Lucca another year.
In conversation Italians substitute ciò with questo: questo non mi piace sounds more natural than ciò non mi piace. The form ciò survives in fixed expressions (perciò = for this reason, cioè = that is, ciò nonostante = nevertheless) and in formal essays.
Reinforcers qui, qua, lì, là
Italian demonstratives often pair with location adverbs to reinforce the spatial reference. Questo pairs with qui or qua (here); quello pairs with lì or là (there).
- Vuoi questo qui o quello lì?
Do you want this one (here) or that one (there)? - Quelli là sono i clienti che aspettano da venti minuti, non quelli qui in coda.
Those people over there are the customers who have been waiting for twenty minutes, not these ones in line here. - Prendi questo libro qua sul bancone, non quello là in vetrina.
Take this book here on the counter, not that one in the window.
The reinforcers are not formal-only; Italians use them constantly in spoken language to clarify which of two items they mean. Pairing demonstratives with qui/lì is the natural way to point at things in everyday conversation.
🎯 Mini-task #1. Pick the right demonstrative form for each sentence.
- Hai visto ____ (quel / quello / quei) sciatore caduto sulla pista?
- ____ (Quest’ / Questa) orologio è un regalo di Caterina.
- ____ (Quei / Quegli) amici di Pietro vengono in libreria il venerdì.
- Vedi ____ (quelli / quei) là? Sono i miei colleghi di Trieste.
👉 Show answers
1. quello (singolare maschile + s+consonante = quello).
2. Quest’ (elision before vowel, both quest’orologio masculine and quest’amica feminine work the same way).
3. quegli (plurale maschile + vocale = quegli).
4. quelli (pronoun, no noun follows, so full form quelli).
Latter and former: questo and quello
Italian uses demonstratives to translate English “the latter” and “the former”. In a sentence mentioning two items in sequence, questo refers to the second (the closer, just mentioned) and quello refers to the first (the earlier, more distant). The opposite of English logic, where “latter” comes last but is mentioned last too.
- Tabucchi e Pennacchi sono due scrittori italiani importanti: questo è veneto, quello è toscano.
Tabucchi and Pennacchi are two important Italian writers: the latter is from Veneto, the former from Tuscany. - Caterina e Elena lavorano entrambe nel centro storico: questa in una libreria, quella in una sartoria.
Caterina and Elena both work in the historic centre: the latter in a bookshop, the former in a tailor’s shop.
A more formal alternative for “the latter” is quest’ultimo (or quest’ultima): Tabucchi e Pennacchi, quest’ultimo veneto, sono entrambi pubblicati da Feltrinelli. The form quest’ultimo resolves ambiguity better than bare questo.
Formal writing also has questi (masculine singular, “the latter person”) and quegli (masculine singular, “the former person”). Both refer only to male humans in formal subject position; you will meet them in essays, biographies, and history books.
Sto: the colloquial shortcut of questo
In informal speech Italians shorten questo to ‘sto (with apostrophe), and the same for questi → ‘sti, questa → ‘sta, queste → ‘ste. This shortcut is everywhere in conversation but rare in writing.
- Non mi piace ‘sta macchina di Francesco, è troppo grande per le strade di Lucca.
I don’t like this car of Francesco’s, it’s too big for the streets of Lucca. - ‘Sti clienti aspettano in coda da mezz’ora, sbrigatevi.
These customers have been waiting in line for half an hour, hurry up. - Cosa vuoi che ti dica, ‘sto film non mi è piaciuto per niente.
What do you want me to say, this film didn’t appeal to me at all.
The shortcut also lives in frozen time expressions that everyone uses, even in formal contexts: stamattina (this morning), stasera (this evening), stanotte (last night, tonight), stavolta (this time). These are not really demonstrative variants anymore; they are single fused words.
Codesto: the forgotten Tuscan third option
Italian once had a three-way demonstrative system: questo (near speaker), codesto (near listener), quello (far from both). Modern standard Italian dropped codesto, except in Tuscan dialect and in bureaucratic language. You will hear it in Florence, Lucca, Pisa, and you will read it in old laws or formal letters.
- Togliti codesta giacca, è zuppa di pioggia! (the jacket the addressee is wearing)
Take off that jacket , it’s soaked with rain. - Per cortesia, non dica codeste cose davanti ai bambini. (the things the listener is saying)
Please, do not say those things in front of the children.
Outside Tuscany and bureaucracy, codesto sounds archaic. As a B1 learner, recognise it when reading older texts; do not produce it in conversation. For a deeper dive into codesto and its history, see our companion guide on Italian Codesto.
🔍 Three demonstratives, two systems. Spoken modern Italian uses two demonstratives (questo, quello). Tuscan and bureaucratic Italian keep the three-way system with codesto in the middle. For all literary demonstratives like colui, costui, costei, see our dedicated Italian Costui Colui guide.
Cheat sheet: italian demonstrative adjectives pronouns
One table, the whole demonstrative system. Keep it open while you draft your next sentence in Italian.
| Form | Aggettivo | Pronome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masc sing close | questo / quest’ | questo | quest’ before vowel |
| Masc plur close | questi | questi | no elision in plural |
| Fem sing close | questa / quest’ | questa | quest’ before vowel |
| Fem plur close | queste | queste | no elision in plural |
| Masc sing far | quel / quello / quell’ | quello | follows il/lo/l’ rules |
| Masc plur far | quei / quegli | quelli | follows i/gli rules |
| Fem sing far | quella / quell’ | quella | follows la/l’ rules |
| Fem plur far | quelle | quelle | follows le rules |
| Neutral pronoun | (no adj) | ciò | formal, abstract reference |
| Colloquial shortcut | ‘sto / ‘sti / ‘sta / ‘ste | (rare) | = questo, informal speech |
| Tuscan / bureaucratic | codesto / codesta | codesto | archaic outside Tuscany |
Three common mistakes
Three errors with italian demonstrative adjectives pronouns flag a B1 sentence as written by a learner. Fixing them is fast.
Mistake 1. Using quello as adjective in front of any noun. Wrong: quello libro, quello uomini. Correct: quel libro, quegli uomini. The full form quello only appears as an adjective before s+consonant, z, ps, gn, x, y. Same rules as lo.
Mistake 2. Confusing adjective quello with pronoun quello. The pronoun keeps the full form regardless of what follows: quello rosso, quelli antichi, quella nuova. Wrong: quel rosso. Correct: quello rosso. The split: variants only as adjectives, full forms always as pronouns.
Mistake 3. Writing qual’è with apostrophe, by analogy with quest’è. Wrong: qual’è il problema. Correct: qual è il problema. The shortening of quale to qual is truncation, not elision; no apostrophe. By contrast, quest’ and quell’ are elision and DO take the apostrophe.
🎯 Mini-task #2. Fill each gap with the correct demonstrative form.
- Caterina, quanto costa ____ (quel / quello / quell’) vestito blu in vetrina?
- Pietro, mi consigli ____ (quei / quegli) due romanzi di Tabucchi in vetrina?
- Hai mangiato ____ (questi / queste) tordelli che ti aveva preparato Stefano?
- Tra Tabucchi e Pennacchi, ____ (questo / quello) è il mio preferito (= Pennacchi, citato per ultimo).
👉 Show answers
1. quel (consonante semplice b → quel, come “il vestito”).
2. quei (plurale masc consonante semplice → quei, come “i romanzi”).
3. questi (plurale masc → questi tordelli).
4. questo (the latter mentioned = Pennacchi, the more recent reference).
A small dialogue: at Pietro’s bookshop
👩🏼🦰 Elena: Pietro, dimmi: questo romanzo qui di Tabucchi o quello là di Pennacchi? Non riesco a decidermi.
Pietro, tell me: this Tabucchi novel here or that Pennacchi one over there? I can’t decide.
👨🏼🦰 Pietro: Allora, quello di Pennacchi è più impegnativo, questo di Tabucchi più agile. Dipende da quanto tempo hai.
Well, the Pennacchi one is more demanding, this Tabucchi one is lighter. Depends on how much time you have.
👩🏼🦰 Elena: Ho una settimana libera. E quegli altri sullo scaffale dietro di te? Sono nuovi?
I have a free week. And those other ones on the shelf behind you? Are they new?
👨🏼🦰 Pietro: Sì, sono arrivati martedì. Quelli sono saggi, non narrativa. Quelli là invece, vicino alla cassa, sono romanzi degli anni Novanta che sto svendendo.
Yes, they arrived Tuesday. Those are essays, not fiction. Those over there, near the till, are nineties novels I’m selling off.
👩🏼🦰 Elena: Quei romanzi laggiù mi interessano molto. Quanto costano?
Those novels over there interest me a lot. How much are they?
👨🏼🦰 Pietro: Costano cinque euro l’uno. Anche queste edizioni in copertina rigida qui sul bancone sono in offerta.
They cost five euros each. These hardback editions here on the counter are also on offer.
👩🏼🦰 Elena: Prendo quel Tabucchi e due di quelli vecchi laggiù. E sai che, dopo aver letto questi, magari torno per quei saggi.
I’ll take that Tabucchi and two of those old ones over there. And you know what, after reading these, maybe I’ll come back for those essays.
👨🏼🦰 Pietro: Ottima scelta. Quello di Pennacchi te lo metto da parte fino al mese prossimo, va bene?
Great choice. The Pennacchi one I’ll set aside for you until next month, OK?
Count the demonstratives Elena and Pietro slip into their visit: questo, quello, questi, queste, quei, quegli, quelli. The whole system, in one short bookshop scene.
🎯 Mini-challenge. Describe a shop window or a museum room using at least five demonstratives: one questo, one quello, one quegli (plural before vowel), one pronoun (quelli, quelle, quello + adjective), and one with ciò for an abstract reference.
Test your understanding
Ready to test italian demonstrative adjectives pronouns in context? The quiz below mixes every form, with a few traps on quel/quello/quell’ agreement and on the adjective-vs-pronoun split.
LOADING QUIZ…
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Frequently asked questions
Five questions about Italian demonstratives come up in every A2-B1 cohort. The answers below draw on real usage and on the Crusca note Codesto nel sistema degli aggettivi e pronomi dimostrativi.
When do I use quel vs quello vs quei vs quegli?
The same way you use il/lo/i/gli. Quel goes before most consonants (quel libro, like il libro). Quello goes before s+consonant, z, ps, gn, x, y (quello sciatore, quello zaino, like lo sciatore). Quei is the plural of quel (quei libri, like i libri). Quegli is the plural of quello, plus all vowels (quegli sciatori, quegli amici, like gli sciatori, gli amici). The rules mirror the definite article system exactly.
What’s the difference between questo and ciò?
Questo is the everyday demonstrative for this thing, this idea, this situation. Ciò is the formal, neutral pronoun for the same meaning, mostly used in writing and elevated speech. In conversation Italians almost always pick questo: questo non mi piace, not ciò non mi piace. Ciò survives in fixed expressions (perciò = for this reason, cioè = that is, ciò nonostante = nevertheless) and in formal essays where it adds register.
What is ‘sto and is it correct Italian?
‘Sto is the colloquial shortening of questo, with a similar pattern for ‘sti/’sta/’ste. It is grammatically correct and widely used in spoken Italian but avoided in formal writing. You will hear it constantly: ‘sto film, ‘sta macchina, ‘sti soldi. The fixed expressions stamattina, stasera, stanotte, stavolta come from the same root but are now treated as single fused words. As a learner, recognise ‘sto when you hear it; in writing, stick to questo.
How do I say ‘the latter’ and ‘the former’ with demonstratives?
Italian inverts the English logic: questo (the closer, just mentioned) translates the latter, and quello (the older, mentioned first) translates the former. Tabucchi e Pennacchi: questo è veneto, quello è toscano = Tabucchi and Pennacchi: the latter (Pennacchi) is from Veneto, the former (Tabucchi) from Tuscany. For unambiguous formal writing, quest’ultimo and quegli are preferred for the latter and the former respectively; you will meet them in essays.
Is codesto still used in Italian today?
Mostly only in Tuscany and bureaucratic prose. Modern standard Italian dropped the three-way system (questo / codesto / quello) for a two-way one (questo / quello). In Florence, Lucca, Pisa, codesto remains alive: it refers to something close to the addressee (the second person) rather than to the speaker. Outside Tuscany you will read codesto in old laws and formal letters. As a learner, recognise it but do not produce it in conversation. For a dedicated guide on codesto, see the companion post on the forgotten Tuscan demonstrative.
Related guides
- Italian Articles: the il/lo/l’/i/gli/la/le system that drives the forms of quello.
- Italian Codesto: the third demonstrative still alive in Tuscan and bureaucratic Italian.
- Italian Costui Colui: the literary demonstratives (costui, costei, costoro, colui, colei, coloro) for formal writing.
- Accademia della Crusca: Questi ultimi o quest’ultimi?: institutional answer on apostrophe and agreement for the “latter” form.
