aggettivi

Quiz Livello A1

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Quiz Livello A1: domande e risposte

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Italian adjectives for absolute beginners

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Italian adjectives, also known as “aggettivi qualificativi,” generally agree in gender and number with the nouns they refer to. In Italian, all nouns have a gender (masculine and feminine) and can be singular or plural

This is a very simplified classification, but it will show most of what you need to learn as an absolute beginner.

When consulting an Italian dictionary, you will typically find adjectives listed in their singular masculine form. There are three categories of adjectives: those ending in -o, those ending in -e, and those ending in -a.

Italian adjectives decline in the feminine and plural forms as follows:

1. Adjectives ending in -o:

– “-o” for the masculine singular (e.g., Antonio è bello).
– “-a” for the feminine singular (e.g., Lucia è bella).
– “-i” for the masculine plural (e.g., Antonio e Claudio sono belli).
– “-e” for the feminine plural (e.g., Lucia e Giorgia sono belle).

2. Adjectives ending in -e:

– “-e” for both the singular forms (e.g., Dario è intelligente, Stefania è intelligente).
– “-i” for the plural forms (e.g., Dario e Francesco sono intelligenti, Claudia e Marta sono intelligenti). Adjectives ending in “-e” do not differentiate between masculine and feminine genders. The distinction is determined by the noun itself or the accompanying article.

3. Additionally, there is a small number of invariable Italian adjectives that do not change regardless of gender or number. Examples include “rosa” (pink): la macchina è rosa, i vestiti sono rosa. Other examples are pari (even), dispari (odd), blu (blue), lilla (lilac), and viola (violet).

4. Adjectives ending in -ista: this is just an example of adjectives ending with a particular suffix. there are others and you will learn with experience.

– Adjectives keep the same in the singular form (e.g., Mauro è altruista, Elisa è altruista).
– Adjectives change in the plural form:
– “-i” for the masculine plural (e.g., Giulio e Luigi sono ottimisti).
– “-e” for the feminine plural (e.g., Michela e Giorgia sono pessimiste).

In this case, there is only one form for both the masculine and feminine singular, but two different forms for the plural.

The position of an adjective in a sentence can also alter its meaning in some cases. For example:
– “Luigi è un amico vecchio” means “Luigi is an old friend.”
– “Luigi è un vecchio amico” means “Luigi is an old man.”

Feel free to test your knowledge with the quiz above, and check your score at the end. If you’re interested, you can have a chance to win a coupon for an Italian Zoom class with a native teacher.

Ciao!

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Bel or Bello? A special Italian adjective

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The adjective “bello” is one of the most known Italian words. It follows a special rule, which you should learn and remember if you want to speak correctly

Foreigners make fun of Italians saying “Ciao bello!” or “Ciao Bella!”. I think it’s funny and also a good stereotype. We are friendly and everyone deserves the title of  “bello”.

Let’s see more in detail what this word means and how we can use it correctly.

In English, adjectives come before a noun. In Italian we usually put them after.

  • Ho una penna rossa and not Ho una rossa penna. We can’t put rossa before penna. 

Some adjectives however, can be put before or after a noun, changing the value of the noun itself.

  • Leonardo Di Caprio è un attore bravissimo. 
  • Leonardo Di Caprio è un bravissimo attore.

In the first case, we express an objective fact. Di Caprio is a great actor. In the second example, we want to express a point of view, the value of Di Caprio as an actor according to the opinion of the speaker.

Since bravissimo is a superlative, the position of the adjective here does not change much the intensity or the perspective of the speaker.

A better example would be:

  • Mario è un vecchio amico.
  • Mario è un amico vecchio.

In the first case, we say that Mario is al old friend, in the second Mario is an old person and he’s a friend. So, the first case is an example of a qualitative use of the adjective vecchio, it’s about my friendship with Mario.

There’s a more extensive explanation on another blog about the position of adjectives in Italian sentences. Have a look.

The adjective bello belongs to this second category. We can put it before or after the noun.
If we put it after the noun, it acts as a normal aggettivo, changing as singular or plural, masculine or feminine. We express an objective situation:

  • Il bambino è bello – sm
  • La bambina è bella – sf
  • I bambini sono belli – pm
  • Le bambine sono belle – pf

However, if we put bello before the noun, it changes quite radically and instead of agreeing with number and gender, it follows the rules of definite articles IL – LO – LA – I – GLI – LE – L’.

  • il ragazzo
  • lo zaino
  • la macchina
  • i regali
  • gli anni
  • le colline
  • l’albero

We get as a result:

  • Mario è un bel ragazzo.
  • Hai un bello zaino.
  • La Ferrari è una bella macchina.
  • Ho ricevuto dei bei regali.
  • Ho passato dei begli anni all’università.
  • In Toscana ci sono delle belle colline.
  • Davanti a casa mia c’è un bell’albero.

We don’t simply say that an object is beautiful. We want to give an opinion, a subjective point of view.

Using correctly the Italian adjective “bello” will help you to speak naturally and, why not, to get along with Italian people.

Try the quiz. Alla prossima.

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L’Italia è bella! Aggettivi qualificativi – Quiz & Audio

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Adjectives, Italian aggettivi, are words that define, qualify or modify the meaning of a noun

This is a very basic Italian lesson, so I assume you are an absolute beginner. If you are not, try the quiz again and consolidate some vocabulary.

Aggettivi qualificativi are Italian adjectives, describing visible or abstract qualities of a noun.

  • l’Italia è bella

Italia is a feminine noun, “bella” is an adjective and agrees with the gender of the noun, so it’s singular and feminine too.

As a rule of thumb, we can classify aggettivi qualificativi in their singular masculine version and define the rules to make them feminine and plural.

Remember that most adjectives end in -o just like bello, so you can apply this rule with some confidence.

  • Il pomodoro è rosso.
  • La fragola è rossa.
  • I pomodori sono rossi.
  • Le fragole sono rosse.

Then we have a second minor type ending in -e like grande, where feminine and masculine are the same.

  • La casa è grande.
  • Lo stadio è grande.
  • Le case sono grandi.
  • Gli stadi sono grandi.

There are other types of aggettivi ending in -a. Please see the examples.

Some basic examples

  • L’abero è alto (the tree is tall).
  • I bambini sono simpatici (kids are funny).
  • Maria è bassa (Maria is short).
  • Le mele sono rosse (apples are red).

  • Giovanni è intelligente (Giovanni is Intelligent).
  • Gli elefanti sono pesanti (elephants are heavy).
  • La marmellata è dolce (jam is sweet).
  • Le foglie sono verdi (leaves are green).

  • Stefano è un idiota (Stefano is an idiot).
  • Daria è ottimista (Daria is optimist).
  • I bambini sono egoisti (kids are selfish).
  • Le mie amiche sono entusiate (my girlfriends are enthusiastic).

Grazie e alla prossima.

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