Un buon amico o un amico buono? The position of the adjective in Italian

Learn the rules defining the position of Italian adjectives

Complete the lesson with a quiz

I decided to write this lesson in English, as the topic is good for beginners as well as for advanced learners. Feel free to correct me or add your comments at the bottom of the page.

We are specifically discussing descriptive adjectives, which are known as aggettivi qualificativi in Italian. These adjectives modify, describe, or offer additional information about nouns or pronouns.

Quella simpatica ragazza tedesca è alta, bella, bionda ma timidissima.

When there is a sequence adjective + noun (una bella ragazza) or noun + adjective (una ragazza bella), the adjective is usually placed immediately next to the noun it refers to, before or after. There are rules, specific cases, nuances and exceptions that I am going to explain in detail.

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The “plain” position of the adjectives is mainly after the noun. When a qualifying adjective precedes the noun, it usually indicates a greater subjectivity or judgment on the part of the speaker or writer, a particular emotional emphasis or a stylistic choice.

The communicative difference between after and before the noun for the majority of qualifying adjectives is a contrast between the neutral form and the form that includes various subjective meanings. The classic textbook example is:

Ho incontrato un vecchio amico.
Ho incontrato un amico vecchio.

The speaker talks about an old friend in the fist sentence, a “friend old”, not young, in the second. So the first sentence is “descriptive”, they have been friends for a long time, the second “restrictive”, I met an old person, not a young one.

We cannot use all adjectives and just swap their position to obtain the same effect. There are rules and limits.

Funzione descrittiva o restrittiva

We learned that, depending on whether they precede or follow the noun, many aggettivi qualificativi can have either a funzione descrittiva (descriptive function) or a funzione restrittiva (restrictive function).

When qualifying adjectives come before the noun, they often have a descriptive function, providing additional information or describing a characteristic of the noun.

On the other hand, when qualifying adjectives come after the noun, they can have a restrictive function, narrowing down the noun to a specific meaning.

Le case vecchie sono crollate con il terremoto.
Le vecchie case sono crollate con il terremoto.

When an adjective adds a distinctive and limiting qualification to the noun, we talk about restrictive function, identifying it as the only one with a certain quality among other concepts, objects, or living beings in the same category.

In this case, the first sentence tells us that only the old houses collapsed after the earthquake, not the new ones. Conversely, the second sentence simply says that all the houses, which happened to be old, collapsed. In this case the adjective vecchie has a descriptive function.

There is a large subgroup, called aggettivi di relazione, “related” to other words, usually nouns, with the addition of a suffix. For example: Italia → italiano; gioia → gioioso; acqua → acquatico and so on. The pretty much always come after the noun they modify because they carry with them the notion of objectivity. Being Italian or aquatic isn’t subject to an opinion.

Generally speaking, when an adjective is not open to interpretation, we have to put it after the noun. That includes nationalities, shapes, colours.

James è un amico australiano. (not australiano amico)
Ho comprato un paio di scarpe rosse. (not rosse scarpe)
Preferisco i tavoli rettangolari. (non rettangolari tavoli)

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The outliers – Before the Noun

A bit out of scope, some other adjectives (not aggettivi qualificativi) usually come before the noun. They often represent indefinite quantities (molto, poco, tanto, tutto, troppo…), ordinal numbers (primo, secondo, terzo…), some identifiers (altro, stesso, certo as in “certain”, diverso as in “several”, semplice as in “just” and others). Except for numbers, they are all vague, indefinite. Again, they are not part of the scope of this lesson but they are worth a small paragraph.

Bello, buono, alto, forte, grande…

There are some particular qualifying adjectives, such as “bello” (beautiful) and “buono” (good), but also “alto” (tall), “forte” (strong), “piccolo” (small), “grande” (big), “certo” (certain), “discreto” (decent), vero (true) and others that can be used to intensify the concept or image expressed by the noun. When used in this sense, they are normally placed before the noun.

C’è una bella differenza tra gli italiani e i francesi. (a great difference)
C’è una differenza bella tra gli italiani e i francesi. (a beautiful difference)
Giuseppe è un buon cuoco. (a capable cook)
Giuseppe è un cuoco buono. (kind, nice)
Il Politecnico di Torino è una scuola di alto livello. (excellent level)
Ho un livello alto di colesterolo. (high level)
Ti ho comprato un piccolo regalo. (not that important)
Ti ho comprato un regalo piccolo. (small in size)
Federico è un vero bugiardo. (he really is)
Mi ha detto una cosa non vera. (not true)
Le sue canzoni hanno avuto un discreto successo. (fairly good)
Lara è una amica discreta. (discreet)
E’ una grossa opportunità per tutti. (a big, important one)
Il Po è un fiume grosso. (large, massive)

When an adjective preceding a noun incorporates the notion of quantity (e.g. grosso, grande, piccolo, alto, etc.), it can serve to amplify the significance of the noun itself. For instance, when the Po river is referred to as a “grosso fiume” (large river), it not only conveys its size but also implies its importance.

The position of the adjective as a superlative does not have a significant impact on its meaning:

Ho visto un film bellissimo.
Ho visto un bellissimo film.

The intensity and meaning of the two sentences remain largely unchanged since the adjective used is in the extreme form.

Complex phrases

Correct me if I’m wrong. In English there’s a precise hierarchy of adjectives defining their sequence in a given sentence: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose.

Italian does not follow such a strict hierarchy for the sequence of multiple adjectives inside a clause.

Let’s introduce an additional layer of complexity by placing multiple adjectives after a noun.

Giuseppe è un ragazzo sveglio, simpatico e gentile.

In this scenario, the use of commas and the final conjunction places the adjectives on an equal level in terms of importance.

Occasionally, the adjectives and the noun they describe form a cohesive unit:

Il partito conservatore inglese è al governo.

In this instance, “partito + conservatore + inglese” forms a unified block and adheres to a specific order. It can be viewed as a compound noun.

James è un amico inglese conservatore.
James è un amico conservatore inglese.

James, a conservative English friend, retains the same meaning even when the adjective “English” is placed before the second adjective. While many grammar books suggest that adjectives denoting nationality should come last in the order, in practice, it has minimal significance.

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