Adjectives in Italian
Unlike English, Italian adjectives' endings change according to the gender and number of the noun (feminine/masculine and singular/plural) they relate to.
Usually, adjectives' endings are these:
- -o for masculine singular
-a for feminine singular
-i for masculine plural
-e for feminine plural
Examples:
- la finestra aperta (the open window) -> le finestre aperte (the open windows)
la macchina nuova (the new car) -> le macchine nuove (the new cars)
il martello rosso (the red hammer) -> i martelli rossi (the red hammers)
il momento giusto (the right moment) -> i momenti giusti (the right moments)
Adjectives ending in "e" in the singular form for both the feminine and masculine forms are an exception, because in the plural form they end in "i" for both genders:
- il ragazzo felice /la ragazza felice (the happy boy/girl) -> i ragazzi felici / le ragazze felici (the happy boys/girls)
la casa grande/il giardino grande (the big house/garden) -> le case grandi/ i giardini grandi (the big houses/gardens)
Another exception are the masculine singular adjectives ending in "a".
- il ragazzo idealista (the idealistic boy)
l'uomo pessimista (the pessimistic man)
Peculiar cases
There are cases where adjectives like 'bello', 'buono' and 'grande' must change according to the noun that follows them:
Bello
"bello" and "bella" become "bell'" when they're followed by a noun starting with a vowel
bell'albero (beautiful tree) / bell'isola (beautiful island)
"bello" becomes "bel" when it's followed by a masculine noun starting with a consonant
bel ragazzo (beautiful boy) / bel gatto (beautiful cat)
"bello" or "bell' " becomes "begli" when it's followed by a noun starting with a vowel, s+consonant, z-, gn-, ps-
begli occhi (beautiful eyes) / begli sport (beautiful sports)
When the masculine singular is "bel", the plural is "bei":
bel ragazzo → bei ragazzi (beautiful boys)
Concerning the feminine, the plural always follows the general rule: both "bella" and "bell" become "belle":
belle isole (beautiful islands) / belle gatte (beautiful (female) cats)
Buono
"buono" always becomes "buon" when it's followed by a noun, whether it starts with a vowel or a consonant
un buon amico (a good friend (male)) / un buon padre (a good father)
"buona" can be kept as it is or it can be changed with "buon'" when it's followed by a noun starting with a vowel
una buona amica/una buon'amica (a good friend (female))
Grande
"grande" can become "gran" when it's followed by a noun starting with a consonant, whether it is feminine or masculine, except in some specific cases where "grande" must necessarily be used:
un gran campione / un grande campione (a big champion) / una gran festa / una grande festa (a big party)
Adjectives that do not change
Finally, there are adjectives that don't change at all, such as "pari" (equal) and some colors like "rosa" (pink) and "viola" (purple):
pachetto rosa (pink package) / pachetti rosa (pink packages)
scatola rosa (pink box) / scatole rosa (pink boxes)
Adjectives in Italian