Italian Reference Grammar - Nouns, articles and adjectives
Adjectives
'Adjectives qualify nouns, that is give us more detail about them. A noun such as ‘man’ is nondescript, but if we add words (to) the noun, a transformation occurs.' (Language into Languages Teaching, University of Glasgow, Scottish Executive Education Department, 2001)
Adjectives are used to describe nouns and other expressions. In English, adjectives precede the noun unless for special effects. In Italian, the general rule is that most adjectives follow the noun.
In addition, all of the possessive adjectives such as 'mio/mia/tuo/tua/miei/tuoi' naturally precede the noun (see 'Possessive adjectives', below).
However, the adjectives used to express general qualities often precede the nouns, such as:
- bello/bella - nice, lovely, beautiful
- buono/buona - good
- grazioso/graziosa - pretty
- piccolo/piccola - little or small
Adjective agreement
Adjectives agree with the noun which they qualify.
If a noun is feminine singular, the adjective which qualifies it must be feminine singular. If a noun is masculine plural, any adjective qualifying it must also be masculine plural.
To make the adjective feminine, change the masculine singular ending 'o' to 'a'.
If the adjective ends in 'e', do not change anything. For example, 'adorabile' (adorable) is both the masculine singular and the feminine singular form.
To make the adjective masculine plural, add 'i' to the masculine singular. (Note the comments on forming plurals in the Nouns section.)
For example:
Il mio cane è bello - my dog is nice
I miei amici sono belli - my friends are nice
To make the adjective feminine plural, add e to the masculine singular.
La mia casa è bella - my house is nice
Le mie amiche sono belle - my (female) friends are nice.
Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives are the words 'my', 'your', 'his/her' etc in English. In Italian, they too have to agree in gender with the noun.
They are arranged here as first, second and third person, singular and plural. Note that the third person plural forms are both masculine and feminine.
| Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | Translation |
| il mio | la mia | i miei | le mie | my |
| il tuo | la tua | i tuoi | le tue | your (singular) |
| il suo | la sua | i suoi | le sue | his, her |
| il nostro | la nostra | i nostri | le nostre | our |
| il vostro | la vostra | i vostri | le vostre | your (plural) |
| il loro | la loro | i loro | le loro | their |
For example:
- il mio lavoro è faticoso - my job is tiring
- la mia macchina è nuova - my car is new