Chapter 3 - Modifiers
We use words to describe things or places. We might say that a valley is beautiful, that a horse is large, or that a car is red.
Each of these words (beautiful, large, red), describes the place or thing. A word that describes a person, a place, or a thing is called an adjective.
In Italian, all adjectives must agree in number and gender with the noun that is described.
If the noun is masculine, the adjective must be masculine. If the noun is singular, the adjective must be singular, and so on.
example: the white house = la casa bianca the red wine = il vino rosso
the tired horses = i cavalli stanchi the cooked meats = le carne cotte
Adjectives which are factual follow the noun.
examples: the white wine = il vino bianco the red house = la casa rossa
Adjectives which are judgmental, numbers, and expressions of quantity precede the noun.
example: the great man = il gran uomo
[the expression l’uomo grande means a large (in the sense of physically big) man]
un caro amico = a dear friend
otto libri = eight books la terza vọlta = the third time mọlti libri = many books
Common adjectives used to express quantity are:
| alcuna -e -o -i, some | ogni, each or every |
| quanta -e -o -i, as much | più, more |
| mẹno, less, fewer | mọlta -e -o -i, much or many |
| nessuna -e -o -i, none | niente, nothing |
| numerọsa -e -o -i, numerous | poca -che -o -chi, little or few |
| qualche, a few, some | tanta -e -o -i, so much or so many |
| tutta -e -o -i, all, everything | varia -e -o -i, several or various |
Qualchehas no plural form, and is always followed by a singular noun even if a plural meaning is intended.
example: Lasciamo qualche biscotto a Santa Claus. Let’s leave some cookies for Santa Claus.
When they are used as the subject of a sentence, meno or nienteare always singular.
Judgmental adjectives when modified by an adverb (such as mọlto = very) will be placed after a noun.
example: very good advice = consiglio mọlto buono
In Italian, nouns cannot be used as adjectives.
If a noun is used to describe another noun, the two words are connected by di when the description defines the nature of the item.
When the description defines the purpose of the item, da is used..
examples: sbarra di ferro = iron bar (the bar is made of iron)
anello di gọmma = rubber ring (the ring is made of rubber)
coltello da pane = bread knife (the knife is used to cut bread)
mạcchina da scrịvere = typewriter (a machine for writing)
The masculine form is used when modifying things of mixed gender.
My brother and sister are tall. Mio fratello e mia sorella sọno alti.
The plural forms follow the same rules as the plural forms of nouns.
examples:
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
| alto | alti | alta | alte | verde | verdi |
| pụbblico | pụbblici | pụbblica | pụbbliche | ||
| vario | vari | varia | varie |
In general, adjectives of nationality are not capitalized.
example: Mi piace l’opera italiana. I like Italian opera.
When the adjectives bello, quello, questo, or santo precede a noun, they have the same endings as “the”.
| il | lo | l' | i | gli | la | l' | le |
| bel | bello | bell' | bei | begli | bella | bell' | belle |
| quel | quello | quell' | quei | quegli | quella | quell' | quelle |
| questo | questo | quest' | questi | questi | quest' | quest' | queste |
| San | Santo | Sant' | Santi | Santi | Santa | Sant' | Sante |
When they follow a preposition, questo and quello have only the forms questa, queste, questo, questi, quella, quelle, quello, quelli.
The adjectives alcuno, buono, and nessuno are treated in the same way as the article “un”.
| un | uno | una | un' |
| alcun | alcuno | alcuna | alcun' |
| buon | buono | buona | buon' |
| nessun | nessuno | nessuna | nessun' |
When used with singular nouns that begin with a vowel, the adjective grandebecomes grand’
Before words beginning with gn, ps, s + consonant, or z, the form grandeis always used.
Before all other words beginning with a consonant, grande becomes gran.
With all plural nouns, only the form grandi is used.
As with the nouns, many similarities exist between the two languages, and a summary follows.
| English ending | Italian ending | examples |
| -able | -abile | abominạbile, , perdonạbile |
| -al | -ale | finale, totale, usuale |
| -an | -ana, -ano | americano, colombiana, peruviano |
| -ant | -ante | importante, ignorante |
| -ed | -ato, ito | agitato, complicato, unito |
| -ent | -ente | competente, differente |
| -enta, ento | contento | |
| -ible | -ibile | adorạbile, impossịbile, permissịbile |
| -ical | -ica, ico | lǫgico, econǫmico |
| -ic | esǫtico, pụbblico | |
| -ive | -iva, ivo | abusivo, conclusivo, eccessiva |
| -ous | -ọsa, -oso | ambiziọso, deliziọsa, famọso |
| -ure | -ura, -uro | matura, impuro |
All about the -ly forms
Most verb modifiers (the -ly words in English) are formed by using a feminine singular adjective, and adding the suffix -mẹnte.| honesta (honest) | honestamẹnte (honestly). |
| franca (frank) | francamẹnte (frankly) |
| frequente (frequent) | frequentemẹnte |
There are four exceptions to this rule, namely benevolo benevolmẹnte (benevolently)
malevolo malevolmẹnte (malevolently) leggero leggermẹnte (lightly)
violento violentemẹnte(violently)
If the feminine adjective ends with an le or re, the e is dropped, and the suffix -mẹnteis added
regolare (regular) --> regolarmẹnte (regularly)
verticale (vertical) --> verticalmẹnte (vertically)
possịbile (possible) --> possibilmẹnte (possibly)
There are five exceptions to this rule, namely
| alacre | alacremẹnte (briskly) |
| folle | follemẹnte (foolishly) |
| mediocre | mediocremẹnte (with mediocrity) |
| molle | mollemẹnte (tenderly) |
| pedestre | pedestremẹnte (dully, in a pedestrian way) |
Note: When the word only is used to modify a noun, its Italian forms are sola, -e, -o, -i.
examples: His only dream was to have money. Il suo sọlo sọgno era tenere dinero.
A magazine for women only. Una rivista per donne sọle.
When the word only is used to modify a verb, its Italian form is solamẹnte.
examples: I only want to see the book. Solamẹnte voglio vedere il libro.
We only have five dollars. Abbiamo solamẹnte cincque dǫllari.
As in English, a phrase can be used in place of an adverb.
examples: He spoke with clarity (clearly). Lui parlava con chiarità (chiaramẹnte).
They climbed without effort. Loro salirono senza sforzo (sforzatamẹnte).
Some adverbs have fixed forms.
| abbastanza, enough | allọra, then | altrimẹnti, otherwise | assai, much |
| ạnche, also, too | ancọra, still, yet | appẹna, hardly, just | apposta, on purpose |
| bene, well | circa, about | come, as, like | così, thus, so |
| dappertutto, everywhere | finọra, until now | fọrse, perhaps, maybe | già, already |
| insieme, together | intanto, meanwhile | là, lì, there, over there | lontano, far |
| mai, never | male, badly | meglio, better | mẹno, less |
| mọlto, many | ọra, now | parẹcchio, a lot, quite a bit | peggio, worse |
| più, more | piuttosto, rather | poco, little | poi, then |
| pressappoco, about, roughly | prima, before, early | presto, soon | qua, qui, here |
| quanto, as much as | quasi, almost | sempre, always | sopratutto, above all |
| spẹsso, often | sụbito, suddenly | tanto, as much | tardi, late |
| tutto, entirely | troppo, too much | vicino, near |
While adverbs are generally placed next to the word they modify, there is considerable flexibility in ordinary usage.
Taking descriptions to a higher level
Occasionally, we want to make comparisons about things. We might want to say that one car is faster than another, that one house is larger than another,
or that someone is the best athlete, and so on. Both English and Italian use two methods to take descriptions to a higher level
Method one --> add helping words
| He spoke more quickly. | Parlava più rapidamẹnte. |
| It was the most difficult work. | Era il più diffịcile lavọro. |
| This music is the most intricate. | Questa mụsica è la più intricata. |
| That train runs less rapidly. | Questo treno corre mẹno rapidamẹnte. |
| There are fewer persons. | Ci sọno mẹno personas. |
| We sell it at a very low price. | Lo vendiamo per un prezzo mọlto basso. |
Thus, Good bella -e -o -i beautiful
Better più bella -e -o -i more beautiful
Best la le il i più bella -e -o -i the most beautiful
Thus, Bad fredda -e -o -i cold
Worse più fredda -e -o -i colder
Worst la le il i più fredda -e -o -i coldest
Four adjectives have irregular forms, namely
| good | buona -e -o -i | migliọre -i (better) | la le il i ǫttima, -e, -o, -i (best) |
| big | grande -i | maggiọre -i (bigger) | la le il i grande -i (biggest) |
| bad | cattiva -e -o -i | peggiọre -i (worse) | la le il i peggiọre -i (worst) |
| small | piccola -e -o -i | minọre -i (smaller) | la le il i minọre -i (smallest) |
Method two --> add an ending
It was the biggest house. Era la casa grandịssima.
This is the slowest horse. Questo è il cavallo lentịssimo.
The expression very well is translated as benịssimo. Final vowels are dropped before adding any form of the suffix -ịssimo (example: lento, lentịssimo).
Spelling changes occur in words which end in -co, -go by the addition of an h to keep the sound of the c or g hard.
In the case of adverbs, -ịssima is inserted between the adjective and its suffix -mente.
example: lento --> lentịssimamente = most slowly
Adverbs are compared by the following method.
lentamẹnte(slowly) più lentamẹnte (more slowly) il più lentamẹnte (most slowly)
rapidamẹnte(rapidly) mẹno rapidamẹnte (less rapidly) il mẹno rapidamẹnte (least rapidly)
To compare two things, the following expressions are used:
tanto + an adjective or an adverb + quanto = as + adjective or adverb + as
Lei non è tanto ricca quanto lui. She is not as rich as he.
Lui non è tanto alto quanto Michael Jordan He is not as tall as Michael Jordan.
tanta -e -o -i + noun + quanta -e -o -i = as much (as many) as
Lui ricevè tanti voti quanti pensò. He received as many votes as he expected.
This page was last modified on 26 December 2023.