adjectives

Italian Adjective Agreement

In Italian, adjectives are words that describe nouns. Unlike English, Italian adjectives must change their endings to match the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the noun they describe. In dictionaries, adjectives are always listed in their masculine singular form.

1. Adjectives Ending in -o (Four Forms)

The largest group of adjectives ends in -o. These adjectives have four distinct endings:

• -o: Masculine Singular
• -a: Feminine Singular
• -i: Masculine Plural
• -e: Feminine Plural

Examples:

• italiano (Italian, masc. sing.) / italiana (Italian, fem. sing.)
• italiani (Italian, masc. plur.) / italiane (Italian, fem. plur.)
• Il libro è nuovo. (The book is new.)
• Le macchine sono nuove. (The cars are new.)

2. Adjectives Ending in -e (Two Forms)

Adjectives ending in -e are simpler because they only change for number, not gender. The ending is the same whether the noun is masculine or feminine.

• -e: Singular (both Masculine and Feminine)
• -i: Plural (both Masculine and Feminine)

Examples:

• un ragazzo francese (a French boy) / una ragazza francese (a French girl)
• ragazzi francesi (French boys) / ragazze francesi (French girls)
• La casa è grande. (The house is big.)
• I palazzi sono grandi. (The buildings are big.)

3. Adjectives Ending in -a (Three Forms)

A smaller group of adjectives (often ending in -ista or related to nationalities) ends in -a in the singular for both genders. However, they have different plural forms for masculine and feminine.

• -a: Singular (Masculine and Feminine)
• -i: Masculine Plural
• -e: Feminine Plural

Examples:

• un turista ottimista (an optimistic male tourist) / una turista ottimista (an optimistic female tourist)
• turisti ottimisti (optimistic male tourists) / turiste ottimiste (optimistic female tourists)

4. Invariable Adjectives

Some adjectives never change, regardless of gender or number. These include certain colors and specific terms.

Examples:

• blu (blue), rosa (pink), pari (even), dispari (odd)
• un vestito blu (a blue dress) / due vestiti blu (two blue dresses)

5. Spelling Rules (-co, -go)

When adjectives end in -co or -go, spelling changes are often needed to keep the "hard" sound (like 'k' or 'g' in 'go').

• Feminine Plural: Always uses -che or -ghe to keep the hard sound. (greca → greche)
• Masculine Plural: Sometimes stays hard (largo → larghi) and sometimes becomes soft (greco → greci). This usually depends on the individual word.

6. Compound Adjectives

In compound adjectives (two words joined together), usually only the second part changes its ending.

Example: sordomuto (deaf-mute) becomes sordomuti in the masculine plural.