Italian Adjectives

Placement of Adjectives

In Italian, the placement of adjectives is either before or after the noun it modifies. This can change the meaning of the sentence.
Most often, adjectives come after the noun: e.g., ‘una ragazza simpatica’ (a nice girl).
Sometimes, adjectives come before the noun, often indicating a subjective, personal opinion: e.g., ‘un grande uomo’ (a great man).

Agreement with Nouns

Adjectives in Italian need to agree with the noun they modify in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).
A feminine noun requires a feminine adjective and a plural noun requires a plural adjective.
For most regular adjectives, you make the feminine form by changing an -o ending to an -a, and make the plural by changing the ending to -i (for masculine) or -e (for feminine).
For instance, ‘un ragazzo italiano’ (an Italian boy) becomes ‘una ragazza italiana’ (an Italian girl) in feminine, and ‘ragazzi italiani’ (Italian boys) in masculine plural.

Degree of Adjectives

Italian adjectives can express three degrees: positive, comparative, and superlative.
The positive degree is the basic form of the adjective.
The comparative degree, used for comparisons, is formed with ‘più’ (more) or ‘meno’ (less).
The superlative degree, which indicates the utmost degree, can be either relative or absolute.
The relative superlative, which indicates the greatest degree within a group, is formed with ‘il più’ (the most) or ‘il meno’ (the least).
The absolute superlative, which indicates a very high degree of a quality, is often formed by repeating the adjective or adding ‘-issimo’ to the adjective stem.

Irregularities

Just as with nouns, there are certain irregularities with Italian adjectives.
Some adjectives change meaning based on their placement before or after the noun.
Some adjectives have irregular feminine and plural forms, such as ‘buono’ (good) which can become ‘buona’, ‘buoni’, or ‘buone’ depending on the noun it is modifying.
Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms, like ‘buono’ that becomes ‘meglio’ or ‘migliore’ for comparative and ‘il migliore’ or ‘ottimo’ for superlative.
Always refer back to your notes and resources to practice and help remember these exceptions.

As with other language features, practice is key for getting comfortable with using Italian adjectives correctly. Aim to include them in your writing and conversation as much as possible, and spend time reading and listening in Italian to see adjectives used in context.